History class never taught this

I am fascinated with the history of things. I am especially fascinated with the history of food and how we got to where we are. Everything has origins, even clean eating.

Before we get into the newsletter, please note that I am traveling for the next week. So, by the time this goes out, I will be out of the States in the beautiful country of Ireland. Woohoo! In other words, this is an FYI that I might not be able to get to all comments and, most embarrassingly, catch any grammatical errors. But this also means I am human and not a robot. Thanks for understanding, and now on to today’s newsletter!

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One thing I can always count on is seeing all of the “healthy” New Year's resolutions that people have decided to take on. It’s usually some version of losing weight, eating healthier, or working out more. Sometimes, it’s the combination of all three. Health is always touted as the main goal, even though the tactics that some people choose are anything but, which is why the word is in quotes in the first sentence.

See, we are a society that loves to be healthy. We love to talk about health and find a way to bring it up in conversation in any possible way. We love to proclaim that we eat so healthy and that our lifestyles are so healthy. I bet by now you are even tired of reading the word healthy in this newsletter, even though it’s only the second paragraph. Sorry!

The morality issue of health

There is something so interesting about holding health to a moral standard to me. I believe that people do indeed care about their health, but the constant need to prove that we care about our health is something else entirely. It sounds ridiculous, but the way this topic is discussed, if you are not the pillar of what society deems healthy by lab values and, most importantly, appearance, then you must not be trying hard enough. It’s as if genetics don’t exist, and even when genetics are mentioned and acknowledged, the social determinants of health or one’s socioeconomic status are ignored.

I will make this very clear right now, I am a dietitian, and yes, I do care about health. But at the same time, I also acknowledge that due to many circumstances, not everyone can live up to the “perfect version” of health that society likes to promote. Scrolling through social media posts and feeling barraged with rhetoric such as “Every time you eat, you are beating or fueling disease,” it’s not a surprise that we feel the onus and the intense pressure to eat perfectly.

Yes, you can be obsessed with health

Believe it or not, being obsessed with health is a disorder. Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is perhaps best summarized as an obsession with healthy eating with associated restrictive behaviors. First named by Steven Bratman in 1997, orthorexia nervosa is derived from the Greek -ortho, meaning correct, and -orexi, meaning appetite. Orthorexia mostly revolves around food quality, not quantity. Unlike those with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, people with orthorexia mostly focus on the perceived healthfulness of food rather than on losing weight or being thin. Some symptoms of ON can include:

(The following list is for educational purposes only and does not represent diagnoses, nutrition therapy, or medical care.)

• Compulsive checking of ingredient lists and nutritional labels

• An increase in concern about the health of ingredients

• Cutting out an increasing number of food groups

• An inability to eat anything but a narrow group of foods that are deemed ‘healthy’ or ‘pure’

• Unusual interest in the health of what others are eating

• A feeling of superiority around their nutrition and intolerance of other people’s food behaviors and beliefs

• High levels of perfectionism

• Spending hours per day thinking about what food might be served at upcoming events

• Showing high levels of distress when ‘safe’ or ‘healthy’ foods aren’t available

• Obsessive following of food and ‘healthy lifestyle’ blogs on social media

• Body image concerns may or may not be present

• Psychosocial impairments in different areas of life

Orthorexia is not formally recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual DSM-5 TR, like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. However, it is a condition that is on the rise and can still lead to eating disorders in addition to malnourishment, loss of relationships, and poor quality of life. I often think about these conditions and statistics whenever I see diet culture posts under the guise of wellness. There is so much talk about the desire for “pure foods” or foods with fewer ingredients. Also, organic, non-GMO, natural, and clean are all key buzzwords that the wellness industry will use to fearmonger. In other words, processed foods are scary and should be avoided. In order to be your most virtuous and moral self, avoid them at all costs. In my opinion, what makes this rhetoric the most fascinating is knowing the history behind it.

What your American History class never taught you