Orthorexia: An Unhealthy Obsession With Healthy Eatingcreated on 12/29/2010 01:45 pm At the beginning, the goal seems innocent, smart even: a vow to eat more whole grains, or more fruits and vegetables. But healthy eating can turn rigid and confining, wiping out whole categories of food one by one—first anything with additives, perhaps, then maybe nonorganic produce, and then another and another. It can become decidedly unhealthy. The focus on quality and purity can deteriorate into orthorexia, a term coined in 1996 by physician Steven Bratman to describe a "fixation on righteous eating." Like anorexia and bulimia, it can wreak serious damage on the health of someone trapped in the obsession."Orthorexia boils down to someone who is very, very concerned with eating what they consider the perfect diet," says Joy Jacobs, a clinical psychologist with the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine. "This is someone who takes healthy eating to an extreme and feels good about it. These people often have a sense of moral superiority." While others abuse their bodies, they know better. |
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