{"id":468585,"date":"2026-02-14T17:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T17:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/468585\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T17:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T17:30:08","slug":"4-common-signs-of-orthorexia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/468585\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Common Signs Of Orthorexia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Between fad diets, the protein-ification of nearly<\/a> everything and new wearable technology that tracks all kinds of biometrics, it\u2019s easy to get swept up in the health-obsession craze.<\/p>\n

Plus, with all of the information online and on social media,<\/a> it can be hard to know what you need and don\u2019t need when it comes to your health, especially nutrition. There are videos all over social media in which people refer to certain foods as \u201cbad\u201d or containing \u201cfake ingredients,\u201d which only fuel a societal infatuation with \u201ceating healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there is nothing wrong with eating a healthy diet \u2014 it\u2019s a great way to bolster your well-being \u2014 there is a line that healthy eating can cross. Too much of a focus on it can turn into something known as orthorexia, a condition that\u2019s becoming more common in society<\/a>, and some research says<\/a> that\u2019s in large part because of pressure from social media.<\/p>\n

You won\u2019t find orthorexia in the DSM-5, which is the official handbook for mental health diagnoses, but two dietitians told HuffPost they expect it to become an official diagnosis eventually.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s subclinical disordered eating, so it\u2019s not something that has a clinical diagnosis code, but it\u2019s widely recognized in the disordered eating community,\u201d said Beth Auguste<\/a>, a maternal wellness dietitian in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

\u2033[Orthorexia] can be generally categorized as a preoccupation with healthy eating and a fixation on the purity of food,\u201d added Auguste.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an obsession with what someone perceives as the proper way of eating, or the healthy way of eating,\u201d added Beth Heise<\/a>, a registered dietitian with OnPoint Nutrition.<\/p>\n

Since lots of people enjoy eating healthy foods or do so to keep certain health markers like cholesterol<\/a> and blood sugar in control, it can be hard to know what is just a healthy diet and what is dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so hard to spot that even professionals can have trouble spotting it \u2014 they kind of question, like, is this person just really healthy, or is [it] bordering on a disorder?\u201d Auguste noted.<\/p>\n

Below, Auguste and Heise share the signs that you may be crossing into orthorexia territory and what to do if you\u2019re concerned about your eating habits.<\/p>\n

You have extreme food restrictions (that aren\u2019t related to an allergy or suggestion from a doctor).<\/p>\n

\u2033[Orthorexia] can show up some of the same ways that anorexia shows up, where it can be restricting \u2014 not eating certain food groups, having a lot of anxiety if you are not having full control over the food that you\u2019re eating and the source that it comes from,\u201d Auguste said.<\/p>\n

You may find yourself creating rigid rules regarding your food intake, Heise added. Like, maybe you tell yourself you can only eat brown rice and can never make exceptions for white rice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt winds up becoming less about healthy eating, which is usually what it starts out as, and more about an unhealthy obsession with food purity or \u2018clean eating,\u2019 or \u2018proper eating,\u2019\u201d Heise said.<\/p>\n

It messes with your social life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it crosses the line is when it starts to interfere with your activities of daily living,\u201d Auguste said.<\/p>\n

If your stress about food interferes with your social engagements, like you turn down plans because you aren\u2019t sure of the food situation, it could be cause for concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it impacts your ability to live socially in the world, comfortably, then it\u2019s a problem that you should address,\u201d Auguste added. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt winds up being less about the average person concerned about healthy food, and more just really obsessing about it where it\u2019s almost your personality,\u201d Heise said.<\/p>\n

\"Orthorexia,<\/p>\n

skynesher via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Orthorexia, or a preoccupation with healthy eating, is becoming more common in society.<\/p>\n

You spend lots of time analyzing ingredient lists.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s normal to check the ingredient lists and nutrition labels on food from time to time, especially if you have an allergy or a specific nutrition goal you\u2019re trying to hit. But, for someone with orthorexia, they may find that they\u2019re \u201ccompulsively, all the time, analyzing all the ingredients,\u201d Heise said.<\/p>\n

This may turn into hours and hours spent meal planning or researching the nutrition of every ingredient that\u2019s going into your food, she noted.<\/p>\n

When you break your food rules, you feel anxious or guilty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the line comes when you start to feel like you\u2019re thinking about [healthy eating] all the time,\u201d Heise said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you feel like you have anxiety<\/a> … you\u2019re nervous about eating something … and you feel like that more often than not, then that could be a sign that maybe you\u2019re thinking about it too much,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The same goes for if you feel guilty after breaking any of your food rules, Heise added.<\/p>\n

Auguste added that if your thoughts about food are disrupting your mental health at all, you should consider talking to someone. Auguste also said if it interferes with your physical health, it\u2019s absolutely a red flag.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to do if this sounds like you.<\/p>\n

With support from either a dietitian or mental health professional, you can determine whether your healthy eating is simply that \u2014 or something more. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important to talk to somebody like a dietitian who specializes in disordered eating, a therapist who specializes in it, who can help you figure out [if this is a problem for you],\u201d Auguste said. <\/p>\n

Dietitians generally take insurance, noted Auguste, and they can help you make sure you\u2019re on the right track with your eating, whether or not you have specific concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can definitely recover from orthorexia if you have the right support,\u201d said Heise, \u201cso, as soon as you feel those feelings, address it as early as possible so that it doesn\u2019t turn into something that rules your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Healthy eating is a lifelong process and isn\u2019t meant to be perfect.<\/p>\n

When it comes to what you eat, your nutrition needs likely differ from your partner\u2019s, your neighbor\u2019s and your favorite social media influencer\u2019s. <\/p>\n

So, don\u2019t put too much stock in social media nutrition trends or what diet a friend is raving about, Heise said.<\/p>\n

Instead of obsessing over the latest food trend, focus on realistic goals \u2014 \u201cso, not focusing on whether or not a food is clean, but focusing on whether or not you have variety in your meals,\u201d Heise said. \u201cAre you getting a variety of different foods? Are you getting a variety of different nutrients? Because that\u2019s where true nutrition comes in.\u201d <\/p>\n

Auguste said it\u2019s important to let go of all-or-nothing thinking when it comes to eating, which includes rules around following one specific diet or a rigid plan to lose weight. \u201cI have so many patients that do that, and then it\u2019s not sustainable to be 100% all of the time,\u201d Auguste added.<\/p>\n

Then, when they fall off of the diet, they feel like a failure and give up, she noted. \u201cI feel like that is a downside for somebody with orthorexia, is that you are afraid of letting go of the 100%, and you\u2019re afraid that if you let go, that you fall back into that nothing,\u201d Auguste said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to find the middle ground and remind yourself that you don\u2019t have to be perfect, added Auguste. \u201cYou can say to yourself, \u2018I usually eat healthy.\u2019 You don\u2019t have to say, \u2018I always eat healthy,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When you use \u201calways\u201d language, you \u201cintroduce that concept of failure and judging yourself,\u201d Auguste noted. And it\u2019s perfectly OK, and not a failure, to have that salty snack or sweet treat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more practice you can get of letting yourself find the middle, where you\u2019re not \u2018always,\u2019 you\u2019re just \u2018usually\u2019 doing something, I think the better,\u201d Auguste said.<\/p>\n

As you work on all of this, have compassion for yourself. Society does not make it easy to be forgiving about food choices.<\/p>\n

\u201cEating and healthy eating in general, is just a lifelong journey. It\u2019s not really a set of rules and a one-and-done; it\u2019s something that you engage in throughout your lifetime,\u201d Heise said. Your diet needs may change as you age, as might your food preferences.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few choices here and there that you feel like maybe weren\u2019t as great are not going to make that big of an impact. It\u2019s really more focusing on getting you what you need throughout your life,\u201d Heise said.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re struggling with an eating disorder, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org<\/a> for support.<\/p>\n

The original version of this story was published on HuffPost at an earlier date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Between fad diets, the protein-ification of nearly everything and new wearable technology that tracks all kinds of biometrics,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[36060,97,259,269],"class_list":{"0":"post-468585","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-body-image","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-mental-health","11":"tag-nutrition"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}