The restrictive nature of orthorexia doesn’t solely lie in the way in which individuals control the way they eat but how they view their social contacts

The notion that certain foods are “clean” while others are “dirty” can lead to very damaging consequences, causing some people to develop an eating disorder known as orthorexia.

 
Orthorexia is described as pathological obsession for biologically pure food. Currently it is not recognised in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, so diagnosing the condition can be tricky. 

One of the main aspects of orthorexia is the tendency to eliminate certain foods from one’s diet in the belief that they are unclean or impure. Sufferers typically cut out entire food groups, often believing that they are unhealthy, that their bodies are intolerant to them or that they’re curing an ailment, Harley Street nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert told The Independent.

If a person is spending more than three hours a day thinking about their diet and feeling guilty when they stray from self-imposed food restrictions, they’ve probably started a disordered relationship with food, claim nutritions. 

This emphasis on ‘goodness’ provides a convenient and covert reason to restrict food intake”, comments to Independent newspaper Emmy Brunner, chief executive and founder of “The Recover Clinic”.

When an individual feels that they cannot feel good about themselves without eating in a very regimented way, this could be a sign that they have developed a disordered relationship with food.

Social restrictions

The restrictive nature of orthorexia doesn’t solely lie in the way in which individuals control the way they eat. 

This can also carry across into other areas of their life, such as the way they react when faced with the prospect of dining out.

There’s a strong correlation between our emotions and our relationship with food,” explains Brunner. 

Leading a healthy lifestyle isn’t just about ensuring that you include wholesome foods in your diet.  It’s also about the way in which eating makes you feel about yourself.