"Food has become something to be feared – scare stories claim if it doesn’t make you ill, then it’ll make you fat.It’s
no wonder we’ve become a nation obsessed with superfoods and the
quality of what goes into our mouths. But can healthy eating go too far
and eventually hinder, rather than help your health?
Imagine surviving on yellow foods only. No, it’s not the latest A-list
slim-fast trend, but the most extreme side of orthorexia – a condition
that describes a breakaway group of food fanatics with an unhealthy
obsession for healthy eating. The disorder is not concerned with the
quantity, but the quality of food. But are 'sufferers' getting too much
of a good thing?
It’s not surprising that we’re all a little choosier about what we put
in our shopping baskets these days. Salmonella, mad cow disease, avian
flu and the obesity epidemic have changed the way we think about food.
Nowadays many shoppers insist on complete transparency from producers
and are hungry for knowledge on every thing from calorie contents to
country of origin. In 2005 alone, sales for organic produce in the UK
soared by 30%, according to the Soil Association.
Take it to the limitFood
safety is at fever pitch, but doctors are warning that sufferers of
orthorexia could be taking their pursuit for the purest food sources
too far. The term orthoerexia nervosa was first coined by Dr Steve
Bratman back in 1997 in his book Health Food Junkies. He says, while
many of us could benefit by paying a little more attention to what we
eat, some people have the opposite problem and pay excessive attention
to the food they eat.
“Over time, what to eat, how much and the consequences of dietary
indiscretion come to occupy a greater and greater proportion of the
orthorexic’s day,” he says on his website
www.orthorexia.com.
“Obsession with healthy food can progress to the point where it crowds
out other interests and activities, impairs relationships and even
becomes physically dangerous,” he says. In its most extreme states,
orthorexia can result in malnutrition and even death.
While the condition is unrecognised by the medical profession, the
first study of the disorder by the Institute of Gut Sciences in Rome
found up to 7% of the Italian population suffer with orthorexia..."
From:
http://www.msn.co.uk/health/orthorexia/default.asp?MSPSA=1
