Orthorexia: When eating right, goes wrong

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- One of the most dangerous eating disorders can be disguised as healthy eating. It's called orthorexia -- an extreme fixation on eating pure foods.

Social media sites are filled with posts about so-called "clean diets," but therapists say those diets can lead some people to an unhealthy obsession.

Alisha Killian now enjoys making lunch and spending time with her dad in their Northeast Fresno home. But for years, the 25-year-old Fresno State student dreaded mealtime because of her eating disorder. Killian wasn't eating bad food or not eating at all; she was eating too much good food.

"I used to obsess about food, and what I was making, what I was eating basically all day. And that just consumed me," she said. "I couldn't focus on work. I couldn't focus on school. I was depressed."

Killian suffered from orthorexia -- an extreme fixation on eating healthy food or having a "clean diet." She says it started when she was just 11, after struggling with a childhood trauma.

"People want to think eating disorders are about food but they're about so much more," said Killian.

Experts say they're seeing a rise in orthorexia, at the same time, trendy diets focus on eating "right." Diets like juicing, the paleo diet, the raw food diet, no fat and GMO-free diets have driven up the demand for organic food.

"We live in a culture that really is very focused right now on being healthy, and eating right, and eating the right kinds of foods. And that's great. There's nothing wrong with that on the surface, but when it becomes an obsession and it becomes unhealthy physically for somebody, then that's dangerous," said Susan Gravette, a licensed therapist at the Fresno Office of the Eating Recovery Center of California.

Gravette says many times, family members are the first to call for help for a loved one who shows signs of orthorexia.

"All of a sudden they're either dropping a lot of weight, or they're cutting out food groups, or they're refusing to eat anywhere except for at home, food that they've cooked," she said.

Dietitian Kim Tirapelle at Kaiser Permanente Fresno says orthorexia can lead to malnutrition even heart problems. Self-esteem is also often tied to the disorder.

"You notice that they kind of beat themselves up if they eat anything that they deem not to be pure or healthy," she said.

Some organic store owners and farmers worry that the growing cases of orthorexia might turn people away from healthy eating.

But one well-known Fresno market stocks shelves with information as well as nutrition. The owners of Kristina's Natural Ranch Market help many of their customers shop for healthy foods and that includes from all food groups, fruits and vegetables, proteins and grain.

But experts say many orthorexics eliminate one or more of those food groups, even if they're organic -- leading to extreme eating habits.

"It's not about just eating organically, it's about eating a balanced diet and making sure you have the correct proportions of food throughout the day," said Matt Belcher, manager at Kristina's Market.

Killian can do that now, after recognizing she needed help to overcome her orthorexia.

"I wanted to live. I wanted a future," said Killian.

She continues her therapy at the Eating Disorder Center of Fresno, which helped her return to more balanced eating habits.

"Now I can go and I can enjoy everything in moderation and just enjoy the people I'm with. It's about people now instead of the food," said Killian.

A healthier outlook on life, and not just what's on her plate.

Dietitians and therapists are working to get orthorexia designated as a clinical eating disorder. Right now, it's addressed as a treatable condition, but until it gains recognition as a stand-alone diagnosis, treatment may not be covered by insurance, like other eating disorders.