The Orthorexia Is the obsession to eat healthy. It is a lifestyle that begins with good intentions to eat healthily, but which can lead to the creation of a deranged monster.
The term ortorexia was coined by Dr. Steve Bratman when he published an article for the Yoga Journal in 1997. He explained his frustration at not finding a universal theory for perfect diet and his disappointment at having known"real imbalances healthy nutrition".
Bratman understood that such an obsession was such that the result was a pathological disorder by eating the right foods. The name derives from 'anorexia nervosa', which means without appetite, to modify it by the Greek prefix 'orthos', which means correct. That is, the right appetite.
Although orthorexia nervosa is not listed as a disorder in the DSM-V of the American Psychological Association (APA) or any other authoritative source, it could be defined as obsessive-compulsive behavior by consumption, of what the individual believes they are healthy food.
Unlike the bulimia wave anorexy , In which the purpose is to regulate the amount of food ingested, orthorexia focuses on quality and benefit.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 28% of the Western population could suffer from this disorder, with women, adolescents and athletes most likely to suffer from it.
Diagnosis
Bratman together with Thom Dunn, a doctorate in The University of Northern Colorado (USA), developed a series of criteria to diagnose orthorexia, being classified as follows:
- Criterion A : Emotional distress and exaggerated when it comes to eating healthy, being perceived as an ideal health behavior. It follows that:
- Compulsive behavior and mental preoccupation with diets that promote optimal health.
- Exaggerated fear of illness, personal impurity, negative physical sensations, anxiety or embarrassment.
- Exaggerated restriction of diet, eliminating entire groups of foods. It usually results in weight loss (even if it is not the end purpose).
- Criterion B : Concern and Compulsive Behavior:
- Malnutrition, excessive weight loss or other medical complications due to strict diet.
- Social, academic or labor deterioration due to the behaviors linked to the diet.
- Image and excessively positive self-esteem, for the satisfaction of the fulfillment of the alimentary conduct.
To be able to check these criteria, Bratman developed a simple test based on questions with 'yes' or 'no' answers to determine if he had orthorexia or not. If you answered affirmatively 4 or 5 answers, it means that the individual should relax more his attitude regarding the food.
In the case of making full or almost full affirmative answers, the test understands that the person suffers a full-time obsession with eating healthy foods. The questions are:
- Do you spend three or more hours a day thinking about your diet?
- Do you plan your meals several days in advance?
- Do you have more consideration for the nutritional value of food than for the pleasure of consuming it?
- Has the quality of your life diminished as the quality of your diet has increased?
- Have you become a very strict person with yourself lately?
- Does your self-esteem increase because you eat healthily?
- Have you given up on foods you used to consume in order to eat only the"right"foods?
- Is your diet causing you to distance yourself from family and friends?
- Do you feel guilty when you skip your diet?
- Do you feel at peace with yourself when you eat healthy?
Symptoms of orthorexia
Part of the controversy about this phenomenon is because there is a blurred line between healthy eating and orthorexia nervosa. This delimits much to evaluate that symptoms are the most successful to pigeonhole in this disease.
According to experts in the field, we can recognize people who begin to suffer the effects of this disorder because they usually begin to limit from their diet those processed foods with preservatives, artificial colorings, antibiotics or pesticides and transgenic foods.
Subsequently, the restriction passes to products such as eggs, dairy products, sugars or red meats. This begins to affect the individual, since your body is deprived of many of the nutrients and minerals (calcium, iron) necessary for its proper functioning.
Malnutrition is not the only symptom. The attitude of the person begins to vary and develops a pedantic and arrogant personality, which results in a social isolation, which little seems to care.
In extreme situations, the affected individual begins to neglect their social and work activities because of the importance of food in their life. These symptoms can be:
- Dedicate to organize the diet, with a planning exceeding three hours.
- Move far from home to find certain products.
- Thoroughly analyze the components of food.
- Give up appointments or social gatherings for not consenting to eat out.
- Spend a lot of time teaching people about eating habits.
- Problems of anxiety or stress For being unable to meet their food expectations.
Finally, all this results in physiological problems that affect in developing malnutrition, anorexia, osteoporosis , thyroid , hypochondria , Cardiovascular problems, mental illnesses or daily problems such as loss of friendships, poor relationships with relatives, dismissals at work or exclusion from certain social areas.
Causes
The obesity , One of the most worrisome global pandemics of this century, for all the diseases that derive from it, has promoted that nutrition takes great importance in medicine as a natural remedy to avoid these evils.
Nutrition is becoming more relevant in the media and in the network, being quite easy to get information on diets, cooking recipes, food benefits or damages, etc.
Although it may be fairly reliable information because it is signed by dieticians or nutritionists, this constant bombardment becomes a double-edged sword. The person may obsess about fulfilling each and every one of these tips and carry them out to the end, even though it is damaging to their physical or mental health.
In turn, it has been observed that some people who have suffered anorexia nervosa, when recovering, begin to gradually include natural or organic foods, but soon results in orthorexia.
Treatment
Within the scientific community there is some controversy about whether the concept acted out by Bratman can be considered a pathology. As mentioned above, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) does not record it as a disorder and therefore there are no official therapies to treat the case.
If we accept orthorexia as a disorder, it may require interdisciplinary support from nutritionists and dietitians with psychologists to combat it.
In an article published on the English portal dailymail, Dr. Markey stated that"often negative feeding patterns, such as orthorexia, could be linked to depression Addictions and even anxiety disorders , Like the Obsessive-compulsive disorder ". Markey himself proposed as a solution the Cognitive-behavioral therapy Or through pharmacological medication.
In any case, a method of prevention is to influence children's food education at an early age by sending them messages of tolerance towards oneself and others and making them understand that canons of beauty should not influence a stereotyped behavior pattern
Bibliography
- Bratman S (2001) Health Food Junkies: Orthorexia Nervosa: Overcoming the Obsession with Healthful Eating
- Dunn, T. M & Bratman, S. (2016). On orthorexia nervosa: A review of the literature and proposed diagnostic criteria. Eating Behaviors, 21, 11 -17
- Rochman, B. (2010). Orthorexia: Can Healthy Eating Be a Disorder?. Com, Feb 12. Retrieved 2010-02-12.