My grandfather’s mantra was “everything in moderation.” He drank a small scotch at 5 o’clock six days a week and lived to be 95.
There’s a growing problem in the US with the concept of moderation when it comes to eating and drinking—but not in the way you might guess. This issue isn’t always with people eating too much of food deemed unhealthy, explains Sumathi Reddy in a recent issue of the Wall Street Journal; the problem is with people being overly restrictive in the foods they will eat. The condition she describes is orthorexia nervosa, an unofficial term for when the effort to eat healthy or “clean” becomes extreme and obsessive, affecting either physical health (through weight loss or malnutrition) or mental health (anxiety or avoidance).
What may start out as health-promoting—becoming a vegetarian, going gluten-free or avoiding processed foods—can devolve into something very unhealthy. The condition, says one professional familiar with it, is more akin to an obsessive-compulsive disorder than it is to anorexia nervosa, the eating disorder characterized by overly strict limits on any type of food.
How can you tell if you’ve gone too far? It can be difficult to distinguish between healthy planning and obsessional avoidance. One way is paying attention to how much anxiety you feel. A red flag is when someone's eating habits makes him or her avoid social engagements, according to Marjorie Nolan Cohn, a dietitian quoted in the article.
If you are sacrificing your social life because your need to maintain your diet seems more important, then it may be time to ease up. Similarly, look at how much time you are spending thinking about and preparing food. If other important interests and commitments are getting pushed aside, that may be a signal that you’ve gone overboard.
