Food Politics

I don’t even understand why people would think that orthorexia is nonsensical. Trying to eat good foods = good; obsessing to the point of malnourishment = bad. Why is this hard? I saw someone on the comments claim that there’s no such thing as orthorexia, these behaviors are just a form of mental illness. But isn’t the term “orthorexia” just an attempted diagnosis of a mental illness which manifests in a particular way? Perhaps there isn’t really a difference between anorexia and orthorexia–I’d have to look up the actual diagnostic criteria for anorexia to decide for myself there (and it’s late & I’m tired), but it sure seems like orthorexia is a plausible problem.

Given that those suffering refuse to take conventional drugs, a natural therapy is needed. Perhaps this calls for medical marijuana.

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I once took a food quiz in a French Elle magazine … and it diagnosed me with orthorexia. My sin: Looking at food purely in health terms vs. pleasure. I think there’s something to be said for that, but I went on to google orthorexia and found that it’s starting to be recognized. I think obsessions of all types aren’t healthy, but who needs another diagnosis for a sub-clinical eating disorder? I agree with Marion.

The author of the Tribune column appears to have been writing for the shock value. As I understand it, orthorexia is, like anorexia and bulimia, obsessive-compulsive behaviors manifested as eating disorders.

For good or ill, increasingly large segments of the human population are using medical nutrition therapy to manage chronic conditions ranging from severe food allergies (e.g. anaphylactic reactions to peanuts) to autoimmune conditions (such as celiac disease) to “metabolic syndrome”. The psychological side-effects of MNT can include the exacerbation of latent obsessive-compulsive behaviors into disordered eating and eating disorders, rationalized under the guise of “I must do it for my health, life, and quality of life”.

I believe one of the challenges of healthcare professionals may be to assess where the line lies for each patient and to prevent those patients from sliding across.

Eating healthy food requires more time and thought than eating junk food, that’s why it seems like “health nuts” are being obsessive. All they (we) are really doing is spending the necessary amount of time on food choices and preparation in order to be healthy. Back in “the good old days” when we were surrounded by real food, this wasn’t necessary.

Eating Disorder can lead to a serious problem.Patients should seek professional help or try natural medicine.Medicinal cannabis is one of the many herbs from our rich nature that is believed to alleviate symptoms of many diseases if used properly. This is available at the local medical marijuana dispensaries