- Orthorexia is a disordered pattern of eating where individuals have a preoccupation/obsession with healthy eating. This is more extreme than other individuals’ desires to eat “better,” “eat organic,” etc. because it impacts an individual’s functioning.
- Even though it is not a formal diagnosis in the DSM-5, it contributes to significant distress for individuals and often interferes with social and professional interactions.
- Individuals with orthorexia often experience:
- Fixation on food quality and purity
- A desire to maximize the health benefits of foods
- There may or may not be an emphasis on weight or body shape
- Feelings of anguish when not eating “healthfully”
- Obsessiveness with planning and preparing healthy meals
- A sense of superiority over others regarding diet and food intake
- Changes to where they will purchase food or where they dine in/get take-out from based on perceived food quality
- A distorted sense of feeling clean or polluted
- A drive for dietary “perfection”
- Avoidance of:
- Artificial colors, flavors or preservatives
- Pesticides or genetic modification
- Fat, sugar or salt
- Animal or dairy products
- Other ingredients considered to be unhealthy
- Other anxiety disorders, OCD, or rigidity in thinking
- Concerns because of food allergies leading to avoidance of foods without formal medical advice
- Noticeable increase in consumption of supplements, herbal remedies or probiotics
- Individuals can experience medical complications of restriction of specific food groups and nutrients leading to nutritional deficiencies, Nutritional Deficiencies, anemia, focus and concentration/thinking challenges, low heart rate and other physical effects of restriction if also losing weight, bone changes or loss (osteopenia or osteoporosis).
Orthorexia
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