Unhealthy obsession with our bodies has been a common trend online, but the new star of the show is the harmful focus on the purity of the foods we consume, with many crossing the line of how extreme they can be with their health. 

This fixation has been circulating on social media and increasingly in public policy discussions. This disorder has a name: orthorexia, which the National Institutes of Health defines as “an obsession with healthy eating with associated restrictive behaviors.”

While this behavior is often portrayed on social media as the epitome of health, these obsessive diets are unhealthy in many ways.

Young people are already extremely susceptible to disorders revolving around their bodies, such as body dysmorphia or eating disorders, and with social media flooding with health propaganda, these disorders will only increase in number.

Popular examples of these diets include the carnivore diet, which puts animal products at the top of the food pyramid, and the anti-inflammatory diet, which emphasizes only eating whole foods and strictly avoiding sugars and processed carbs. While some eating plans may offer health benefits, rigid adherence and moralizing food choices can become harmful. 

Online trends have labeled seed oils as toxic, sugar as the cause for obesity and pasteurization of milk as harmful, claiming that drinking ‘raw milk’ is better for your health despite its major risks.

Joanna Buscemi, associate dean for clinical education and health initiatives at DePaul, attributes the rise of these fad diets to misinformation largely seen on social media. 

“Influencers have an audience, but they don’t have the facts,” Buscemi said. “So if they’re into something and they put it out there, then it becomes trendy for other people as well. But it doesn’t make it evidence based.”

Health misinformation has now made its way to the federal level as well. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promoted extremist views of diets and public health. 

This obsession is not limited to just food. It is also seen in the health technology many use now.

In the past decade, people have begun to wear fitness watches and rings that track our steps, our heart rate and our sleep to analyze our health throughout the day. This, although a less pronounced version, is also a health compulsion.

While there are countless reasons for why young people are overanalyzing their health, Jay Baglia, a health communications professor at DePaul, believes it stems from a need for control.

“Young people have economic worries that are beyond their control, and at a much higher level, they have political concerns and environmental concerns that are out of their control,” Baglia said. 

He says this diet is “something that people can control.”

There are numerous ways that people adapt these obsessive lifestyles and numerous factors that contribute to how people adopt this obsession. But how can people avoid getting caught up in a world where pureness is the only way to health?

It’s the age old answer of just living and loving.

“Just live in your moment and love what your body is doing for you now, because if you go down this road of obsession it’s just going to get harder,” Baglia said. 

While you can be eating the “cleanest” foods and have great physical health, the upkeep may take a toll on your mental health. It’s about balance and listening to what your body needs. 

Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

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