Gwen and Lianne were obsessed with healthy eating: “I avoided all social occasions”

What is orthorexia?

Orthorexia nervosa is described as a psychological disorder in which you have an obsession with healthy eating. You then delete all kinds of food from your diet because you are afraid of eating unhealthy and develop a hyperfocus on healthy food.

“It often starts innocently, with a focus on wanting to live healthier by dieting or exercising”, says clinical psychologist Ravian Veenstra of Human Concern, GGZ Treatment Center for Eating Disorders. “Everyone sometimes thinks: after having eaten a lot for two Christmas days, I will eat a salad the next day and exercise a bit more.” That doesn’t mean you have orthorexia right away.

When does your relationship with food become a problem? “For example, if you start to feel anxious or feel guilty because you have eaten carbohydrates or… something fat baked.” Another example that Ravian mentions: “If you notice that you don’t want to go to a date with a friendtbecause she is going to cook for you and so you have no control over what what you’re going to eat.”

At some point, you may only think about one thing: food. “It may make you feel better at first, but eventually you get stuck and find that you can’t do the things that were normal before. in the field of nutrition and social life.”

In addition, your body will eventually respond. “There are many experts and diet gurus who claim what is and what is not healthy, but in the end your body also tells you what you need.” For example, do you suffer from fatigue, hair loss or are you constantly hungry? Then that can be a signal that you have a certain deficiency of important nutrients have incurred.

Orthorexia is not currently a recognized mental disorder/classification according to the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), because there is no established definition and criteria for this eating disorder. However, orthorexia can have a huge impact on your life and can also develop into, for example, anorexia.

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