An All New Eating Disorder; The Fine Line Between Eating Healthy, Looking Good and Simply Being Obsessive

Obsessive Weight Loss is not Healthy Weight Loss

Of course everyone wants to be healthy, active and implement a healthy diet into their lifestyle. However, as with everything in life, there is such thing as taking it too far. With the ever growing obsession in our world when it comes to nutrition and health, a new sort of eating disorder has arisen recently. Eating disorders have come full circle and it isn’t just about the unhealthy anymore. Orthorexia is a new disorder that has recently surfaced and comes about when someone has an obsessive fixation on eating healthy food.

Society's Obsession with Health

Society has become so intent on being thinner, having a better body and looking younger that it is sometimes all we think about, every minute of every day. Of course marketing companies and food product businesses are taking advantage of this and playing on our heartstrings in hopes of making just a little bit more profit. When it comes to Orthorexia statistics, there are not really any evident as of yet, as the disease is relatively new and often goes undiagnosed. It is known that close to five percent of our population suffer from other eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia.

A Sneaky Disorder

Orthorexia often goes undiagnosed because there is such a fine line between healthy eating and a healthy obsession. It can start by just making simple, positive changes in your life. Some sufferers begin by becoming a vegetarian and then slowly start cutting out more and more foods from their diet. That is why it can creep up on you, because it can often begin when people start of in a very good, healthy and positive place.

One of the most common progressions amongst people who suffer from Orthorexia is when they begin as a vegetarian, then become a vegan then turn to ingesting only raw foods and simply start thinking and obsessing about food every waking minute of the day. It gets to a point where it can take over your entire life, from counting the calories in a single cracker or insisting you skip out on parties because you know there will be a snack spread.

Signs of Possible Orthorexia

There are a few signs that may become obvious if you, or someone you love, may be headed down the track towards Orthorexia. They include;

-Obsessing about everything eaten
-Reading books every day about health and dieting
-Looking good becomes a priority above all else, including family or a career
-Refusing to eat in social atmospheres
-Lying about possible food allergies to get out of eating
-Spending 4 or more hours a day thinking about food that is consumed
-Caring more about the calories in food rather than the pleasure
-Continually engaging in stricter diets
-Feeling intense guilt when straying away from a diet
-Feeling superior to other people that eat less healthy

The Mind of Someone Suffering from Orthorexia

Just as with most other eating disorders, Orthorexia revolves around control issues. People feel that Orthorexia will keep them from aging, prevent bad days and allow them to control their lives in an uncontrollable world. The truth is that eating well simply cannot protect you from all of those things. This is why it can spiral so out of control, because other people will notice before the actual sufferer realizes what is going on. Orthorexia can only truly be diagnosed and fixed once the person suffering from it can acknowledge what is going on. As with most eating disorders, you cannot help the person until they are willing to receive the help that you are offering.

How to Try and Resolve Orthorexia

One of the main steps that will help cope with the issue is defining the difference between physical hunger and emotional hunger. Mediation and relaxation techniques can also improve the body's ability to fight off all eating disorders such as Orthorexia. It is really about finding the perfect balance when it comes to your healthy life. It is of utmost importance to teach yourself, or the ones you love, that you need to love your body, eat healthy foods and become active, but to not take it so far that it becomes an obsession. It is a truly fine line, that can be hard to tip toe, but it can make all the difference between thinking that you are healthy and actually being truly healthy.