(UN)HEALTHY UPDATE
While maintaining healthy food habits is important to stay fit, getting obsessed with eating right can also have dangerous results. We tell you how to strike a balance
From page 01 Like several people her age, Mansi Sharma, a 26-year-old media professional, was extremely careful about her diet. Initially, those around her were impressed, and even inspired by Mansi’s ability to stay away from junk food, sweets and anything that is generally considered unhealthy. But, gradually, her steady weight loss, and her frail frame became a cause of concern for her family. After a lot of persuasion, when Mansi finally visited her doctor, she was shocked to know that she was suffering from a condition called orthorexia. You’d wonder then, can being healthy lead to a medical condition? Apparently, yes.
“Orthorexia is an obsession with eating a ‘pure’ diet, which usually entails avoiding food with artificial colours, flavours or preservatives, unhealthy fats, added sugar or salt and genetic modification. Unlike anorexia or bulimia, orthorexia may have less to do with poor body image or self-esteem, and more to do with the fear of falling ill,” says Dr Preeti Devnani, consultant, department of neurology and neurophysiology, Jaslok Hospital,
Breach Candy.
While orthorexia is still not traditionally considered an eating disorder, doctors feel it is more than prevalent. Explaining the condition, Seema Hingorrany, clinical psychologist, explains that for those suffering from orthorexia, the fixation of eating the right kind of food is so strong that it becomes their only focus in life. “They may eliminate entire groups of foods — such as dairy or grains — from their diets, all in the quest for a ‘perfect’ clean and healthy diet,” says Hingorrany.
A recent Italian study published in Eating and Weight Disorders, an Italian medical journal, examined 404 volunteers and found that almost seven per cent of them suffered from orthorexia. Psychologists in India, too, are noticing an increase in patients facing this condition.
ARE YOU AN ORTHOREXIC? FIND OUT
Do you compromise on your social life to make sure your diet stays intact at all times? Do you keep looking for unhealthy facts about food? Does even a slight wander in your diet stress you out? Has there been a noticeable increase in the consumption of supplements, herbal remedies or probiotics/macrobiotics in your diet? Has there been a drastic reduction in your opinions of acceptable food choices, such that you may be consuming even fewer than 10 foods? Do you act irrationally about how your food is prepared, or cleaned or how your utensils are washed? Do you have an extreme fear of food allergies, and an extremely strong desire to be thin? If you are clearly exhibiting these conditions, then you should meet a doctor to learn more.
How do you cure orthorexia?
One of the main challenges involved in treating this problem is that many orthorexics don’t think they need help. However, once they are convinced, meeting a counselor to get over the obsession can prove to be helpful. Nutritionist Neeraj Mehta says that orthorexia can be controlled by making the food intake options flexible. “Someone suffering from this condition should continue consuming healthy food, but they should understand what healthy eating is all about. Also, starting a proper exercise routine will help balance their metabolic processes, and give them confidence,”confidence, he says.
While maintaining healthy food habits is important to stay fit, getting obsessed with eating right can also have dangerous results. We tell you how to strike a balance
From page 01 Like several people her age, Mansi Sharma, a 26-year-old media professional, was extremely careful about her diet. Initially, those around her were impressed, and even inspired by Mansi’s ability to stay away from junk food, sweets and anything that is generally considered unhealthy. But, gradually, her steady weight loss, and her frail frame became a cause of concern for her family. After a lot of persuasion, when Mansi finally visited her doctor, she was shocked to know that she was suffering from a condition called orthorexia. You’d wonder then, can being healthy lead to a medical condition? Apparently, yes.
“Orthorexia is an obsession with eating a ‘pure’ diet, which usually entails avoiding food with artificial colours, flavours or preservatives, unhealthy fats, added sugar or salt and genetic modification. Unlike anorexia or bulimia, orthorexia may have less to do with poor body image or self-esteem, and more to do with the fear of falling ill,” says Dr Preeti Devnani, consultant, department of neurology and neurophysiology, Jaslok Hospital,
Breach Candy.
While orthorexia is still not traditionally considered an eating disorder, doctors feel it is more than prevalent. Explaining the condition, Seema Hingorrany, clinical psychologist, explains that for those suffering from orthorexia, the fixation of eating the right kind of food is so strong that it becomes their only focus in life. “They may eliminate entire groups of foods — such as dairy or grains — from their diets, all in the quest for a ‘perfect’ clean and healthy diet,” says Hingorrany.
A recent Italian study published in Eating and Weight Disorders, an Italian medical journal, examined 404 volunteers and found that almost seven per cent of them suffered from orthorexia. Psychologists in India, too, are noticing an increase in patients facing this condition.
Dangers involved
Even though the very purpose of following a healthy diet is to take care of your body, orthorexia can lead to several issues. Nutritionist Shalini Bhargava says, “An obsession with healthy food may cause a restriction on calories, which may then lead to excessive loss of weight and reduction of BMI (Body Mass Index), which often leads to anorexia. This can also cause malnutrition and other health risks that are associated with it, for instance, deficiencies in macronutrients. Severe cases of orthorexia can also lead to cardiac complications or subsequent death. A healthy diet, in fact, consists of a balance of everything.”ARE YOU AN ORTHOREXIC? FIND OUT
Do you compromise on your social life to make sure your diet stays intact at all times? Do you keep looking for unhealthy facts about food? Does even a slight wander in your diet stress you out? Has there been a noticeable increase in the consumption of supplements, herbal remedies or probiotics/macrobiotics in your diet? Has there been a drastic reduction in your opinions of acceptable food choices, such that you may be consuming even fewer than 10 foods? Do you act irrationally about how your food is prepared, or cleaned or how your utensils are washed? Do you have an extreme fear of food allergies, and an extremely strong desire to be thin? If you are clearly exhibiting these conditions, then you should meet a doctor to learn more.
How do you cure orthorexia?
One of the main challenges involved in treating this problem is that many orthorexics don’t think they need help. However, once they are convinced, meeting a counselor to get over the obsession can prove to be helpful. Nutritionist Neeraj Mehta says that orthorexia can be controlled by making the food intake options flexible. “Someone suffering from this condition should continue consuming healthy food, but they should understand what healthy eating is all about. Also, starting a proper exercise routine will help balance their metabolic processes, and give them confidence,”confidence, he says.
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