Overview

An eating disorder is a compulsion to eat, or avoid eating, that negatively affects both one's physical and mental health. Eating disorders are all encompassing. They affect every part of the person's life. According to the authors of Surviving an Eating Disorder, "feelings about work, school, relationships, day-to-day activities and one's experience of emotional well being are determined by what has or has not been eaten or by a number on a scale." Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the most common eating disorders generally recognized by medical classification schemes, with a significant diagnostic overlap between the two. Together, they affect an estimated 5-7% of females in the United States during their lifetimes. There is a third type of eating disorder currently being investigated and defined - Binge Eating Disorder. This is a chronic condition that occurs when an individual consumes huge amounts of food during a brief period of time and feels totally out of control and unable to stop their eating. It can lead to serious health conditions such as morbid obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Orthorexia Awareness

This article is all about healthy and effective diets and related subjects but it turns out there is an extreme form of everything, including the desire to be healthy. It seems like everyone I know is increasingly aware of the importance of a healthier diet and exercise, though everyone implements these changes in their own way and most are far from extreme in their lifestyle changes. But Dr. Steven Bratman has discovered a new and dangerous condition in which people pursue health to the dangerous extreme.

Back in 1997, he coined the term orthorexia which is an unhealthy obsession (as in obsessive-compulsive disorder) with what the sufferer considers to be healthy eating. The person may avoid certain foods, like those containing fats, preservatives, animal products, or other ingredients he or she considers unhealthy. What's worse is that if the dietary restrictions are too severe or improperly managed, malnutrition can result, including emaciation, and this has the potential to reach the extremes seen in anorexia nervosa.

Although orthorexia can reach the extremes that anorexia does, the motivation of orthorexia is quite different; an anorexic wants to lose weight, and an orthorexic wants to feel pure, healthy and natural. So what are the signs of an orthorexic?

He or she may present with the following symptoms:

Spending more than 3 hours a day thinking about healthy food
Planning tomorrow's menu today
Being critical of others who don't eat as well
Skipping foods they once enjoyed in order to eat the "right" foods
Feeling guilt when they stray from their "healthy" diet
Feeling in control when they eat the correct diet
Feeling virtuous about what they eat, but not enjoying it much
Experiencing a reduced quality of life or social isolation

So what do you do if you or a person close to you is experiencing these symptoms? Its important to enlist the help of a nutritionist or doctor who specializes in dealing with this type of eating disorder.



Autor: Judy Feder

Judy feder is a health and nutrition specialist. To read more of her articles, visit her online at http://www.judyfeder.com/


Added: July 8, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Posted by admin at 12:18 PM

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