3 ms·
Ask HN: Should I warn my healthy food-crazed friends about Orthorexia Nervosa?
Yesterday on a German popular science program I first heard about an eating disorder, Orthorexia Nervosa [0], that is caused by an obsessive focus on eating only the most healthy foods. The popularity of numerous food trends lead to a rise in the people suffering from this disorder, with dietists and people in the 'whole foods' sector are most at risk.
Reading symptoms and diagnostic criteria, I think several of my friends and family members may be in first stages of this disorder.
Always busy with finding superfoods, preparing carrot/radish/whatever vegetable juice and pushing them to whomever they can, excessive talk about supposed health benefits, and recently started buying very expensive food supplements, vitamins and such.
I also notice they don't appear to become healthier. Losing weight, gaunt, grey skin tone, and (though might not be related) often sick.
Orthorexia Nervosa is not widely recognized as a real thing, and I don't want to be seen as overly alarmist, nor do I want to be seen as criticizing their lifestyle (a lot of worry about modern processed foods is warranted).
Do you have similar experiences with this supposed eating disorder, and are the risks such that I should inform them?
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthorexia_nervosa