I came across the word orthorexia while reading A.J. Jacob's latest release: Drop Dead Healthy earlier this week. I'd never heard of this type of eating disorder and was immmediately intrigued by it. I attempted to get a better definition by looking it looking it up in Merriam-Webster's dictionary but to my surprise- it wasn't even in the dictionary! Of course after exploring the web extensively, I finally found some information- there's not a lot written about it.
Most of us are quite familiar with what anorexia (self starvation to prevent weight gain), bulemia (binging and then purging) and compulsive overeating (food addiction- eating a large amout of food several times a day) are. But orthorexia? Pump your brakes and sound the alarm cause it's time to get informed!
It's an eating disorder that was discovered by Dr. Steven Bratman in 1997. Orthorexia is an unhealthy obsession with healthy foods. You might say how can this possibly be a bad thing when a high percentage of the American population is sedentary and overweight. Being obsessed with healthy food should actually be considered a good thing right?
An individual who has orthorexia won't consume anything that isn't healthy and can become so crazed about eating healthfully that the benefits that could be derived from it are negated by the stress of it all. Emphasis is placed on good, healthy foods-the goal is not necessarily starvation or weight loss. The food obsession-fetish generally starts out fairly simple. She may begin by avoiding a few unhealthy foods like processed foods or dairy products. Eventually she may eliminate complete food groups. This could potentially lead to malnutrition.
We all have foods that we "always" eat and foods that we "never" eat. And being concerned about what we fuel our bodies with is a completely wonderful thing. However, caution should be used to avoid going to the extremes with it.
Let's focus on reading nutrition labels and making smart healthy-balanced food choices. By doing it consciously, orthorexia can continue to be a word that is obsolete from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary.
Holla back and let me know what you find and what you think about this.
Most of us are quite familiar with what anorexia (self starvation to prevent weight gain), bulemia (binging and then purging) and compulsive overeating (food addiction- eating a large amout of food several times a day) are. But orthorexia? Pump your brakes and sound the alarm cause it's time to get informed!
It's an eating disorder that was discovered by Dr. Steven Bratman in 1997. Orthorexia is an unhealthy obsession with healthy foods. You might say how can this possibly be a bad thing when a high percentage of the American population is sedentary and overweight. Being obsessed with healthy food should actually be considered a good thing right?
An individual who has orthorexia won't consume anything that isn't healthy and can become so crazed about eating healthfully that the benefits that could be derived from it are negated by the stress of it all. Emphasis is placed on good, healthy foods-the goal is not necessarily starvation or weight loss. The food obsession-fetish generally starts out fairly simple. She may begin by avoiding a few unhealthy foods like processed foods or dairy products. Eventually she may eliminate complete food groups. This could potentially lead to malnutrition.
We all have foods that we "always" eat and foods that we "never" eat. And being concerned about what we fuel our bodies with is a completely wonderful thing. However, caution should be used to avoid going to the extremes with it.
Let's focus on reading nutrition labels and making smart healthy-balanced food choices. By doing it consciously, orthorexia can continue to be a word that is obsolete from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary.
Holla back and let me know what you find and what you think about this.
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