The Dark Side of Healthy Eating: 5 Things I’ve Learned from Orthorexia
This was a Guest Post by Lara Zibarras on Elephant Journal
Is it possible to be too healthy or eat too clean?
A few years back, I didn’t think so. In fact, it was my life’s mission to be as healthy as possible, to look after my own and my family’s wellness. After all, I thought, food is medicine.
Nothing wrong with that, right?
My orthorexia started with good intentions. I was introducing more organic whole foods, cutting out processed and packaged foods, scrutinizing labels (no sugar welcome in my house), and trying to cook from scratch—always.
But my near religious devotion to healthy eating soon veered toward a legalistic, judgmental mindset and an obsessive eating disorder.
I wasn’t trying to lose weight (or at least that wasn’t my focus); I wanted to be healthy. And according to the influencers I followed, so many foods weren’t healthy. They were toxic and potential allergens. I avoided sugar, gluten, most grains, dairy, soy, and tried to be vegan.
That didn’t leave behind much food that I could eat.
Whilst spiralizing veggies isn’t necessarily harmful, orthorexia demands a level of perfectionism that just isn’t sustainable. And the guilt you feel when you can’t maintain your perfect diet is crippling.
I realize now that it’s problematic when the pursuit of clean eating interferes with your life. Yet, in our society, orthorexia behaviors are normalized, even encouraged. It’s probably no wonder then that the incidence of orthorexia behaviors is fairly common, displayed by 6.9% of the general population and alarmingly 51.8% of gym-goers.
When I was eating “clean,” I was praised for being so dedicated and committed to healthy eating. This kind of external validation was alluring and kept me going.
I marinated in my perfect eating efforts for about three years. Then, thankfully, discovering food freedom freed me from the rigid food rules I’d created for myself. As I reflect on my experience, it’s clear that healthy eating does have a dark side.