Are you planning to eat healthily in the New Year? Your obsession with a healthy diet should not turn into an eating disorder

The New Year is just around the corner, and with it comes resolutions for a healthier year. If you’ve already committed to eating healthily in the coming year, be careful – obsessing over healthy eating can take a toll on your mental health and potentially lead to an eating disorder.

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is an obsession with eating “clean” foods to the point that it can take control of your social life and mental well-being. Individuals may begin to organize their entire schedule around strict dietary rules, skipping social events such as Christmas parties or family dinners, and feel stressed or anxious when their eating routines are disrupted.

Many people can fall into the trap of extreme dieting that eliminates carbohydrates, proteins and essential vitamins, all in the name of healthy eating. However, this approach can put your body at risk of nutrient deficiencies, leading to symptoms such as hair loss, brittle nails, missed menstrual cycles, and constant fatigue.

If the obsession with healthy eating is left unchecked, it can develop into more serious problems, potentially leading to clinical eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.

In a breakthrough testresearchers examined how addiction to healthy eating and extreme beauty ideals among models can cause eating and body image disorders. Their findings, published in the journal Eating and Weight Disorders – Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia, and Obesity, showed that although 95% of participants, both models and controls, had positive emotions related to healthy eating, over 35% of models showed signs of ON and over 20% in the control group. The study also revealed a disturbing trend regarding the body mass index (BMI) of models, as many as 88.7% of whom do not exceed the threshold of underweight.

For those who want to start a healthy lifestyle in the New Year, Dr. Nikolett Bogár, a PhD student researching eating disorders at the Institute of Behavioral Sciences at Semmelweis University, recommends focusing on a long-term, balanced diet, recognizing that food is not only nutrition, but also a social and cultural experience. He advises against categorizing foods as strictly good and bad.

“Instead of January, try to eat a long-term, balanced diet, not an ultra-clean diet. It’s worth indulging in chocolates or Christmas treats from time to time – without feeling guilty,” advises Dr. Bogár.