Obsessed with what you eat? You might be Orthorexic

By Jagriti Arora

What did one Orthorexic say to another?

I like my women/men like I like my food: organic, no sugar, no fat.

Popular wisdom dictates that too much of anything is bad. “What’s wrong with people who scrutinise labels at the supermarket, though? So they eat healthy, and it’s apparently a disorder. So what? Do you sentence them to a rehab—a week in McDonald’s, maybe?”—You’d wonder. Although the questions are rhetorical, their answers are elusive. Composed of two Greek words, ortho (correct) and orexis (appetite), Orthorexia Nervosa is a disorder where an individual becomes overly obsessed with what they are eating.

Understanding the condition

To fully comprehend the condition, it’s imperative to understand what bracket it falls under. Is Orthorexia Nervosa, therefore, an eating disorder or a mental disorder? According to research published by NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association, USA), it shares characteristics with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), anorexia and addiction. All of these are far from just eating disorders.

Although Orthorexia Nervosa starts with an intent to improve one’s nutrition, it gradually evolves into an eat-this-and-delete-that approach to food consumption. There’s no doubt about how important healthy eating is. However, the extreme end of “perceived mindfulness” often leads to the complete elimination of too many food items, which can lead to nutrient deficiency, weak immunity and poor health. Orthorexia is often said to have ill-effects on one’s social life too. Literature around Orthorexia reveals that it’s time to seek helps when food choices begin to dictate one’s feelings; when time spent thinking about food, planning meals perusing food labels exceeds time spent living; when individuals start avoiding social situations where food is problematic.

How do I tell if I am Orthorexic?

With green-blending and mindful-eating flooding our social media timelines, how do we tell we don’t have Orthorexia Nervosa? Karin Kratiba, from NEDA (National Eating Disorder Association, USA) lays down a few indicators. According to her, spending more time on food than on loving and living, constantly looking for ways in which a particular food is unhealthy, guilt and self-loathing as a result of straying from diet, feeling “in-charge” of the situation when diet is right, not being able to appreciate a meal cooked with love by others if it’s unhealthy—are all signs of Orthorexia Nervosa.

The diet of an Orthorexic is, obviously, devoid of certain nutrients. The effects of Orthorexia Nervosa are more socially, than corporally, apparent. For instance, Orthorexics may isolate themselves from certain social situations because they tend to plan their lives around food. Additionally, they may also lose the ability to listen to their bodies and eat intuitively. They may not realise when they are hungry and when they are full. In this fashion, although healthy eating starts with mindful-eating, orthorexia transcends mindfulness. Many might go overboard and begin hating vegetarians and vegans. In this light, it’s imperative to understand what Orthorexia Nervosa isn’t. While vegetarians, vegans, gluten-allergics do maintain a strict diet, they’re not necessarily Orthorexic.

Orthorexia Nervosa, as a mental condition, is strikingly similar to Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia has been around since 323 BC, albeit as religious self-starvation. The motivation transitioned to body image and self-representation during the 1800s. Although both the disorders entail an unhealthy obsession with strict diets and food-related topics, their fundamental driving factors are different. While Anorexia is characterised by an obsession with how food impacts body appearance, orthorexia is driven by a focus on how food impacts perceived health

Treatment

Often Orthorexia co-occurs with other mental disorders such as Depression, OCD, Bipolar Disorder, Panic and Anxiety Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Substance Abuse Disorder, and Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. According to Psycom.net (an online website about psychology), Orthorexics may benefit from talk therapy sessions, nutritional counselling and meal support, neuro-feedback and medications. Anti-anxiety and anti-depressants are often prescribed to ease symptoms that the condition entails. Psychotherapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) are two kinds of talk therapy and neuro-feedback, which help in altering brainwaves that affect moods and behaviours. It’s also been said that sticking to the treatment is seminal, even when one starts feeling “better” since remedy to this condition is often organic and subject to exhibited patterns. With some help and a proper planning, one can get past this condition.

Featured Image Source: Visual Hunt