Orthorexia nervosa is an eating disorder based on an unhealthy obsession with nutrition – so what are the signs and how can it be treated? Eating healthily is good , right? Well, no, not always. Even the supposedly healthy trend for so-called clean eating has a potential dark side. Extreme practitioners are at risk of an eating disorder known as orthorexia nervosa, says Renee McGregor, a registered dietitian and author of Orthorexia: When Healthy Eating Goes Bad.
Clean eating is a diet characterised by eating whole, natural foods and avoiding those that are processed and refined. While, in theory, clean eating has a positive impact on your health, it can become problematic. Victoria Taylor, a dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, says, “There are extreme versions of clean eating and these don’t have a sound basis.
” She cites the example of people excluding dairy and wheat from their diets, even if they don’t have an intolerance or allergy. However, it’s not just those who follow a clean eating diet too obsessively that are at risk. George Mycock, the founder of MyoMinds (a mental health organisation that works to research and raise awareness of eating, exercise and body image concerns in exercisers), found that his pursuit of muscle growth led him to adopt orthorexic behaviours.
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