Originally published May 3 2011
Wannabe experts claim healthy eating is a mental disorder
by Jonathan Benson, staff writer
(NaturalNews) Do you avoid foods that contain artificial colors and sweeteners, and stick to whole, unprocessed foods instead? If so, you just might have orthorexia, an imaginary "disease" created in 1997 by Dr. Steven Bratman that appears to be gaining more attention in recent days. According to a recent report in Yahoo! News, restricting one's diet to healthy, pure foods is a compulsive disorder that requires cognitive behavior therapy in order to cure.
Written about in so-called respected health journals like the Journal of the American Medical Association and Psychology Today, "orthorexia nervosa," which means "nervous about correct eating" in Latin, allegedly causes malnourishment, anxiety, and social disorders. Its creators claim it stems from a type of obsessive compulsive disorder, and that it can lead to anorexia.
As bizarre as it all sounds, there are actually individuals out there that have fallen for the crazy tale that eating healthy is a disease, and some actually take these claims seriously. In other words, eating processed foods filled with artificial chemicals, pesticides, and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) is considered normal behavior, while eating raw, organic broccoli could potentially land you in a psychiatric hospital filled with pharmaceutical drugs designed specifically to treat your "illness."
NaturalNews covered the issue of orthorexia last summer (http://www.naturalnews.com/029098_orthorexia...), but the fictitious disease is once again making the rounds in the mainstream media. According to reports, orthorexics "may start by eliminating processed foods, anything with artificial colorings or flavorings as well as foods that have come into contact with pesticides, and eventually shun other things like caffeine and alcohol."
This ridiculous criteria, of course, includes millions of health-conscious Americans that choose to eat healthy and avoid chemicals. Currently, however, this fake disease has not yet been officially added to the American Psychiatric Association's ridiculous Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). So any supposed "treatments" that are sure to be developed by drug companies will not qualify for insurance reimbursement.
Sources for this story include:
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/...
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