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April 20, 2024
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Ortorexia: When the concern about eating well brings harm

There is a growing concern today about eating well. And that has its many health advantages. But in some cases? when such concern becomes excessive? the consequences are negative.

Orthorexia nervosa (ON), although not yet well known, is characterized by an obsession with eating healthily (ortho: correct; orexis: appetite). Maria Del Rosário, MD, MD and Director of the Department of Eating Disorders of the Brazilian Association of Nutrology, explains that the person with this condition has an exaggerated concern with the quality of food, even limiting the variety of foods consumed. ? Thus, they often end up excluding certain groups such as meat, dairy, fat and carbohydrates without making the proper substitution. And that can lead to nutritional deficiencies or even another eating disorder ?, he says.

Luciana Kotaka, 21-year-old clinical psychologist, specialist in Obesity and Eating Disorders and Hypnotherapist, comments that ON is described as obsessive pathological behavior.

The psychologist explains that in ON, the desire is to improve health. Interestingly, the central tonic is not the concern with weight, but the desire to prevent or eliminate physical symptoms (real or exaggerated). "Or, to be pure, natural, even reaching religious connotations," he says.

Maria comments that the true prevalence of ON in the general population is not yet known. But, although not an official disease described in medical manuals, it has often been seen in clinics. A recent review in the United States estimated the prevalence of ON in the general population at 1% ?, he says. "Scientific work has also identified risk groups, such as health professionals, artists, sportsmen and athletes," he adds.

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Signs of orthorexia nervosa

Eating healthy is great and recommended. But to what extent?

Maria points out that the limit with healthy care and ON is tenuous, so she can often go unnoticed by the eyes of a professional not specialized in eating disorders. The problem is that the person does not seek help because they believe they are making the right choice. The orthorexian believes he has an exemplary diet, tries to convince who is around and also criticizes others who do not eat correctly?

Thus, some warning signs and consequences that may be associated with orthorexia nervosa are:

Food Stiffness: people with this condition tend to exclude foods they consider "unclean" from their diet, for example because they contain pesticides, preservatives, dyes, trans fats, fat, sugar and even gluten or lactose (and often do so without intolerance). proven).
Search by standards: In addition to excluding certain foods, Maria points out that it is also common for people to develop rituals as to the preparation and utensils used. With this, the diet becomes limited and poor in nutrients. The person with ON initiates an obsessive search for healthy eating norms and rules and does not realize that extreme concern about diet harms other areas of their life. Are family members and friends the first to observe that the patient is being very rigid and inflexible with food choices ?, he says.
Unpleasant food: With such rigidity in the preparation and consumption of food, the diet is monotonous, there are no times for? exceptions? and to? eat with pleasure? particular dish / food.
Guilt and radicalism: When does the person with ON give in to temptation? and / or? break the rules? of your diet, blames yourself excessively, and soon begins to look for a? new diet? which tends to have even stricter features. Maria points out that the person can also perform self-punishments, such as fasts, new dietary restriction or excessive exercise.
Weight loss and nutrient deficit: When insufficient food intake is important, thinness also appears (weight loss and malnutrition). This is where the family member seeks help ?, highlights Maria. Nutrient deficits can also lead to problems such as osteopenia, anemia, vitamin deficits, hair loss, memory and concentration deficits, brittle nails and fainting.
Social isolation: Luciana points out that people with ON tend to isolate themselves from friends and family. For you only want to consume what you prepare in your home and what you are sure is within the criteria it has defined as appropriate.This pathology ends up affecting the whole life of the individual, away from any social context, explains the psychologist specializing in eating disorders.

"In my experience as a nutrition disorder specialist I have also seen women with fertile ON who have a history of miscarriage because of their nutrient-restrictive diets that are very important for a proper and healthy pregnancy," adds Maria.

Ortorexia x Anorexia

The psychologist Luciana explains that, in orthorexia, the goal is not the low body weight, but the quality of food. "In anorexia, at a time, there is a search for a specific body image, the weight below the expected for its physical structure," he says.

Also read: 6 Signs That You Are Exaggerating Your Diet

Maria reinforces that, in the case of orthorexia, the concern is with health. • In anorexia nervosa, the reason for failing to eat properly is the fear of getting fat. And people with this disorder have distorted body self-image. But it is important to remember that there may be a switch from one frame to another, for example: can one start with orthorexia and, after a while, this lead to anorexia? Just as we have had cases in the office where patients with anorexia nervosa, before fully recovering, had orthorexic behavior ?, says.

Main causes of orthorexia nervosa

It is very difficult to talk about causes, each person has a life history, experiences that favor or not the development of this picture. I realize that it is a summation of factors that lead to the pathology itself: perfectionism, rigidity, food choices, life history and diseases, etc., highlights the psychologist Luciana.

Maria lists some of the main factors that may be related to orthorexia nervosa:

A person who has had an eating disorder in the past or a risky eating behavior in adolescence who has not fully recovered is more susceptible to orthorexia nervosa.
Media outlets, by propagating stories about fad diets, often without scientific evidence, can influence people to seek fast and miraculous weight loss results, condemning some types of food and encouraging the over-pursuit of a healthier life.
Cybercondria is about very anxious people looking for medical or nutritional information over the internet without consulting a doctor or specialist. These people end up self-medicating and compulsively buying improperly advertised products over the Internet.
Cyberbulling also happens in food and aesthetics, as do people who criticize or cruelly harass the way the other is physically or eating.
Social media is another means of disseminating information without scientific evidence and also space for lay people to create distorted and exaggerated versions of healthy eating, which can influence the most vulnerable groups.

The psychologist Luciana comments that there are already published data revealing how harmful the media have been for this audience that seeks the perfect diet and body. “And of course it will only be affected who has a history and personality that favors the development of this picture. The point is that over focusing on bodies, food, clothes, etc., makes people compare with each other? Dissatisfaction becomes concrete, we are exposed, we end up being influenced even without being aware ?, he says.

Read also: 8 ways to get rid of beauty standards

Orthorexia Treatment

Orthorexia requires multidisciplinary treatment. • Treatment for orthorexics requires the intervention of the psychiatrist (who will verify the need to medicate the patient), a nutritionist or nutrologist (to guide the diet) and a clinical psychologist (who will work on the emotional relationship, food and body, their beliefs, conscious and unconscious needs that lead to the disorder) ?, highlights Luciana.

“I must remember that in this case the situation becomes delicate, because we have to act on something that is apparently correct. Eating healthy foods seems harmless, and is it for one? When this behavior does not prevent social relationship, that it adapts to other everyday situations without radicalism ?, adds the psychologist.

The nutrologist should also do, as highlighted by Maria, the nutritional and drug treatment of complications related to orthorexia, such as anemia, osteopenia, nutrient deficiency, vitamins and minerals, food intolerances.

? It is important to make the early diagnosis of NO, making the prevention of severe, more complex and time consuming for its full recovery. There are reports of cases of NO that required hospitalization due to the severity of the complications presented ?, comments Maria.

It is worth stressing that the treatment for orthorexia should be individualized, taking into account the particularities of each patient.

Read also: Dysmorphophobia: distorted self-image leads to incessant search for change

It is clear that orthorexia nervosa is therefore a delicate picture, since it is a fine line that divides the advantages of having healthy habits from over-concern about eating well (and all the consequences it brings). However, upon noticing any signs of this pathological obsessive behavior, the patient or (most likely) the relatives and friends surrounding him should not hesitate to seek professional help.