We hear all the time in the news about America’s obesity epidemic, but did you know that it’s also possible to be too healthy?
It may be hard to believe when it feels like the recommended cure for every ailment is “diet and exercise,” but for some individuals, an obsession with clean living can rapidly turn into a life-threatening disorder.
Of course, that’s not to say that healthy food is inherently dangerous; you can still enjoy these delicious and nutritious noodles to your heart’s content, and the only danger in these healthy apple chips is that you might run out of apples.
The issue isn’t with clean eating itself; the problem is obsessing over it to the point that it turns into orthorexia. Orthorexia is an eating disorder characterized by an unsafe addiction to healthy lifestyle habits.
Unlike many other eating disorders, it isn’t characterized by a desire to be thin. Instead, it affects sufferers by driving them to adhere rigidly to their own idea of what’s healthy, often to the exclusion of other interests and relationships. Eventually, it can also lead to physical health problems, particularly malnutrition.
Orthorexia can be hard to distinguish from ordinary healthy eating habits, so if you are concerned for yourself or a loved one, check out the information available at National Eating Disorders Association, and check out the video below to learn more.
And if you were surprised to learn the unhealthy truth about healthy eating, please SHARE on Facebook to spread the word about this often overlooked illness!
