When Healthy Eating Becomes Unhealthy Addiction
My teacher, Dr Gabor Mate, has a great definition for addiction. He says that “Addiction is manifested in any behavior that a person craves, finds temporary relief or pleasure in but suffers negative consequences as a result of, and yet has difficulty giving up. Note that this definition is not restricted to drugs but could encompass almost any human behavior, from sex to eating to shopping to gambling to extreme sports to TV to compulsive internet use: the list is endless.”
I found myself sometime ago being obsessed with clean food. After I felt I was developing some sort of an OCD for specific foods, I wanted to research a bit more into this type of obsessive behaviour that could manifest even around something that is considered healthy, like clean eating.
Clean eating is a lifestyle in where the approach to the choice and preparation of food is exactly as it was delivered by nature, or as close to it. At the core, clean eating means to only eat whole foods in their natural state, in order to improve or maintain good health.
The Faculty of Health at York University have recently published new findings to suggest that people who have a history of eating disorders, OCD, dieting and poor self-image are more likely to become obsessed with healthy food. They may even develop a pathological obsession with clean eating, which is known as Orthorexia Nervosa (ON).
Whilst healthy eating is an important part of a balanced lifestyle, some people can become so obsessed with it that it has physical and social effects.
The Research
First, the researchers carried out an extensive review of all the psychological and social factors that had already been associated with ON, by looking at all studies published up until 2018 in two popular databases.
In reviewing, they looked at how the condition was connected to these factors and whether they made the person more predisposed or vulnerable to developing it. Afterwards, they collected all research on each risk factor to conclude which of them were most likely to be connected to the development of ON.
Conclusions
“The long-term impact of these findings is that they will lead to better recognition among healthcare providers as well as members of the public that so-called healthy eating can, in fact, be unhealthy. It can lead to malnourishment or make it very difficult to socialize with people in settings that involve eating. It can also be expensive and time-consuming,” says Jennifer Mills, associate professor in the Department of Psychology and senior author on the study.
"When taken to the extreme, an obsession with clean eating can be a sign that the person is struggling to manage their mental health.”
Whilst patients with anorexia nervosa tend to restrict calories, those with ON are obsessed with the quality of food and the way it is prepared, rather than the number of calories. Over time, they spend longer and longer preparing, purchasing and planning “pure” and healthy food. Eventually, it starts to affect other areas of their life.
The study was conducted because the knowledge about ON is currently very limited. Unlike other eating disorders, such as anorexia, bulimia, orthorexia is not recognized in standard psychiatric manuals for healthcare providers.
“It was surprising to me that the overwhelming majority of the articles in this field were of neutral-poor quality, indicating that the results of these studies must be interpreted with caution,” says Sarah McComb, first author of the study.
“It really suggests a call for more valid measurement tools of orthorexia, so that more reliable conclusions can be drawn about the true prevalence of orthorexia in the population and which psychosocial factors really put a person at risk for developing orthorexia nervosa.”
The study concluded that those who have depression, OCD or are very occupied with their body image, were more likely to be at risk for developing ON. Other eating habits, such as being a vegan or vegetarian, increased with risks with lacto-vegetarians in the highest risk category.
“In our research, we found equal rates of men and women who struggle with symptoms of orthorexia nervosa,” said Mills. “We still think of eating disorders as being a problem that affects mostly young women. Because of that assumption, the symptoms and negative consequences of orthorexia nervosa can fly under the radar and not be noticed or taken seriously.”
So, take a moment to think: how is your relationship with food? Do you crave specific foods more than others when you are stressed, sad or feeling lonely? Do you find relief when you eat certain types of food? It’s always good to question our habits however tasty they might be, and if you feel like you want to talk about it, book your session below and let’s talk.