Understanding Orthorexia
Orthorexia is a new eating disorder that has to do with when people are too obsessed with healthy eating:
“Is it possible to be too concerned about your health? Yes, and the consequences may surprise you.
Orthorexia is a condition that stems from an obsession with healthy eating. Though not officially an eating disorder, it can lead to anorexia nervosa, a truly life-threatening condition. Anorexics are obsessed with their weight and body image while the orthorexic is focused on health. That sounds righteous enough but in reality excessive focus on anything is pretty unhealthy all by itself.
So what does orthorexia look like? People with this condition have an unhealthy fixation with eating only healthy foods and avoiding at all costs those he or she may view as unhealthy. The bad foods could be those that contain artificial preservatives, colorings, flavorings, soy, wheat, carbohydrates, fats, meats, dairy . . . whatever you think is less than healthy.
What’s so bad about that, you wonder? After all, healthy eating is touted as a good thing, kind of like clean living and paying your taxes on time, right?
Well, yes and no.”
Eating Disorder Self Test. Take the EAT-26 self test to see if you might have eating disorder symptoms that might require professional evaluation. All answers are confidential.