Orthorexia: Are you addicted to healthy eating?

Your Comments

• Emily wrote:

  May 15, 2009

  2009-09-22 10:48 AM

  dear Sarah this is not an article targeted at people who plan their meals it is targeted at people who obsess over what they are going to eat the next day it is talking about people who won't even eat eat anything with the slightest bit of sugar in it because it might be unhealthy it is someone who cant stand getting together with her friends because that means she might have to put something into her mouth that she considers "bad" i know... been there done that it sucks so before you start saying the article is stupid think about what it is getting at dieting and eating healthy is fine until it starts to ruin your life this article isn't talking about someone who refuses to eat a big mac at mcdonald's but someone who refuses to eat something that they are not 100% positive of what is in it

• Amanda wrote:

  May 15, 2009

  2009-09-22 10:49 AM

  Wow, what an eye opening article. I am so happy to see light being shed on eating disorders more and more often, and very intrigued to have read about this particular classification. I have been struggling with bulimia for six years now and it is by far THE hardest thing I've ever had to overcome. You can't just eliminate food out of your diet, like an alcoholic may eliminate alcohol or choose not to attend a party or go into a liquor store. I can trace back the start of my bulimia to a time when I didn't think I 'had a problem', but was dieting, obsessing over calories, eating healthy, ONLY eating healthy and I developed this 'all or nothing' mentality - where if I didn't eat 100% healthy, I may as well eat whatever I feel like and binge, eventually purge, and start over the next day on a 'clean slate'. This talk of obsessing over healthy food...... that was exactly how I started out. Gradually my flexibility and ease on myself became less and less, and soon I was so black and white in the way I regarded food and how it fit into my lifestyle that it is now so hard to turn that off and return to a normal, more relaxed mindset. I appreciate that more infomration is being shared because there are sooo many people out there with food related problems and there is not nearly enough information sharing, resources made available, nor education!!!

• Krystyna wrote:

  May 21, 2009

  2009-09-22 10:50 AM

  As a vegan, I am slightly offended that this article attempts to link my dietary choice to an eating DISORDER. Just what the vegan community needs, more links of the diet to deprivation and disorders of the mind. For me and the vegans I know, being vegan has never been about deprivation. To be a successful vegan you need to focus on the NEW foods that you will try, NOT on the foods you will no longer eat. Focusing on what you will cut out is a sure fire way to make the transition into veganism impossible. The diet is easier to follow than most people think, but it can be made harder by thoughts of "gonna miss this snickers bar" rather than "cant wait to try out this recipe for vegan chocolate chip cookies!" Since becoming vegan I have learned how to cook and found that I enjoy creating delicious meals very much. I've become creative in the kitchen and tasted things I never ate before. No more same ol same ol every night, now meals are interesting. As for the health aspect, it's a great bonus, but I didn't turn to it to deprive myself. Lucky for me that I can have my cake and it can be trans fat free too... As for caring about what you eat...well, I wish more people did. If because I have made a conscious decision to follow my heart on an ethical, environmental and health issue, I apparently have an eating disorder, then I can only hope that more people could also 'suffer' from this so called disorder of veganism.

• Sal wrote:

  May 15, 2009

  2009-09-22 10:50 AM

  This is the most ridiculous article i have ever read, it lists a bunch of signs for this so called "disorder" yet fails to mention any negative effects this will have on the "orthorexic" person. This so called disorder sounds a lot healthier than the general public's opinion obsession over food of the unhealthy variety. Unless this orthorexia can lead to self imposed starvation aka anorexia, i see no need to make up fake disorders

• Sarah wrote:

  May 14, 2009

  2009-09-22 10:50 AM

  What a ridiculous article! "Planing tomorrow's food today" as a sign of an eating disorder?! How else am I supposed to budget for gorceries without MEAL PLANNING!? And "they think food is the answer to their health concerns". Of COURSE it is! Try saying "food is NOT the answer" to a Type 2 diabetic, or someone with dangerous cholesterol or high blood pressure. That is the most ridiculous statement I have ever heard. Hippocrates even said " Let food be thy medicine." I am a thriving vegan raw foodist, I feel and look better than I ever have. My depression is gone, my weight issues are gone, I have the mental clarity and energy of a child. I am happier than I have ever been. if this is all a symptom of a "disease", I WANT that disease!!!

• Catherine wrote:

  May 14, 2009

  2009-09-22 10:51 AM

  having a fiance who lost 110 pounds by eating low carb and now watching him eat no-carb and obsessing over his weight really hits home... Meal planning is one thing but watching someone you love go from eating SAD (Standard American Diet) to cutting out refined carbs to eating very low carb to now eliminating ALL carbs has been very distressing. Glad there's a name for this,

• Sandra wrote:

  May 15, 2009

  2009-09-22 10:51 AM

  I agree with sarah and the other raw food vegans on the point that our health is reflected by what we eat, however I have relatives who are so obsessed by what they eat that no one wants to be around them. I don't think meat is "unhealthy" myself, if it is raised properly and fed a healthy diet as well. I take care with what I put in my body, but I don't talk about what I eat all the time. It is OK to enjoy life too.

• Sue wrote:

  May 14, 2009

  2009-09-22 10:51 AM

  I've known a number of women who display some of the signs of Orthorexia noted in this article. But there are also a couple more that can be added: - looking at what others are eating (i.e. in a cafeteria or restaurant setting) and voicing envy "I so wish I could have some spaghetti." - judging foods as "good" and "bad", and applying the same judgements to yourself when eating those foods: "I'm so bad, letting myself eat these chips", or "I'm going to be bad today and eat pasta" The point about not wanting to eat socially with others really hits home; when a behaviour begins to affect previously enjoyed activities, that is a sign that it's becoming problematic. As someone who was brought up to enjoy eating and sharing food, this is something I notice right away.

• rene wrote:

  May 14, 2009

  2009-11-18 3:00 PM

  ... obviously this article is addressing someone who is on the edge with their food intake not someone who is trying to budget. My boss/friend displays these traits and also tries to tell all around her what to eat. she will not eat with us but will come out to check our lunches then make comments about what we have with a disapproving attitude no matter how balanced it is. She lives on nuts and fish and stashes chocolate bars and candies in her desk and filing cabinet.

• Kristiana wrote:

  May 14, 2009

  2009-11-18 3:00 PM

  Firstly, i totally agree with Sarah (Raw Vegan) because i too am a Raw-foodist and Vegan and after reading only 2 paragraphs of this article i thought "I guess i'm an Orthorexic". Well, i'd rather be this way, thinking about health, concerned with what i am putting in my body than an over-weight, obese person who eats fast food and enjoys the good company around them while they eat together and eat themselves into a hospital bed! I think more articles need to be written on getting people 'healthy'. If the majority of the population ate Raw-Vegan, we wouldn't be considerred 'health-nuts'. Are Chimps considerred health-nuts because they eat mostly green veggies and some seeds/nuts??? NO, yet we share 99.7 % of genes with them and that is how our bodies are designs to eat. The article says "People think orthorexia will save them from getting old, from having bad days, from having bad things happen to them, just like any other eating disorder. But eating well can't protect you from those things."... YES i agree! Food is designed to give us energy and feed our cells. We need to feed ourselves healthy, living foods so our bodies, minds and systems work the way they were meant to and fight off the toxins and sickness's in the world! The article also says "But then they think food is the answer to their health concerns." It is! Diabetes has been cured with the Raw Food diet, heart conditions, cholesterol levels, ect. ect. ect. can all be prevented and helped if we only began to eat properly as a society!

• Ben wrote:

  May 14, 2009

  2009-11-18 3:01 PM

  This is a joke right? There is nothing wrong with eating nothing but healthy foods. We live in a really nutritionally wacked world and these kinds of articles are what keeps us from healing ourselves.

• c. wrote:

  May 14, 2009

  2009-11-18 3:01 PM

  I agree 100% with Sarah, and I will add that this article sounds like it was written by someone who eats their mayonaise with poutine.

• Sarah wrote:

  May 14, 2009

  2009-11-18 3:02 PM

  I'll take this article seriously when there exists some statistics for prevalence and prognosis and when it's recognized in the DSM. Since neither are available (and they don't even resort to the junk science catchphrase of "studies are underway"), I suggest 'orthorexia' might deserve an episode on Penn and Teller's show. The bottom line is that if someone's food habits make them unhappy, then they have a problem, and if not, they don't. Making up a name and set of symptoms that could fit everyone from those trying to recover from obesity to high-performance athletes to insecure suburb-dwellers isn't going to help anything, and it could very well hurt people who honestly want to improve their health through healthy eating by making them worry about the spectre of some made-up disease.

• Katrina Loughlean wrote:

  May 22, 2009

  2009-11-18 3:02 PM

  Sorry, but this article was a little skewed in my opinion. Planning tomorrows food? My god, I have been doing that for my family constantly. I do think that all teens go through this stage, some may need some counselling because of different problems, including anorexia, but not "all" have/or will have this new fad you are talking about. I am vegetarian/vegan...and so is my family. We are all healthy, and I am almost 60 years of age! I hardly think that this has overtaken my life...lol...but in some cases, it may...I am not an armchair expert. For those out there...what do you think about this?