Is Orthorexia An Eating Disorder?
What is Orthorexia?
Orthorexia is another form of an eating disorder that I feel needs to be addressed. Orthorexia is a term used to describe an unhealthy obsession with "clean" or healthy eating. Unfortunately, with social media being ever so saturated with diet culture and messages from people on what is “okay” and “not okay” to eat, orthorexic tendencies are often overlooked. Orthorexia is a disorder, not a choice. Although some individuals have a higher risk than others, you did not wake up one morning and decide to have orthorexia, rather it develops overtime due to a combination of negative behaviors. When an individual’s concept of identity and self-worth are wrapped up in such strict, unhealthy behaviors, the pressure to achieve “perfection”, resulting in the continuation of the disorder.
Orthorexia may cause social isolation for many people because they don't feel they can go out and treat themselves to a meal with friends or family. There is fear behind eating anything that may be processed, contain unknown ingredients or not prepared by them.
Signs of Orthorexia:
Feelings of guilt or shame when unable to adhere to diet standards
Extreme feelings of guilt or shame when consuming unhealthy foods
Avoidance of food prepared or brought by others
Allowing food to revolve around one’s daily schedule
Obsession with avoiding foods that contain animal products, fats, sugar, salt, food coloring or dyes and pesticides
An extreme limitation on food groups
Refusing to go out to eat or allowing oneself to be around other types of food
Severe anxiety regarding how food is prepared
Avoidance of social events involving food for fear of being unable to comply with diet
Orthorexia vs. Healthy Eating
Ensuring you are eating a well balanced, varied diet is important, however, there can become a point in which it becomes the only thing that matters and starts to control your life. Coming from a past of orthorexic tendencies, I would never allow myself to eat meals with my family because I had to eat my “clean” and “perfectly portioned” meal. To me, that was RIDICULOUS! It breaks my heart to think I was so obsessed with having the “perfect diet'“ that I couldn’t eat homemade cooking from a loved one.
You don't need to live like this.
In fact, you DON'T need to eat "clean foods" or what you perceive as the “perfect diet” in order to be healthy. Perfection does not exist. There is not a magic number of fruits and veggies you have to have in a day. There is also not a limit on how many treats you can have in a week.
Food does not have morals. If you eat something you think is “bad” or “forbidden”, you are NOT a bad person. Food has no power over you. YOU have power over you. The guilt or shame that stems from eating anything not on your safe foods list is most likely not about the food. It is about the way you feel about your body. There is something going on with a self-esteem issue that should be addressed instead.
Please understand that there are no "good" or "bad" foods. Food’s sole purpose is to provide us with ENERGY and CALORIES to live a full, nourished life. If you never go out with friends or family just so you can eat your safe foods and workout all the time, are you truly living?
If your body is craving a real slice of pizza (not cauliflower pizza, what….) HAVE SOME. There does not have to be a substitution. You do not have to make everything low calorie, low carb, or low fat. Listen to your body and if it's craving something, don't restrict yourself of that. Diet industry has used so many fear tactics about food, creating that guilt for people when they have a good they truly enjoy. Diet industry profits when people fall for their cheap weight loss programs and short term fixes, yet they do not teach people how to have a healthy relationship with ALL foods.
Life is too short to be obsessed with something that shouldn't have much thought behind it.
