When eating healthy becomes an unhealthy obsession.
 

An interesting opinion !
 

"No thanks" on the ding-dong ~ but an informative article :spoken:

You refer to the reference the author makes that one ding-dong isn't going to clog your arteries?

I have a question about the first sentence in the article: "There's a fine line between including foods deemed healthy in your diet and eating nothing but!"

The author admits that there's no such disorder as orthorexia and she can't describe what foods need to be eaten so as not to be orthorexic. Therefore, a parent of a teenager, for example, might just imagine that their child is being too fussy and call a dietition. This article is exactly what I would expect from a dietition: The idea is to find a brand new disorder and some day make it official so that there will be one more problem requiring their services. Ca-ching $$$$ :eclipsee_gold_cup:

I have this disease. Not fun, but I don't like much food anymore. My husband says that I only eat air. I only eat beans, rice, and raisin bran. Everything else makes me so sick when i eat it. Thanks Gracie for letting people know about this problem.

Very interesting article thanks for posting it Gracie. This reinforces what I try to practice----"everything" in moderation.

methinks it is an author looking for their 15 minutes of fame.

And of course what better way than to flirt with the main stream media to see if they will help senstionalize the subject.

This is like the one wher you can get cancer from grilled steaks.......if you eat 4000 pounds of it per day!!:laugh:

btk

I do find this an interesting topic. Google has many hits and articles about said subject, including MayoClinic.com which recognizes the symtoms as potentially falling into the mental health realm.
It bears reading and surely will continue to be a topic of study.:agree:

"What is so wrong with wanting to educate people on the benefits of 'good food' and the perils of 'bad' food anyway? The answer is in the latter. By eliminating entire groups of food and purporting their evil effects on everyone, even the casual orthorexic marks a dotted path to an elite, exclusive club. That dotted line emerges solid, bold and threatening on the other side of militant campaigns, member-only social networking sites, and exclusive gatherings.

The significance of sharing food slowly disappears from the militant, prostheletizing orthorexic's inventory of experiences. Time is spent alone campaigning, bulking up arguments that disparage meat, cheese, cooking food...not cooking food. These processes of slowly withdrawing from the full experience and commensality of sourcing, preparing, combining and sharing food threaten the orthorexic's continued participation in the seeking of pleasure in community.

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/ort...-way-eat-right

Thanks for sharing. Believe it or not, we've seen that syndrome in action for many years now.........probably longer than a decade or so.

Eating sparingly from all the food groups with a heavy concentration on the fruits and vegetables is smart. NOT eating a lot of junk food is smart.

However, when adults cannot even attend a wedding celebration where the hosts have gone to great lengths to provide "stations" of every food imaginable (buffet style and served at the table) such as these "over the top" weddings nowadays..........and still we can hear someone chime in, "There's nothing here I can eat". Ditto for the rehearsal dinners for out of state guests the night before the wedding....given at great expense by the hosts.

I'm serious. We've heard that so often at various functions. It's either lactose intolerant, diverticulitis, vegetarian, heart healthy diet, etc.........many more.

As if eating free range organic roast chicken for one meal is going to kill someone.............when nearby is all the "field greens" one could want plus abundant fruit selections, rices, veggies, etc.

I "get" the staying away from the prime rib roasts and hams etc...but staying away from the manicotti because it has ricotta cheese in it? There were also oriental food selections which were predominately vegetarian but they were perceived to have MSG, etc. in their preparation.....so the "chef" was called in. These were big hotel affairs.
Beautifully presented delicious foods.

This isn't just the trend at weddings or big celebratory functions but also at home parties..........where in the not so recent past, a hostess went out of their way to put out a "good spread" and spent hours and hours preparing the food..........only to hear, "Oh, I can't eat anything here".

I also "get" that some take very seriously what their doctors advise after a cardiac "incident" and such..........but platters of fruit, crudites (raw veggies)....a no no? Well, they have diverticulitis. I understand that as well.

Everyone has something.

It's very very difficult to know what to prepare even when someone thinks of every possible dietary concern.

Who else has run into this problem in the past ten to twenty years?

Prior to that, people were thrilled to chow down on something they didn't get to enjoy on a regular basis.........if only for a few hours.

Dietary restrictions have taken all the joy out of cooking.
Luckily, we still know plenty of folks who are not fussy.

Anyone out there who eats what they please?

Oh, and the ones who do "beg off" with their empty plate......then proceed to pull out their little "baggies" with all the supplements (which replace the food nutrients of the food they couldn't eat). Do some research on all of these vitamins and mineral supplements and how they were sourced or outsourced.

Years and years ago, the immigrants only had "sweets" and such on the big holidays like Christmas, Easter, a wedding, etc..........granted, now there is TOO MUCH FOOD at our disposal..........however, being fussy to the point of "there's nothing here I can eat"......is taking it to the extreme.

GOOD ARTICLE.......even if I went off topic. Thankfully, my husband eats everything and enjoys it.

**I should add that some of the above mentioned folks are borderline or actual hypochondriacs as they practically have a doctor appointment lined up for every day of the week........or every other day, for some others.

Life is short. No doubt about it. But, we should enjoy the time we have and not obsess over food. At our age, we should all know what is healthy and what should be eaten in moderation.

I liked your input senior c, it was honest..... and I've been there!

I have had many an experience of having dinner guests who flip from one way of eating to another from visit to visit, so just when you think you have it down pat and can accommodate them amidst the rest of the guests, the food list (or the source of it and preparation requirements) that they will ingest has changed. Of course, they announce that when you are serving.
(and I was a vegetarian in the past, so I know how to make lots of this stuff and source it well!)
This speaks to Gracie's link: GREAT ARTICLE, GRACIE!!!!!

I now tell guests (at the time I extend the invite) what I will be serving, period.

If my menu is not to their tastes, I tell them it's totally acceptable for them to decline. Stop by afterward for coffee... (unless the coffee preparation has to be done while jumping through hoops)... or don't. It doesn't offend me.

Smart lady. Good thinking.

I didn't think I would ever say this but that was a good post. It held my interest and parts of it even made me laugh. You mentioned how people would say "there's nothing here I can eat" when actually there was plenty to choose from. Well, I think those people are being somewhat rude and thoughtless to the host who went to a lot of trouble. I haven't been to a wedding reception for several decades but if I did get invited I would not complain about the food. I can't see doing that. It's just plain rude.

I told how I went to the birthday party of a man who was 100 years old. It was free and open to the public. I ate chicken because it was at KFC. And, don't tell anyone, I even had a piece of birthday cake. Having a piece of birthday cake once every 10 years is what I call "moderation". :icon_wink:

I'm sorry to hear about your problem but I'm also sorry to say that you don't fit into the category of being orthorexic. Furthermore, you described it as a disease when orthorexia is not even a bonified disorder.

"Moderation" is practically meaningless because it's totally subjective. I once knew an obese woman who claimed that she ate everything in moderation.