what is orthorexia nervosa? - Eating Disorder Recovery Message Board

SKAlee · 05-09-2003, 08:12 PM

hello everyone i was just wondering what orthorexia nervosa is...?...ive never heard of it and i was curious..thanks
byebye

Ashlee · 05-10-2003, 12:08 AM

Hi, Skalee.

Orthorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder where the sufferer has an unhealthy obsession with eating HEALTHY.

In a few ways it's a lot like anorexia nervosa but the person doesn't starve themselves. Well, they starve themselves of anything even SLIGHTLY unhealthy, but not of all foods. So Orthorexia sufferers DO still eat, but they avoid all "fatty foods", foods that contain salt and sugar, or preservatives. Because of this, Orthorexia sufferers can become as sickly thin as an anorexic.

That's all I can tell you, Skalee! Sorry, I don't really know as much about it as I do about some other eating disorders.

Hope this helps!
Ashlee

IceSktnChik2046 · 05-15-2003, 02:52 PM

This might be the one for me... i mean i still eat but i monitor it sooo much w/ the healthnez of foods. anyone who knows anything about this orthoexia nervosa or what ever it was... please add

lilrayofhope · 05-16-2003, 10:57 PM

Orthorexia nervosa
Not an official eating disorder diagnosis, but the concept is useful. The name was coined by Steven Bratman, M.D. to describe "a pathological fixation on eating "proper" or "pure" or "superior" food.

People with orthorexia nervosa feel superior to others who eat "improper" food, which might include non-organic or junk foods and items found in regular grocery stores, as opposed to health food stores.

Orthorexics obsess over what to eat, how much to eat, how to prepare food "properly," and where to obtain "pure" and "proper" foods.

Eating the "right" food becomes an important ,or even the primary, focus of life. One's worth or goodness is seen in terms of what one does or does not eat. Personal values, relationships, career goals, and friendships become less important than the quality and timing of what is consumed.

Perhaps related to, or a type of, obsessive-compulsive disorder

(off of anred.com)

-Carlie

rach923 · 05-17-2003, 05:54 PM

i remember my one friend had that, and she was so preoccupied with food (no butter on rolls, no dressing on salad, always eating dried fruit crap), and she lost almost as much weight as i did when i was hopitalized for a physical problem...she is a few inches taller than me (i'm 5'5"), and she weighed like, 102 pounds, which made her look really sick...

her parents (who have no insurance) took her and they did all kinds of medical tests and wasted money, b/c she was too proud to admit that the reason she'd lost so much weight was b/c she was eating "so healthy"!!! i know its a mental problem, but i think it was an unintentional scam to get attention....she's very needy like that, an obscene overachiever (which i am myself, but she's really perfectionist!!!), so i think she's just the attention craving type...

also, she obviously has some kinda parania going on, cause she was afraid to eat fatty foods b/c of "the risk of heart disease"..now, what possesses a 15 yr old to obsess over cardiac disease??? just an insight into the orthorexic mindset...

i'm not being harsh or judgemental or anything, b/c i have many close friends and family members with severe mental disorders....i'm just telling you the actions that caused her to be that way, and pointing out the illogic of it that cause her problem to progress as it did...hope this helps!

rach