Orthorexia: The extreme quest for a healthy diet

The pursuit for the healthiest diet continues. Just as I was finishing writing this blog post, a new study came out suggesting that both low-carb and high-carb diets may shorten lifespan. In the 1980s and ‘90s, we were following the low-fat trend. These days, the ketogenic diet and the very-low-carb diet are all the rage. And if you think there is controversy about the right amount of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins you should eat, the conversation can get downright ugly if we start talking about specific items like gluten. Research continues to look for insight into the best diet for humans. But the relentless focus on diet and health may lead some people to obsessively seek a perfect “utopian” diet, a condition called orthorexia. The difference between healthy eating and orthorexia Orthorexia, although not yet recognized as a disease, is the obsessive fixation on healthy food and healthy eating. People with orthorexia are often on a stringent diet and may have anxiety about how much they eat, how certain foods are prepared, and where those foods came from. This behavior has hints of obsessive-compulsive disorder and anorexia nervosa. Some people feel very guilty if they do not follow the rigid plans they originally designed to have a healthy diet. Their lives are too focused on healthy eating, and they hardly ever have dinner with friends. They prefer starvation to eating “impure” foods. The result is social isolation and hours spent preoccupied and anxious abou...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Behavioral Health Healthy Eating Mental Health Source Type: blogs