Healthy Eating: Obsessing over eating - HealthyLife magazine ...

Too Pure

When healthy eating becomes a deadly fixation

By Laurie Lynn Fischer/HealthyLife

It may seem paradoxical, but the desire to eat healthy can kill you. So says Colorado physician Steven Bratman, author of Health Food Junkies. He coined the phrase ?orthorexia nervosa,? pairing the Greek prefix for ?correct? with the same suffix as the eating disorder anorexia nervosa.

(Photo: ? iStockphoto.com/Pixsooz)

?It?s being so obsessed with eating healthy food that it begins to harm you in other ways,? says Dr. Bratman (orthorexia.com). ?I get one story a week about people dying from orthorexia.?

Orthorexia isn?t a medical diagnosis. Usually, it merely affects quality of life, says Bratman.

?Intense diets in many ways are more disruptive than a drug,? Bratman says. ?Drugs have side effects. A diet that socially isolates you is a fantastic psychological side effect. Somehow you?re ignoring the fact you?re paying a huge price for what you?re doing. The illusion of control is a big part of it.?

One Westerlo mother imposed a severe diet upon her son to try and help his ADD and food sensitivities. ?He wasn?t allowed to eat gluten, cow milk products, corn, soy, egg whites, peanuts or mustard,? says the mother, who requested anonymity. ?It set him apart at home, school, restaurants, family gatherings and parties. He felt left out and went overboard whenever he cheated. My husband didn?t buy into it and fed him forbidden foods. This caused arguments. The diet did more harm than good.?

The same brain chemicals that regulate appetite also influence emotion, mood and the propensity for depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, explains physician Sharon Alger-Mayer, a clinical nutritionist with Albany Medical Center.

?Individuals with a genetic tendency to be anxious or obsessive compulsive ? if they start to control their food, they?re much more at risk for having the eating restrictions start to snowball than people who don?t have that genetic makeup,? she says.

Orthorexia can have serious health consequences, she says. ?I?ve seen people with extremely rigid eating patterns,? she says. ?They can be iron deficient or low in zinc and other nutrients from animal proteins. They may have hair loss or lose their menstrual cycle. They don?t meet the full criteria of anorexia nervosa. They don?t see themselves as being too heavy. They may not start wanting to be thin. They have a goal of being more fit and healthy. They want to be very careful about the foodstuffs that they put in their body. If the level of restriction drops below a safe range, it gets out of control and, in fact, dangerous. It starts to take on a life of its own. It becomes so rigid and so compulsive, they can?t break out of the cycle.?

(Photo: ? iStockphoto.com/Julija Sapic)

Orthorexia and anorexia have the same motivation ? controlling what goes in your mouth ? says Clinical Social Worker Terri Gerber of Niskayuna, who is certified in the treatment of eating disorders. ?Healthy eating is great, but if you are a perfectionist, be careful!? she says. ?Remember, everything in moderation!?

Gerber describes one patient ? a high school senior ? who was unconcerned about weight or body image, but was a strict vegan. She lost weight, her periods stopped, and she grew very ill.

?This person regained her weight but remained very rigid and narrow with what she ate,? Gerber says.? ?She went to camp and had to bring her own food.? Everybody else ate what was there. When she went to look for colleges, she was looking for one with a cafeteria that would serve vegan selections.?

Treatment for orthorexics and anorexics is similar, Gerber says. ?It means restoring their weight and, if female, their menstrual cycle,? she says. ?They must learn to talk back to the distorted thinking that is part of an eating disorder or they risk relapse. They must also learn healthy coping and thinking skills for all the times in life that we, as human beings, can?t be in control. They have to learn how to deal in a healthy way with fear and inadequacy, which are normal feelings that are part of the human experience.?

It?s right to want to eat healthy, just don?t get carried away, agrees Bratman, who used to be a health food fanatic himself.

?Eating healthy food is obviously not a problem,? he says. ?That?s absurd. My idea of healthy diet ? don?t buy a whole lot of processed foods. Eating fruits and vegetables, along with other stuff, is a good idea. Be reasonable and don?t worry about it too much. You shouldn?t be fat. You should exercise. You shouldn?t be spending much of your life thinking about it, or you?re postponing living. You?re not in the moment. You?re not involved with real things like loving people or being creative.?

David Guzman, program director for Method Fitness in Manhattan, eats conscientiously except for one weekly cheat day. He advises clients to do the same.

?Some of them can become very obsessive about eating healthy,? he says. ?It?s OK to be a health food nut, as long as you give yourself a reward once in a while. If you don?t build in that release valve, you can drive yourself crazy.?

Sources: Steven Bratman and Kasi Howard

ORTHOREXIA CHECKLIST

Are you orthorexic? See if these apply to you.

1. Are you avoiding social situations for dietary reasons?

2. Do you have extreme weight loss or other physical symptoms?

3. Do you fear foods you perceive to be unhealthy?

4. Is food quality more important to you than flavor?

5. Do you think about food for hours every day?

6. Does virtuous eating enhance your self-esteem?

7. Has your quality of life declined as your food quality increased?

8. Does eating properly make you feel like you?re in control?

9. Have you given up foods you used to like in order to eat healthy?

10. Do you feel guilty when you depart from your regimen?

11. Do you feel superior to those who don?t follow your diet?

12. Do you eat alone?

Sources: L.M. Donini, D. Marsili, M.P. Graziani, M. Imbriale and C?Cannella.

For one woman?s take on obsession, see our My Word essay here.

Source: http://blog.timesunion.com/healthylifemagazine/healthy-eating-obsessing-over-eating/2776/

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