There's a new label for eating disorders: orthorexics. Latin for “correct eating,” this eating disorder isn't a focus on weight, like anorexia and bulimia can be; but rather, the focus of an eating diet constricted to only healthy. Sometimes so healthy, alcohol, sugar, caffeine, artificially colored foods, etc. are eliminated. It's restricted to only pure, natural foods. I had no idea this was considered a disorder. In fact, in retrospect, I was a sufferer, and here's my story:
Last winter, 2010, I was fascinated with nutrition and the goal to be as healthy as I can possibly be. Not bad, right? But after a couple weeks, I became obsessed with it. I was running twice a day, biking around town for transportation, and I had to work out with resistance/circuit training on top of it. That was the fitness aspect of it. The nutritional aspect was that I would make myself a protein drink, drink Kombucha, eat "Raw" and active snack bars, eat copious amounts of fruits and veggies and whole grains. Still not bad. But I had mentally displaced myself from a healthy outlook on eating. I remember my family went out to a Chili's to celebrate my 23rd birthday. I had been on my very specific routine for about 2/2.5 months at this point. I had maybe half of the Volcano Chocolate Cake and a taste of another dessert. I was so wrapped up that I had something so "unhealthy" that I was killing myself inside: "How could you ruin all of your hard work?" "Why didn't you tell yourself you couldn't participate in junk food?" "I hate you for even being tempted and yielding to it." This is why I believe it is unhealthy, because it's not just that you are a health-nut, you are a health-nut to the extreme, and to the point it effects you in the same way anorexia and bulimia do (a mental perspective of unrealistic goals and ideas).
Source: http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/new-eating-disorders-are-they-real
