Orthorexia on the Rise

Common eating disorders include anorexia and bulimia, but cases of orthorexia are on the rise. Individuals suffering from orthorexia are obsessed with eating healthy food.

No one ever said eating healthy was wrong or to be criticized, but when it takes over your life, how you are thinking and what you are doing, it becomes a problem.

Wellness dietitian Beth Auguste said, “It’s subclinical disordered eating, so it’s not something that has a clinical diagnosis code, but it’s widely recognized in the disordered eating community…Orthorexia can be generally categorized as a preoccupation with health eating and a fixation on the purity of food.” Auguste also said, “It’s so hard to spot that even professionals can have trouble spotting it – they kind of question, like, is this person just really healthy, or is {it} bordering on a disorder.”

Some signs indicating an orthorexia condition include, having extreme food restrictions, not related to allergies, interference with your social life in that you’re so stressed about food in social settings that you turn down plans, you obsessively check ingredient lists and nutrition labels and spend hours researching and planning meals, or if you feel anxious, guilty and/or nervous when you do eat something that breaks your food rules.

If you feel you are experiencing any of these symptoms, speak to you health care provider, a dietitian or a mental health professional.

By - FZ