Society in Europe has long been in a state of nutritional change. What has long been a trend in Asia and America is slowly spilling over to us. There are more and more health food stores and organic supermarkets. One can speak of a veritable new food movement. Animal welfare , organic feed, organic eggs and organic vegetables are becoming more and more important to us and are now part of everyday life. We are willing to spend a large part of our income on healthy nutrition, try out new concepts, eat vegan or vegetarian and let gluten, sugar or salt disappear from our menus.
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The diagnosis is difficult
A new clinical picture has developed from all these new trends: Orthorexia Nervosis, an eating disorder whose sufferers show a strikingly pronounced desire for healthy nutrition. The existence of this addiction is controversial and not yet fully recognized by conventional medicine. The question with orthorexia nervosa is: disease or consuming lifestyle? And that is exactly what makes definition and diagnosis very difficult. When is healthy dangerous? Those affected therefore often see no reason for therapy or change.
The life of an orthorectic revolves entirely around nutrients and food. He spends hours in the health food store and mostly eats vegan. He spends a lot of money on groceries, bakes himself, often has a vegetable and orchard, pays attention to the Fairtrade seal and gives others in the area the feeling that they are eating poorly.
symptoms of an addiction
However, there are some symptoms that always point to an addiction. It is crucial how long the person concerned has been eating this way and whether he isolates himself from his circle of friends because he no longer has time. It is also important whether his thoughts are constantly focused on food, whether he feels guilty about what he considers “unhealthy” food and whether his body will eventually suffer damage to his health.
The US doctor Dr. Steven Bratmann, who coined the clinical picture himself around 1997, could no longer eat vegetables that had been harvested longer than 15 minutes before his addiction was at its peak. The disease is often accompanied by an exaggerated obsession with fitness (anorexia athletica) and the need to be very slim.
The consequences of the extremely healthy diet
The consequences of the one-sided and exaggeratedly healthy diet are deficiency symptoms that can lead to serious illnesses and restrict the entire course of life. In general, affected people should visit a doctor more often to have their blood values checked.
Orthoretics can look for therapeutic options in forums or self-help groups to get their lifestyle under control. A therapist can often find out with just a few tests whether someone is affected or “only” eats healthy.
