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WHAT IS ORTHOREXIA?

Too Healthy?

Orthorexia nervosa is one of a little-known group of eating disorders. The term uses “ortho,” in its meaning as straight, correct and true, to modify “anorexia nervosa.” Orthorexia nervosa refers to a fixation on eating proper food.  Orthorexia begins innocently enough, as a desire to overcome chronic illness or to improve general health. Over time, what they eat, how much, and the consequences of dietary indiscretion come to occupy a greater and greater proportion of the orthorexic’s day. The act of eating pure food begins to carry pseudo-spiritual connotations.  But the emphasis is intended to be on “unhealthy obsession.”  One can have an unhealthy obsession with something that is otherwise healthy. Think of exercise addiction, or workaholism.

At times (but not at all times) orthorexia seems to have elements of OCD. It may also have elements of standard anorexia.  But it is often not very much like typical OCD or typical anorexia.  The obsession for healthy foods could come from a number of sources such as family habits, society trends, economic problems, recent illness, or even just hearing something negative about a food type or group, which then leads orthorexics to ultimately eliminate the food or foods from their diet.  While orthorexia nervosa is not a formal medical condition, many doctors do feel that it explains an important and growing health phenomenon.

People suffering from this obsession may display the following signs.

• Spending more than three hours a day thinking about healthy food
• Planning tomorrow’s menu today
• Feeling virtuous about what they eat, but not enjoying it much
• Continually limiting the number of foods they eat
• Experiencing a reduced quality of life or social isolation (because their diet makes it difficult for them to eat anywhere but at home)
• Feeling critical of others who do not eat as well they do
• Skipping foods they once enjoyed in order to eat the “right” foods
• Feeling guilt or self-loathing when they stray from their diet
• Feeling in “total” control when they eat the correct diet

If you or someone you care about exhibits these traits.  There is a solution and there is help before it gets out of control.

Too Skinny….How Does It Happen?

How does this happen?

Anorexia is a complex disease, with myriad causes that range from culture to environment to—as recent studies have shown—genetics. Having a predisposition for anorexia means that a simple decision to diet away those last five pounds triggers something (it’s unclear as to what) that could lead you down a slippery slope.  The drive to become thinner is actually secondary to concerns about control and/or fears relating to one’s body. The individual continues the endless cycle of restrictive eating, often accompanied by other behaviors such as excessive exercising or the overuse of diet pills, diuretics, laxatives, and/or enemas in order to reduce body weight, often to a point close to starvation in order to feel a sense of control over his or her body. This cycle becomes an obsession and, in this way, is similar to any type of addiction.  Studies suggest that a genetic (inherited) component may play a more significant role in determining a person’s susceptibility to anorexia than was previously thought. Researchers are currently attempting to identify the particular gene or genes that might affect a person’s tendency to develop this disorder, and preliminary studies suggest that a gene located at chromosome 1p seems to be involved in determining a person’ s susceptibility to anorexia nervosa.  Anorexia could be caused by a genetic brain disorder shared by sufferers of autism and Asperger’s syndrome.  Noticeably sufferers of anorexia share traits with people who have autism, such as an inability to change rules they have set themselves, perfectionism and a tendency to fixate on details.  A few sources suggest that anorexics are addicted to fasting, apparently because of the chemical changes brought on by starvation. The opioids, enkephalins and endorphins are found to be at elevated levels in the spinal fluid of patients with anorexia.

Studies show that 20% of those affected by anorexia die directly from complications surrounding the disorder.  It is lethal, however, there is help and there is a solution it takes a lifetime of change but the only way for those suffering from anorexia to gain the control they are looking for is to admit the powerlessness over their disorder and behaviors.

Not Seeing Clearly

Warped Perception

What are the contributing factors of an eating disorder?  Even the slimmest women have, on occasion, stood in front of the mirror and asked: “Does this dress make me look fat?”  No matter who you are at some point you have been your own worst critic.  Why do we do this to ourselves and what drives body dysmorphia? Scientists have discovered that the body image a person projects in their own brain is “massively distorted” and can be up to two thirds wider than it is in reality. The brain’s own “body model” is also around a third shorter than the body actually is, according to the study at University College London.  Researchers believe the findings could explain why slim women look in the mirror and see themselves as fat. They may also help explain the cause of some eating disorders.

Dr Michael Longo, a neuroscientist is a leader in brain research, said: “These findings may well be relevant to psychiatric conditions involving body image such as anorexia, as there may be a general bias towards perceiving the body to be wider than it is.” He also says,“Some people look in the mirror and receive information which tells them they are not fat, but they still can’t use that to over-ride their distorted body model and make themselves believe it.”

The scientists had subjects place their hands under a board and relay where specific landmarks such as knuckles and fingertips were.  In doing so people were warped in their sense of size.  Scientists believe the distortion stems from the number of sensory signals being sent to the brain from different parts of the skin.  The brain’s warped “model” of the hand could be conveyed to the rest of the body,  therefore adding to the beginnings or bolstering feelings of negative body image.  For instance, if I am walking around feeling shorter and fatter than I really am these findings are saying that I am way off in my judgement.  Surprisingly, researchers found that subjects could pick their accurate hand size from other templates.  Therefore, researchers believe this shows that people have an accurate visual image of their own body but are still unable to use that information to over-ride the “brain model” which tells them they are larger.

Addicted to Fat

Eating The Pain Away

Like many pleasurable behaviors—including sex and drug use—eating can trigger the release of dopamine, a feel-good chemical in the brain. This chemical reward, in turn, increases the likelihood that the action will eventually become habitual through positive reinforcement conditioning. If this reward is activated by overeating, these neurochemical patterns can make the behavior tough to shake—a result seen in many human cases.

Paul Kenny, an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Therapeutics at The Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Fla., says, “Most people who are overweight would say, ‘I would like to control my weight and my eating,’ but they find it very hard to control their feeding behavior.”

Many studies have drawn the connection between excessive food intake and addiction in both animal models and humans. Many scientists have observed a similar map of dopamine receptors in the brains of many obese people as in those hooked on cocaine or alcohol. This new type research adds a more accepted understanding of just how food can modify the brain—and shows that differences in the brain from the outset can predispose an individual for overeating.  It is widely accepted that after someone dependent on a substance stops using it, however, it often takes time for depleted dopamine receptors to return to baseline levels. For example, in mice addicted to cocaine, it can take two days to regain normalized levels however, obese rats in the overeating studies took two weeks to regain their baseline density of receptors.  This research goes to show that overeating is a very difficult addiction to break because the withdrawl timeline is far longer and more ingrained than even that of a drug addict.

The sticky part about studying food addiction is that, unlike cocaine or alcohol, humans can’t exactly drop it—cold turkey or not.  You can’t really quit food . And humans are hardwired, thanks to eons of evolutionary selection, to seek high-calorie foods to keep us going through lean times. But with subsistence hunting, gathering and farming now little more than a niche lifestyle choice in wealthy nations, a brain set up to reward super-rich calorie snacks is more of a hazard than a help.  It is not easy to eat healthy in modern times.  ”Real food” is more expensive than processed sadly.  It is almost as though our society has set up drug dealers on every corner and asks those predisposed to have a food addiction to stay away.  It is not hopeless though, if you have an overeating disorder there is help.

Do You Have An Eating Disorder And Want To Get Help?

The most effective eating disorder treatment is one that respects the privacy and maintains the dignity of each individual client. As obvious as that sounds, the truth is that even some of the most “exclusive” eating disorder treatment and rehab centers may try to turn eating disorder treatment into a generic process. If you’re going to overcome your problem, it’s going to have to be on terms that are uniquely your own.

Every eating disorder victim is different. So too must every eating disorders treatment program recognize the distinct needs of an individual clients. The stakes in the fight against anorexia and bulimia are far too high for to accept anything less than fully personalized eating disorder treatment at a rehab center. At Recovery Hub we will listen to your needs and find the care that will be fully tailored to support you on your road to recovery.