With our desire to be healthy and fit, we tend to put restrictions on what to put on our plates. Isn’t it that after reading an article or two from food and diet experts, we’re very much determined to follow their advice? The need to eat healthy is good, but we also have to be careful about our attitude when it comes to “righteous eating” or we may be overdoing it and this becomes an eating disorder termed as orthorexia nervosa. Aside from the anorexics and bulimics, who obsess about the quantity of food, orthorexics obsess about the food quality and get anxious or depressed if they consume foods they label as “forbidden”.

According to an article by Joan Sumpio of the Manila Bulletin,

“Orthorexics believe that certain foods are impure, and obsessively avoid foods which may contain artificial colours, flavours, preservatives, pesticide residues, herbicides, genetically modified ingredients, unhealthy fats, foods containing too much salt or too much sugar, and other components. The way of preparation, kitchenware, and other tools used are also part of the obsessive ritual. The more restrictive and complicated the diet, the more an orthorexic is attracted to it.”

Thus, orthorexics are obsessively choosy about buying healthy food products that are low fat, low sugar, low carb, those that lower bad cholesterol, or any food that meets their “quality standards”.

It’s good to stick to our diet plans and exercise a lot of self-discipline when it comes to healthy eating, but don’t let this affect us excessively and emotionally. Life is to be enjoyed, sometimes we also have to be flexible about our goals, and that includes our eating habits, right?