Orthorexia

Have you ever heard of “orthorexia”? Orthorexia is a very new term or concept even for the medical and psychology fields, because it is not list in newest updated DSM-V draft published online. Orthorexia is a disease belonging to the banner of eating disorders, but very different from the more common anorexia or bulimia nervosa. Orthorexia is “ a controversial diagnosis characterized by an obsession with avoiding foods perceived to be unhealthy.” As you read the hyperlink, you will know people like Kristie Rutzel only eat uncooked broccoli and cauliflower.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1963297,00.html
ABC had interviewed her for what happened and following link is in her own words.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/orthorexia-obsession-healthy-foods-leads-eating-disorder/story?id=10173614
Orthorexia is a rising problem. So while we consider to eat helthy, we should not restrict our diet to only healthy food because ballance our nutrition is more important. Following are some screening question for people who might think ---Do I Have Orthorexia? Those questions are from national eating disorder. org.
The more ‘yes’ responses, the more likely you are dealing with orthorexia.
• Do you wish that occasionally you could just eat and not worry about food quality?
• Do you ever wish you could spend less time on food and more time on living and loving?
• Does it sound beyond your ability to eat a meal prepared with love by someone else – one single meal – and not try to control what is served?
• Are you constantly looking for the ways foods are unhealthy for you?
• Do love, joy, play and creativity take a backseat to having the perfect diet?
• Do you feel guilt or self-loathing when you stray from your diet?
• Do you feel in control when you eat the correct diet?
• Have you positioned yourself on a nutritional pedestal and wonder how others can possibly eat the food they eat?
http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/uploads/file/Orthorexia%20Nervosa.pdf

A Healthy Image

The main stream of beauty is skinny and which affected many young girls’ self images. The cause of anorexia nervosa seems rooted on how we feel about and see ourselves or “self-image". Even though anorexia teenagers have a beautiful body in normal peoples’ eyes, but in anorexia sufferers’ eye or brain that they feel fat, or imperfect or other negative body images. Therefore, I think in order to change those young ladies’ mind we need to put a effect to change the multimedia images of beauty from extreme skinny style to images of healthy body.

DSM-V

Following are some of the main proposed changes recommended by the American Psychiatric Association (www.dsm5.org).
1) Binge Eating Disorder
a)The addition of Binge Eating Disorder as an independent diagnosis. Having previously been classified as an Eating Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified, Binge Eating Disorder could now be a diagnosis in its own right.
b)Binge Eating Disorder is proposed to be defined as:
A. Recurrent episodes of binge eating. An episode of binge eating is characterized by both of the following:

1. eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g., within any 2-hour period), an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat in a similar period of time under similar circumstances
2. a sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (e.g., a feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating)

B. The binge-eating episodes are associated with three (or more) of the following:

1. eating much more rapidly than normal
2. eating until feeling uncomfortably full
3. eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry
4. eating alone because of being embarrassed by how much one is eating
5. feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or very guilty after overeating

C. Marked distress regarding binge eating is present.
D. The binge eating occurs, on average, at least once a week for three months.