You do not like kale, nuts, and sardines?
I do not see much of this. At work, some meetings at lunch time have catered food, whose leftovers end up in the lunch room. If you want a snack of vegetables or salad, you are likely to find that most of the leftovers are that. In terms of exercise, most people actively avoid it, even if it is less convenient (e.g. waiting in the crowd to get on the escalator instead of walking up the stairs which would be faster).
I live in Bonfire of the Vanities land.
^^^ I still don’t know what that means!!!
The condition they are talking about is VERY rigid, VERY extreme. Not necessarily your neighbor who has a garden, eats lean and fresh and takes a 3 mile run everyday. Some people see that neighbor as extreme - when in fact it’s not.
Point being, attitudes towards eating and exercising vary among our population. This condition is for a very, very small % of the population. It’s definitely a condition that sounds like it could be debilitating on everyday life.
Clean eating doesn’t always turn into orthorexia, but it can and it’s dangerous. I can promise you that eating disorders are way more common than you think and you cannot tell if someone is sick just by looking at them. Yes there is a lot of obesity in America, but being overweight is actually less dangerous than being underweight.
This is definitely an “agree to disagree” area. “Clean Eating” can be defined by 10 different people 10 different ways.
No doubt that eating disorders of many types - including overeating and binge eating (so not just stricter eating) are prevalent.
In what facets would you describe obesity as being less dangerous???
Sorry, I was being flippant. It’s actually a serious problem.
There are a lot of eating disorders in my neighborhood and it’s a huge problem in the schools. That’s not new but I think the extreme clean eating trend and putting lots of restrictions on each bite that goes in your mouth is just the current manifestation of what’s always there: the thinner the better. I live in Manhattan.
Oh…major groan! An article in the local paper discussed how folks have gotten religion when it comes to eating. There are absolute right/good foods and absolute wrong/bad foods. Folks can’t socialize in a normal manner if food is involved because it is an occasion for sin…there is guilt if one eats the wrong thing. And, it’s used as a virtue signaling device so that those at your table know just how serious you are about - saving the world from cow farts, drinking coffee picked by workers who get massages while picking in the shade, not supporting the Monsanto industrial complex…etc.
Rant alert…If it takes you 10- minutes to order a salad (yes, it’s EVOO but no it’s not from Italy. No we can’t remove the blue cheese from the blue cheese dressing; I’m sorry we can’t replace the kidney beans with Fava beans; I’ll check to see if the vinegar is organic apple cider and if we have a low acid balsamic alternative; um, by definition mixed greens will have different greens so we won’t be able to pick out the arugula, I’ll check with the kitchen because I don’t know the country of origin of the included cucumbers) please eat at home.
It’s actually funny to sit and eavesdrop on folks ordering these days.
It’s paczki day.
You can follow any diet (hopefully, a sensible one,) and NOT be neurotic. If you’re obsessed, there’s something else in play.
And yes, assuming your grandparents lived long, healthy, happy lives, why not learn something from their eating?
Fava beans were the favorite non-human food of Hannibal Lecter!
Yep. I have been down this rabbit hole. Not fun. Lots of anxiety. Hesitant and/or afraid to eat certain foods. Worried about what I was feeding not only myself, but my family. Stressed about the huge amount of junk food at almost every social function. Stressed about factory farming. Stressed about unhealthy oils (that my grandmother never cooked with).
Better now, but not 100%.
People make fun – I get that & I am not offended – but I’d like to point out that IME it’s easy to get started down the path of restricted diets – with the very best intentions – when trying to fix health problems (allergies, GI distress, autoimmune disease, arthritis, moodiness, weight gain).
“And yes, assuming your grandparents lived long, healthy, happy lives, why not learn something from their eating?”
Most all my relatives have a good track record–eating all sorts of fresh veggies (which includes canned/frozen these days), whatever meat/protein available and desserts with plenty of sugar (my dad says it “lights up his brain” which means makes him happy–which is important too.)
“All things in moderation” is the motto I live by.
As for weight control, getting a kitchen scale and determining a “moderate” portion size will help in the diet arena.
If you know a food causes issues for your body, then eliminating it or lowering intake may be the way to go.
My mil had rheumatoid arthritis and swore that when she stopped eating tomatoes and potatoes (in the nightshade family) she felt better. She also took Metatrexate (a chemotherapy drug) for her RA. Who knows—it’s a multivariate world.
I don’t think there is much scientific evidence to support the link between nightshades and inflammation, but if it helps someone feel better, why not?? RA is a nasty autoimmune disease—very painful and debilitating.
If someone obsesses about food all the time—he/she may need help to gain some perspective. Folks who end up with nutritional deficiencies obviously need some guidance too.
Just please don’t send me information about the GAP diet that will cure my son’s schizophrenia… 
" Folks can’t socialize in a normal manner if food is involved because it is an occasion for sin…there is guilt if one eats the wrong thing. And, it’s used as a virtue signaling device "
It’s horrible to be a host to a variety of people with “issues”. Too much work.
It’s amazing anyone eats at the same table sometimes.
I’m turning into an “Everyone is on their own. If you don’t like it, eat at home later. Maybe you should have brought it with you.” person. Your personal diet restrictions are NOT my problem.
This works though-- " Here, have a shot of vegetarian whiskey and get over it. The steak will taste better. "
@abasket found this from a medical study in 2012
“Using the National Death Index, researchers assessed the mortality risk of the 50,994 people included in the study and found that people who were ‘severely obese’ were significantly less likely to die than underweight people.”
link to a full article discussing this: https://www.medicaldaily.com/being-severely-obese-healthier-being-underweight-241247
Oh, totally. I have a friend who changed her diet bc of IBS and it did help with the symptoms but wow, did it ever send her down a path of food obsession. I just have a minor shellfish allergy that’s pretty easy to avoid but I can understand how moderating a diet can become overwhelming if it’s something like peanuts or wheat that’s a much harder task.
@gallentjill – “The point is not whether or not anyone is successful on any particular diet.”
I’m not talking about success on a diet. I’m asking about the number of people who actually have a PROBLEM named as orthorexia. I’m wondering if this is actually a problem with this diet or just pertains to a very few who would have problems with any diet because of their own personality makeup.
From what I can gather it is NOT a big problem.
I don’t know when it all started. I remember watching Covert Bailey on PBS and jumping on the fat-is-bad-for-you band wagon. I thought the hair and shoulder pads and harem pants were the worst things about the 80s…maybe the worst thing was the fat free movement. 
It got better, until I had kids. I don’t know how it was for everyone else, but in my circle of mom friends there was a LOT of What To Feed Your Kids talk. This morphed into Is There a Link Between Food & Behavioral Problems and/or Allergies? and I knew lots of moms experimenting with food elimination diets in order to “fix” something in their kid or themselves.
It didn’t seem unusual to me at all that someone was trying to eliminate food dyes or gluten or dairy. It seemed like almost everyone I knew was trying something along those lines, and many reporting good results.
I am relieved to be (mostly) free of it, but I still do have some “rules”. Sigh.
“Covert Bailey on PBS and jumping on the fat-is-bad-for-you band wagon.”
H lost 40 pounds and then gained more back. Ugh
“What To Feed Your Kids talk.”
I just wanted them to eat. And easy to fix on the go. Ignored everything around me. They ate raw veggies and protein in all forms. Carbs were easy. They appear to have survived pretty well!
D as adult did Whole 30 diet and eliminated gluten which was great for her. But she went through steps to determine what would work for her. She thought at first dairy but discovered that wasn’t the problem. For someone who loves ice cream and cheese that was a big deal. Now a happy camper. Whole 30 is a limited time diet with a purpose.
My H who did the low fat diet? Got a kitchen scale and re-lost the 40+ pounds on the “everything in moderation” diet.
Nothing is off the radar to eat. But portion control is paramount. Only diet that’s served well for years.