The challenge of recognizing orthorexia

Many people are unaware that there is another eating disorder besides bulimia and anorexia. Orthorexia is a condition in which a person becomes obsessed with eating healthy food, though they're not usually concerned with losing weight. While that might sound virtuous, it can in fact be harmful to their health if the diet they've adopted isn't actually healthy.

The Tampa Bay Times recently detailed the case of Patty, a woman whose orthorexia ended up dramatically affecting her quality of life as she became more obsessive-compulsive about her eating habits. She began reducing the number of foods she could eat to four, a choice which had a tremendous impact on her social life, as she couldn't spend time with friends for fear of being tempted by other foods.

As the source notes, these disorders are difficult to treat, as those who are engaged in orthorexic behavior don't believe they are doing anything harmful to their health or mental well-being. This behavior is often reinforced by fad diets, which encourage adherents to adopt extreme behaviors like cutting out all carbs or all fat from their diet and relying on artificial sweeteners and protein supplements.

In the end, flexible and moderate eating habits are key to living a healthy life and building better relationships, but many people struggle to achieve this. These individuals and their families may want to consider seeking eating disorder treatment from Fairwinds Treatment Center. Our facility provides an effective dual diagnosis program for patients that focuses on helping them overcome the psychological disorders that are leading them to practice physically and mentally destructive habits. For more information on our eating disorder programs, contact us today at (727) 449-0300 or (800) 226-0301.