Orthorexia: when ‘clean eating’ becomes unhealthy

This video is meant to expand your general knowledge about living a healthy life and is NOT a substitute for seeking medical advice. Please consult with your doctor before making changes in your health practices, diet and self-care.

Can there ever be a ‘dark side’ to clean eating? In this video, investigative journalist, Ruby Jones meets Megan who, for years, lived with ‘orthorexia nervosa’ – an extreme fixation with the ‘purity’ of food consumed, fuelled by social media’s clean-eating trend.

While the DSM-5 – the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – has not officially defined the condition as an eating disorder, some experts believes similarities exist between the constant worry over food seen in orthorexia, and eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia nervosa. All are concerned with food and control.

For more information about ‘orthorexia’ click here.

View the original video here.

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