If you are restricting food and taking a healthy diet to the extreme, you may not have anorexia nervosa. Your eating disorder may be orthorexia.
While orthorexia is not an official eating disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, it does have a few characteristics that separate it from other eating disorders.
What is orthorexia?
In a nutshell, orthorexia is an obsession with eating healthy. The literal translation of the term is “fixation on righteous eating.”
While most eating disorders can be linked to our societal obsession with dieting, orthorexia has a direct connection to diet culture. It operates on the idea that some foods are “good” and others are “bad.” Though the “clean eating” diet came onto the scene years after the term orthorexia was first coined, it has played a major role in triggering the eating disorder.
The clean eating fad, which began in 2007, has spread across blogs and social media and has helped to fuel the rise of orthorexia among affluent young Internet users. This phenomenon is an important reminder of the dangers of taking health advice from (often unqualified) individuals online.
What are the warning signs of orthorexia?
NEDA lists these warning signs and symptoms of orthorexia:
-
Compulsive checking of ingredient lists and nutritional labels
-
An increase in concern about the health of ingredients
-
Cutting out an increasing number of food groups (all sugar, all carbs, all dairy, all meat, all animal products)
-
An inability to eat anything but a narrow group of foods that are deemed ‘healthy’ or ‘pure’
-
Unusual interest in the health of what others are eating
-
Spending hours per day thinking about what food might be served at upcoming events
-
Showing high levels of distress when ‘safe’ or ‘healthy’ foods aren’t available
-
Obsessive following of food and ‘healthy lifestyle’ blogs on Twitter and Instagram
-
Body image concerns may or may not be present
How do you know if you have orthorexia?
You might not be able to identify the symptoms above in yourself. Here are a few questions to ask yourself that can help you figure out if you have orthorexia:
Do you…
Check the menu before you agree to go to a restaurant?
Consume ‘wellness’ and ‘clean eating’ content online?
Have nutrition labels memorized?
Always check the nutrition facts before eating?
Is orthorexia a type of anorexia?
The restricting behaviors that show up in people with orthorexia are similar to those that individuals with anorexia nervosa engage in. The difference with anorexia is that clients are usually fixated on their body image as well as what they eat.
How does orthorexia affect the body?
Because of the severe restriction and lack of important nutrients, orthorexia affects the body in much the same way that anorexia does. Orthorexia puts you at risk for heart failure, slowed digestion, constipation, sleep issues, difficulties with concentration, osteoporosis, loss of menstrual periods, hair loss, and frequent fainting.
According to Kindful Body’s Casey Kettering, RD, who specializes in eating disorders, “It often surprises clients that what started out as a desire to take care of one’s health can become an unhealthy obsession with physical complications. Helping clients become more flexible in their eating is key to recovery.”
If you think you have orthorexia it’s important to work with an eating disorder therapist to help you work through anxieties and underlying issues as well as a medical doctor to monitor your physical health. Working with a dietitian can also help you repair your relationship with food. Healthy eating is manageable, but it looks different from the diets you see influencers promoting online. Eating healthy must involve flexibility, and should be attainable no matter where you are or what food options are available. Assigning moral value to food will only complicate your relationship with it. In a healthy lifestyle that nourishes your body, all foods fit.
To begin working with an eating disorder dietitian or therapist via telehealth in California, contact us for a consultation.
