Dangerous Science Labels You As Mentally Sick Because You Eat To Be Healthy
When I first read this abstract [1] I thought it was a joke because of its content and because there were typos in the abstract. I realized it wasn’t a joke since it was on the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health’s website.
After doing some research I found out the article was originally written in Spanish and the typos were a result of translating the abstract into English. After I accepted that the article did belong on the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health’s website, I quickly saw how dangerous the perspective of the abstract was.
The abstract states:
“Orthorexia is an obsessive-compulsive process characterized by extreme care for and selection of what is considered to be pure ‘healthy’ food. This ritual leads to a very restrictive diet and social isolation as a compensation. Orthorexics obsessively avoid foods which may contain artificial colours, flavours, preservant agents, pesticide residues or genetically modified ingredients, unhealthy fats, foods containing too much salt or too much sugar and other components.”
By removing the word “obsessively” the behavior listed are the behaviors of people who eat a whole food plant-based diet. To view someone as obsessively practicing these behaviors is subjective, so anyone practicing these behaviors could be labeled orthorexic.
Orthorexia nervosa is not currently recognized as a clinical diagnosis in the DSM-5. If ever does become recognized it could be a way of targeting vegans who eat a whole food plant-based diet and people who do not eat the listed substances in order to protect their health.
The abstract goes on to say:
“Women, adolescents and those who practice sports suchs as body building or ahthetics are the groups at higher risk.” (The typos are part of the original text.)
This is the really dangerous part of the abstract:
Treatment of orthorexia require a multidisciplinary team involving physicians, psychoterapists and dietitians. In some cases, antiserotoninergic drugs may be required as part of the treatment. (The typos are part of the original text.)
Tags: obsessive healthy diet, orthorexia, orthorexia dsm
