How to distinguish between a healthy diet and an eating disorder

In recent years there have been many changes in terms of eating habits. Globalization has made not only new recipes become popular, but also new eating styles, diets and philosophies around food have emerged.

Added to this, the canons of beauty encourage a type of body for men and women and, if to this is added the obsession with eating "healthy", we have the perfect cocktail for a multitude of behavioral disorders to occur food.

Establish differences between a healthy diet and an eating disorder It is not easy, because it depends a lot on what is meant by healthy eating and what idea one has of a disordered diet, with or without a manual disorder. Next we will try to see what these differences are.

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Distinguishing between a healthy diet and an TCA

Human beings need to eat to live, as we well know. If we do not eat we do not obtain the necessary nutrients for our body to fulfill its vital functions and, consequently, we die. Based on this, it could be considered that a healthy diet would be one that provides us with the necessary nutritional support for our body to continue to function properly. This is considered by taking

a balanced diet, with foods from all groups.

However, “healthy” does not have to refer only to nutritional intake. Although there is no argument that for a healthy diet it must give us all the nutrients we need, we must not ignore the type of relationship we have with food. This psychological aspect also influences our way of understanding what eating healthy is, which is combined with how nutritional our diet is.

In recent years there have been all kinds of cultural changes that have affected what is meant by healthy eating. New eating habits, alternative eating styles (eg. g., vegetarianism, veganism, keto...) and new recipes have disrupted the concept of what it is to eat healthy. However, basically the idea is the same: a diet is nutritionally healthy when it provides us with all the nutrients we need, regardless of what is eaten. It does not matter if you are a vegetarian, omnivore, vegan: if it covers all the nutrients, you have a healthy diet.

The problem is that, Sometimes people understand limiting eating to a certain food group, not eating “forbidden” foods, or obsessively counting calories. These behaviors are typical of eating disorders, whose affectation is not only organic, but also psychological and emotional. The relationship established with food becomes pathological and dysfunctional.

These disorders have been increasing in recent years due to the viralization of eating styles and diets through social networks, but the main factor behind them is the constant bombardment of what is meant by a body aesthetic. Women are required to be thin and men to be muscular, canons of beauty that modify the diet of those who want to achieve them. Many women restrict what they eat to lose weight, while men take protein supplements to gain muscle mass, and avoid eating foods that "ruin" the progress made.

Nor is the opposite extreme healthy. Although a healthy diet does not imply psychological discomfort, not worrying in the least about what you eat or take care of your diet is also an indication that something is wrong. Eating huge amounts of food, neglecting the health of our body, is also a sign of a poor relationship with food. There may be a food addiction or binge eating disorder, conditions that damage health causing obesity, diabetes and hypertension.

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How is a healthy diet different from an TCA?

The most famous eating behavior disorders (EDs) are those that have to do with weight and physical appearance: bulimia and anorexia nervosa. However, there are other disorders such as pica and binge eating disorder in which physical appearance is not so important, but food is.

Eating disorders involve both excessive consumption of food and not eating at all, and they all share that food causes psychological, emotional and physical discomfort in one way or another.

The symptoms of a disturbed diet, with or without eating disorder per se, are various. All of them can be considered as the indicators that differentiate the diet of the affected person from that of a person with healthy habits and relationship with food.

1. Purging behaviors

In the case of bulimia nervosa, there are several purging behaviors that show a poor relationship with food. The patient try to compensate for binge eating through purging such as self-induced vomiting or excessive exercise and laxative use.

A person who has a healthy relationship with food does not carry out this type of behavior. If you exercise, this will not be done to compensate for a binge, but to stay healthy and active. Regarding the use of laxatives, these would only be taken when necessary.

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2. Diet-dependent self-esteem

People with eating disorders often show very low self-esteem. This largely depends on the shape and weight of the body. The individual has a very internalized idea that his shape and weight will depend on what he eats, so you restrict or modify your diet in extreme ways to achieve your desired body goals.

In the case of people with a healthy diet, what they eat has very little influence on their self-esteem. By having a relationship with healthy food, seen as simply the means to get the nutrients you need, your self-esteem will hardly be affected if you go off the diet healthy.

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3. Obsessive calorie counting

Counting calories is not a pathological behavior in itself, but a way to control caloric intake and avoid going overboard. Nevertheless, If this counting becomes obsessive, absolutely counting every calorie in every context (for example, a piece of candy, a piece of gum, a family dinner) and feels discomfort for not having counted how many calories a food contained, may be indicative of a behavioral disorder food.

A person with a healthy relationship with food can count calories, but they won't do it obsessively. You will understand that there are contexts in which telling them is not very useful, and you will also understand that by going a little overboard with the calories a day, being at a social event such as a family dinner or simply because you want to indulge, no nothing happens.

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4. Craving for certain foods or food groups

It is a reality that there are more recommended foods than others. Having a healthy diet implies taking all the food groups, covering the nutritional and caloric needs. Nevertheless, it is also healthy not to be anxious about certain types of food perceived as less healthy. As long as our diet is healthy, eating pizza or burgers from time to time is not unhealthy.

However, there are people who take it to the extreme. They cannot see at all according to what types of food, perceived as extremely unhealthy. This obsession can go so far that not only do you avoid eating dishes such as fast food or sweets, but you also completely ban certain food groups that diet fads have demonized or said are not healthy.

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5. Thinking about food affects our life

A healthy diet implies not obsessing over food, not thinking all the time about what you eat and stop eating. It is eating when you feel like it, being aware that some foods are healthier than others. And don't worry about taking something that isn't entirely healthy, as long as it's only once in a while.

People with eating problems have thoughts focused on food that make them lose concentration. This manifests itself in the form of problems at work and studies.

6. Restriction of social life

People with eating disorders, especially in the case of anorexia and bulimia nervosa, they become so obsessed with avoiding eating according to what things that they end up sacrificing their social life in order to avoid falling into the “temptation” of eating things that are not allowed.

A healthy diet does not affect our social life. If we meet with our friends and family for dinner, we understand that it is a special occasion and eating something that is out of our concept of healthy is allowed.

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7. Food used as coping

People with eating disorders use food as a way of coping. This is especially the case in binge eating disorder and bulimia., where large amounts of food are eaten, often to calm nerves or as a way to manage high levels of stress and anxiety.

In contrast, people with a relationship with healthy food do not use it to repress their feelings or face their day to day. They have other methods to deal with the problems that life may throw at them, while food fulfills the main function of nutrition.

8. Consequences in the organism

Healthy eating results in having a healthy body, with all the nutrients and calories you require. Eating behavior disorders induce multiple negative consequences for the body, diseases physical that with a healthy diet would not appear except for special cases such as intolerances and allergies.

Physical consequences vary by disorder. For example, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes are common in binge eating disorder. On the other hand, in anorexia and bulimia we find alterations such as changes in the skin and hair, anemia, malnutrition due to vitamin and hydroelectrolyte deficiency, some of which can lead to arrhythmias and alterations in contractility cardiac.

Both in binge eating disorder and in anorexia and bulimia, hormonal disorders such as sexual dysfunction and absence of the menstrual period can occur.

Orthorexia: the obsession with eating healthy

There is a condition in which the obsession with healthy eating becomes an eating disorder in itself: orthorexia. It is a paradoxical condition, since the fact of becoming obsessed with a healthy diet is, in itself, little healthy, and although it is not within the eating behavior disorders of the DSM-V, it could be considered as one.

Although it could be confused with anorexia, in orthorexia there need be no concerns with physical appearance or body size. The person is more concerned with eating “healthy”, avoiding certain food groups that he believes are detrimental to his health. The exaggerated concern with the quality of food causes the orthorexic person to establish obsessive rules about healthy eating and limit varieties of food.

For example, these patients may decide to exclude food groups such as carbohydrates, fats, dairy products, and meats, simply because they have been "documented" and they have understood that they are not good foods for their health. It can also occur in the form of excessive restriction towards some food or substance that is interpreted as unhealthy: salt, dyes, gluten, preservatives...

It may also be the case that the orthorexic person eats only one type of food, such as apples, brown rice, eggs, salad… Regardless of the food in question, what identifies this type of patient is their obsession with eating healthy foods that makes your diet lose variety and nutritional richness. As their behavior is not based on the advice of a doctor or nutritionist, orthorexic people often have serious nutritional deficiencies.

Characteristics of orthorexia

Thus, orthorexia is the obsession with eating healthy, something that is not a healthy behavior. From this altered eating behavior we can highlight the following features, which in themselves are differentiators of what a healthy diet is.

• Fixation with healthy eating.
• Eating becomes a duty, not a pleasure.
• Exaggerated need for food care.
• Going off the diet leads to guilt.
• Fasting practice in the absence of a "healthy option."
• Food dominates daily life.
• Disregard for other eating habits and lifestyles.
• Social isolation due to the habits of others.
• Exaggeration and radicalism when preparing food.

A healthy diet is characterized by covering all the nutritional and caloric requirements, in addition to assuming psychological, physical, emotional and social well-being for the people who have it. eat a balanced diet, that contains all the food groups and provides carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals to the individual at the recommended levels is a healthy diet. If the person suffers from complying with a diet, becoming obsessed with losing weight or being healthy, or eats excessive food, there would be an eating behavior problem.