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Orthorexia on the rise – are you at risk?

By Helen Abramson on Monday 17 August 2009

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Eating disorder charities claim that an increasing number of people are suffering from ‘orthorexic nervosa’, a serious psychological condition described as a ‘fixation of righteous eating’.

Suffers tend to be well-educated, middle class men and women over the age of 30. The condition, named in 1997 by a Californian doctor, Steven Bratman, involves eating ‘pure’ foods, and avoiding anything containing sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol, wheat, yeast, soya, gluten, dairy foods and corn as well as anything that has come into contact with pesticides, herbicides or contains artificial additives.

Deanne Jade, founder of the National Centre for Eating Disorders, told the Daily Telegraph: ‘There is a fine line between people who think they are taking care of themselves by manipulating their diet and those who have orthorexia.’

She added, ‘I see people around me who have no idea they have this disorder. I see it in my practice and I see it among my friends and colleagues.’

The obsession can lead to malnourishment, pressures in personal relationships and social isolation.

Nutritional consultant Ian Marber, better known as The Food Doctor, warned that the condition is becoming increasingly prevalent amongst men. ‘It's an obsessive fixation on eating so healthily that it becomes dangerous,' he told the Telegraph.