Orthorexia Nervosa: When Healthy Eating Becomes an Obsession

Orthorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that involves a fixation on healthy eating to such a high level that it begins to affect other aspects of a person’s life.

It is true that healthy eating is fundamental to our well-being, but turning concern about food into an obsession has negative consequences. In some cases, orthorexia may be associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or other eating disorders. Health line.

The term “orthorexia” was first used in 1997 by American physician Steve Bratman and comes from the Greek words “orthos”, meaning “correct”, and “orexis”, meaning “appetite”. However, a more effective translation would be “correct diet”.

Unlike other eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, orthorexia nervosa is concerned with the nutritional quality of food rather than its quantity. The intention of those suffering from this disorder is to be healthy and not necessarily to be thin.

Medicine has begun to recognize orthorexia as a disease, but the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization (WHO) have not yet officially recognized it as an eating disorder.

Although they are not yet officially recognized, there are some signs that, when taken together, may indicate that a person has orthorexia nervosa. Symptoms of the disorder may include an intense fear of foods considered “unhealthy,” an obsession with food (even to the point of meticulously reading food labels and nutritional charts), an inability to deviate from a certain eating style or restrictive diet without some form of anxiety, and still devoting so much time to organizing healthy eating that it impacts social and professional life, for example. Often, people with orthorexia also feel that their self-worth depends on their ability to carefully follow a lifestyle they consider healthy. Health line.