The Harms of Orthorexia - Can You Be Too Healthy?
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Is it possible to be too healthy? If you would have asked me this when I was in school to become a dietitian, I would have said no, you cannot be too healthy. I thought my future job would be helping people eat as healthy as possible!
As it turns out, it is possible to be too healthy. In fact, there is a name for this - it is known as orthorexia.
If you’re new here, hello and welcome! My name is Hannah and I am a non-diet dietitian here to help you improve your relationship with your food and finally find food freedom.
In this blog we will cover:
What is orthorexia?
How to know if healthy eating has become orthorexia
How is orthorexia treated?
The role of wellness culture
How to pursue wellness without the disordered habits
What is orthorexia?
Orthorexia, also know as orthorexia nervosa, is a form of disordered eating that involves an unhealthy obsession with being “healthy”. Although not yet formally recognized as a formal eating disorder, orthorexia is still very serious and can have similar mental and physical outcomes to eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa.
People with orthorexia may find it difficult to grasp the concepts of “balance” and “flexibility. They may succumb to “all or nothing” and “black and white” thinking, which may also apply to many different areas of their life.
Orthorexia behaviors are frequently praised for how "healthy" they are, which encourages the person to continue. In fact, orthorexia is often glamorized, especially in wellness culture.
How to know if healthy eating has become orthorexia
There area few tell-tale signs that the pursuit of “health” has become disordered eating in disguise.
Compulsive checking of ingredient lists and nutritional labels.
An increase in concern about the health of ingredients.
Cutting out an increasing number of food groups (all sugar, all carbs, all dairy, all meat, all animal products, etc.).
An inability to eat anything but a narrow group of foods that are deemed ‘healthy’ or ‘pure’.
Unusual interest in the health of what others are eating.
Spending hours per day thinking about what food might be served at upcoming events.
Showing high levels of distress when ‘safe’ or ‘healthy’ foods aren’t available.
Obsessive following of food and ‘healthy lifestyle’ pages on social media.
Please note that this list is not a substitute for medical care and diagnosis, nor is it an exhaustive list of what orthorexia behaviors entail. You do not need to experience all of these symptoms to have orthorexia.
How is orthorexia treated?
Although orthorexia is not yet recognized as an eating disorder with formal diagnostic criteria, treatment of orthorexia may involve an interdisciplinary team to address the disorder’s complexity. This may include a registered dietitian, a mental health therapist, and a medical doctor.
Treatment of orthorexia may involve weight restoration, as needed, along with exposure to fear foods to alleviate stress and anxiety around eating. In severe cases, inpatient eating disorder treatment may be warranted.
The role of wellness culture
Wellness culture is a set of values that links wellness to moral goodness. Wellness culture states that if we aren’t “well” and “healthy”, then we are of lower status and are not as worthy of care and respect as those who meet the ever-changing standards of wellness.
Wellness culture and diet culture have many similarities.
Both state that thinness = health, higher status, and moral goodness.
Both are guilty of classifying foods as "good" or "bad".
Both involve judgement of those who don't meet the supposed definition of "health".
Wellness culture tells us that we are solely responsible for our health and well-being. It rarely acknowledges that it takes a lot of privilege and money to meet the standards of well-being that have been set. When you tell people that they need to be bettering themselves but don't talk about the things they can't control, this leads to a lot of self-criticism. This goes hand-in-hand with orthorexia, where individuals may feel like they are never doing enough, leading to further food restriction and intense exercise. Hustle culture and perfectionism are also a huge component of wellness culture. Many people stuck in the wellness culture hamster wheel suffer from anxiety of rest.
Wellness culture also involves shame towards those who don't have access to "approved" foods and wellness approaches. Again, this leads to self criticism, judgement, and people feeling like they aren't enough if they don't match the picture of "wellness".
It is clear that wellness culture aids the contribution to the development of disordered eating and eating disorders, including orthorexia. While it may seem like pursuing wellness is admirable and for the best, it tends to have the opposite outcome.
To learn more about the harms of wellness culture, I recommend the book The Wellness Trap by Christy Harrison.
How to pursue wellness without the disordered habits
Listen, I am not saying that it is automatically disordered to incorporate wellness habits into your life. It is the extremes, the food restriction, the misinformation, and the judgement of others and ourselves that has got to go.
These are the steps I recommend to pursue wellness without the side of restriction and food guilt.
Identify your intentions behind your choices and purchases. Have realistic expectations. Remember that "perfection" doesn't exist.
Check your sources and have some healthy cynicism. Who is promoting that wellness diet/product? What are their credentials? Are they receiving compensation for what they are saying/selling?
Detox your social media. Here’s how.
Acknowledge that people come in all different shapes and sizes and of different ethnic, genetic, and cultural backgrounds. Diet and exercise cannot overpower genetics and environmental factors. Different people have different dietary needs.
Incorporate gentle nutrition. Ditch the "all or nothing" mentality.
Bottom line - can you be too healthy?
It is possible to be “too healthy”. An obsession with physical health can have a very negative impact on our mental health.
I think it is great that so many people are prioritizing their well-being. Pursuing wellness is not inherently harmful, but it absolutely can be. Remember your intentions and to be a little bit cynical of new trends.
Lastly, I want to remind you that mental health is health. Your diet and exercise routine is not healthy if it is at the expense of your mental health.
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