First, orthorexia is not the more familiar eating disorder known as anorexia. Orthorexics are fixated with the quality, rather than the quantity, of their food to an excessive degree.
See: Robert Paarlberg, Resetting the Table: Straight Talk About the Food We Grow and Eat, 2021
RFK, Jr’s obsession with the health of America may be an indicator of a personal – even national – psychosis. His claim that America’s food and water supply is “poison” is in direct contradiction with America’s history of producing the best quality of food that has fed the world since World War II.
It is beyond doubt that Americans have been getting fatter since the ’60s. The increase in obesity and childhood sensitivities also corresponds to the hippie-generated pre-occupation with “organic” food and other Liberal elites’ pre-occupation with immortality through artificial measures.
It is also a paradigm of the scientific method that mere association does not necessarily mean causation. Just because the food industry has been developing methods for improving the preservation of food – methods tested for years before being approved for public consumption – does not necessarily mean they are responsible for the coincidental rise in obesity and childhood vulnerabilities. All those who are so fearful of our food, water and medicines can show is that there is coincidence the two are happening at the same time. To date there has been no impartial clinical data showing a direct link between the problems claimed and the food supply. When billions are at stake, the temptation for “Figures to Lie and Liars to Figure” is immense.
Could it be that Americans have become less healthy as their fixation on health has increased? Could it be that, like Progressive’s social agenda have proven disastrous for America, their mania for immortality has also proven disastrous for the health of society?
It has been posited repeatedly for decades by respected medical nutritionists that 80% of America’s chronic illnesses are life-style choices. Simply by abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, eating a balanced diet and exercise can eliminate 80% of the nation’s chronic illnesses. Is that worth hiring a crusading – possibly orthorexic – zealot to lead a federally mandated campaign to replicate the COVID-19 invasion of personal choice in our lifestyle choices? Especially when the cause for the increase in obesity and childhood vulnerabilities may be caused by the fear-mongering propaganda of the organic industry and the histrionics of orthorexic mothers?
“First named by Steven Bratman in 1997, orthorexia nervosa (ON) from the Greek ortho, meaning correct, and orexi, meaning appetite, is classified as unspecified feeding and eating disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). A person with orthorexia is fixated with the quality, rather than the quantity, of their food to an excessive degree. The attempt to attain optimum health through attention to diet may lead to malnourishment (in basic vitamins and minerals), loss of relationships, and poor quality of life.” – Federal Practitioner: Orthorexia Nervosa: An Obsession With Healthy Eating by Johathan R. Scarff; June 2017.
“Studies have shown that many individuals with orthorexia also have obsessive-compulsive disorders. Although being aware of and concerned with the nutritional quality of the food you eat isn’t a problem in and of itself, people with orthorexia become so fixated on so-called “healthy eating” that they actually damage their own well-being and experience health consequences such as malnutrition (unconsciously) and / or impairment of psychosocial functioning.
Signs and Symptoms:
- Compulsive checking of ingredient lists and nutritional labels. An increase in concern about the health of ingredients
- Cutting out an increasing number of food groups (all sugar, all carbs, all dairy, all meat, all animal products.)
- Unusual interest in the health of what others are eating.
- A feeling of superiority around their nutrition and intolerance of other people’s food behaviors and beliefs.
- High levels of perfectionism.
- Spending hours per day thinking about what food might be served at upcoming events.
- Showing high levels of stress when ‘safe’ or ‘healthy’ foods aren’t available.
- Obsessive following of food and ‘healthy lifestyle’ blogs on social media.
- Psychosocial impairments in different areas of life.” – National Eating Disorder Association, Amy Baker Dennis, Phd. FAED
“Orthorexia can start with ‘healthy’ or ‘clean’ eating then progress to the elimination of entire food groups such as dairy or grains, and then to the avoidance of foods such as those with artificial additives, foods treated with pesticides, or particular ingredients (e.g. fat, sugar, or salt.)
Symptoms include:
- Strong anxiety about their food choices, particularly around their diet not meeting their personal high standards of ‘purity’.
- Social isolation as a person withdraws from activities and people who do not align with their strict dietary regime.
- Feelings of guilt following ‘slip-ups’.
- Heightened self-esteem when eating foods that are ‘healthy’.
- Mood swings, anxiety, and depression.” – Eating Disorders Victoria; eatingdisorders.org.au
What explains the significant decrease in generations’ bone density and muscle mass? Could it be the avoidance of the five basic foods group? Is hedonism adversely affecting national health – as it did in Rome? Are children being denied tried and true diets resulting in their inability to pass even a rudimentary physical test for the military – along with a fixation for video games? Maybe all America needs is to get back to parents taking the time to fix a basic breakfast and pack a lunch for themselves and their children. Maybe all it takes to cure the 80% of chronic diseases in America is for Americans to quit drinking alcohol, stop smoking (everything: pot, vaping, etc.), take TVs and laptops out of our bedrooms, and get to the gym a few days a week – all a simple matter of personal choice.
For those who believe “just one drink won’t hurt” – especially pregnant mothers, according to a recent British Medical Association study, micro-atomic photography showed one drink of alcohol damaging the amygdala – the region of the brain that plays a role in emotion, motivation, . The amygdala regulates emotion, motivation and behavior. The damage to the amygdala by one drink – though small – is permanent and accumulative over time.
Perhaps if more mothers’ chose to believe the science regarding the adverse affects of alcohol rather than the propaganda paid for by the alcohol industry our newborns might start out life with a more robust birth.
If one believes government can’t legislate morality (as touted during Prohibition where more Americans stopped drinking than started), then it’s doubtful the government can legislate lifestyle choices that determine personal health.
RFK, Jr. is on a fool’s errand – despite the hyperbole.
