Orthorexia Nervosa
Eating Disorder
Citation
Bóna, E., Túry, F., & Forgács, A. (2019). Evolutionary Aspects of a New Eating Disorder: Orthorexia Nervosa in the 21st Century. Psychological Thought, 12(2), 4–13. https://ezproxy.wou.edu:4285/10.5964/psyct.v12i2.356
Orthorexia Nervosa can be defined
as a type of disordered eating, is
characterized as pathological healthy eating obsession
(super health nut)
Gleaves, Graham, & Ambwani
(2013) characterize ON the following way
spending large amounts of time (more than three hours per day) thinking about, shopping for, and
preparing healthy food
feeling superior to those with differing eating habits
following a particular health-food diet rigidly and engaging in compensatory restriction to make up for
any dietary indiscretions
turning eating 'properly' into the central focus of life, at the expense of other personal values, relationships, previously enjoyed activities, and sometimes, ironically, physical health. (Gleaves, Graham,
& Ambwani, 2013, p. 2)
tying self-esteem to adherence to the diet (feeling guilt and self-loathing when straying and self-satisfaction when complying)
Limitation
the four orthorexic traits examined were picked based on clinical observations that were reinforcedby the referred studies, and not by using official nosological systems’s lists
lacks discussions of whether any of the behaviors or underlying
traits of ON have demonstrable heritability or have genetic links
Orthorexia May Be Adaptive due to Selective Eating
neophobia: an adaptive, reflexive reaction to certain food types, common in the
animal kingdom
does not require consciousness
Selective eating and neophobia developed by orthorexic individuals are also based on similar principles: either
reflexive aversion (Thompson, Cummins, Brown, & Kyle, 2015), or social learning (Nicolosi, 2007).
Orthorexia Is not Adaptive due to Psychological Disturbances
connection between major depressive disorder and ON (Lopes, Melo, & Pereira,
2018)
It presents a set of orthorexic traits that the patient has had over twelve months, followed by symptoms
of depression.