Orthorexia: what and why?

Sherryl L. Andaya

"Orthorexia is a reflection on a larger scale of the cultural perspective on 'eating cleanly,' eating ... healthfully, avoiding toxins — including foods that might have some 'super power,' " - Sandra Kronberg, founder and executive director of the Eating Disorder Treatment Collaborative outside New York City.

Now you may be asking yourself or Google while you’re reading this what exactly is Orthorexia and its symptoms why do people get sick with it? Orthorexia or Orthorexia Nervosa, according to an online blog published by Center for Discovery (2020), is an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy and clean foods. People who are suffering from Orthorexia are usually unable to eat anything that deemed not “pure” and obsessively follows a lot of “healthy lifestyle” bloggers and influences and has a very much concerning obsession with exercising as well as with checking the ingredients of the food they’re eating and their caloric content or amount. Orthorexia according to Thomas (2018) on her online article about Orthorexia on the website National Eating Disorders Association, was first coined or invented by Dr. Steven Bratman a physician and alternative medicine practitioner in the 1990s by combining the Greek word “Ortho” meaning “right” or “correct” and the more familiar eating disorder term Anorexia Nervosa.

Orthorexia, unfortunately has yet to be widely recognized and accepted as an eating-mental disorder around the world and even in the Philippines and is not an official DSM-5 diagnosis (Thomas, 2018) because “orthorexic” symptoms can occur in a lot of disordered eating, from anorexia to bulimia to a binge eating disorder and other more specified feeding or eating disorders. Fortunately though a lot of mental health professionals and eating disorder experts recognize and know this eating disorder despite it being unofficial and have even stated that it is a dangerous disorder and can very much have a harmful impact towards our bodies and health.

Now, why do we develop symptoms of Orthorexia? Orthorexia as stated by the White Swan Foundation (2015) is caused by a combination of environmental and psychological factors and additionally according to Discovery Contributer (2019), there is no exact or specific cause for Orthorexia Nervosa and there hasn’t been a lot of research done about it but Orthorexia as stated by Discovery Contributer can be caused by an initial pressure from the society or a society’s beauty standard to look “thin” or “petite” as well as because of an unhealthy obsession with social media most especially with “body” and “healthy lifestyle” related contents and an extreme desire to be able to have what we see on our social media platforms. What starts at first as an effort to eat healthy becomes an unhealthy obsession and that’s when Orthorexia Nervosa steps in.

What’s even more frustrating about Orthorexia is that we currently live in culture, lifestyle, and society where cutting out certain foods such as junk, fats, dairy, and etc. are commended by a lot of people and it’s because of this that a person with Orthorexia may be just identified (Wick, 2020) as a “health conscious” or “healthy living” person in the untrained eyes of the public and in turn prevent the person with Orthorexia from getting the proper help and treatment for their disorder or from even realizing that he or she already has an eating disorder and a really dangerous one that can malnutrition and other terrible physical effects at that.

Furthermore, according to a research done by Sarah McComb and Jennifer Mills (2019) about Orthorexia, McComb and Mills found that the rates for women and men who suffer from Orthorexia are equal but think that this disorder and other eating disorders mostly affect young women that are sadly unhealthily obsessed with remaining thin and eating healthy so as to remain “fit” or “suiting” of the society’s beauty standard and expectations of them as women. It’s worth to note though that again, Orthorexia has barely any researches done about it and it is quite difficult to assess just how common Orthorexia is in our society and amongst our population making it a bit hard for us to know whether we do have the disorder or not. Researches done on it also have varying results and percentages of people who have it (Petre, 2020) ranging from 6% to 90% for each study results and rates and as stated above, Orthorexia is not an official DSM-5 diagnosis but that doesn’t mean it is untreatable or should not be paid attention or given treatment for.

Orthorexia at the end of the day is still very much a harmful disorder that can not only negatively affect us physically but also socially wise, emotionally, and even psychologically hence the reason why just like other known eating disorders such as Bulimia, Anorexia Nervosa, and etc. Orthorexia should also be given more attention and properly researched most especially as we are progressing more to a world where we either for the better or for the worse, become more critical of what we eat and feed our bodies and flooded with beauty standards that are impossible to reach and simply just terrible marketing ploys of beauty and body related companies and products. Please do always remember though that a person with Orthorexia never chose to have it, Orthorexia Nervosa as stated by Center for Discovery is a disorder not a choice and instead of shaming people who have it, we should instead try to encourage and push them to receive proper treatment for it before it becomes too late and we regret not doing anything when we could’ve done something to help.

If you are a person who may be suffering from Orthorexia Nervosa or think that you are suffering from it, it is best and very much emphasized and recommended by all professionals that you consult with an expert or a doctor who deals with eating disorders so as to get the proper diagnosis and if ever proper treatment for your disorder and for people who have stigma or bias against disorders like these or against getting professional help for these disorders so as to anymore further damage, it’s 2020, it’s the 20th century and I think it’s about time we become more open to serious matters like these because by doing so, you and I don’t know just how many people we might be able to help and save just by being open and understanding of their struggles. Again, Orthorexia is a disorder not a choice.

References:

What is Orthorexia Nervosa: Symptoms, Causes, and Complications. (2020, May 27). Center For Discovery. https://centerfordiscovery.com/conditions/orthorexia/

Fulton, A. (2019, October 7). When Efforts To Eat “Clean” Become An Unhealthy Obsession. NPR.https://choice.npr.org/index.html?origin=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/10/07/ 766847274/when-efforts-to-eat-clean-become-an-unhealthy-obsession

Thomas, J. J. (2018, February 21). When “Healthy” Eating Becomes Harmful. National Eating Disorders Association. https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/blog/when-healthy-eating-becomesharmful

Discovery Contributer. (2019, December 17). What Causes Orthorexia Nervosa and Why Did I Develop this Disorder? Center For Discovery. https://centerfordiscovery.com/blog/what-causesorthorexia-nervosa-and-why-did-i-develop-this-disorder/

White Swan Foundation. (2015, July 24). Orthorexia – A new kind of eating disorder. https:/ /www.whiteswanfoundation.org/disorders/anxiety-and-related-disorders/orthorexia-a-new-kind-ofeating-disorder

York University. (2019, May 14). W hen does clean eating become an unhealthy obsession? New findings on who is at risk for orthorexia nervosa. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 10, 2020 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190514115822.htm

Sarah E. McComb, Jennifer S. Mills. Orthorexia nervosa: A review of psychosocial risk factors. Appetite, 2019; 140: 50 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2019.05.005

Petre, M. A. S. (2020, April 2). Orthorexia: When Healthy Eating Becomes a Disorder. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/orthorexia-nervosa-101

Wick, K. (2020, April 21). 8 Warning Signs of Orthorexia. Walden Eating Disorders Treatment. https://www.waldeneatingdisorders.com/blog/8-warning-signs-of-orthorexia/

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I at San Fernando Elementary School

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