Orthorexia nervosa
Besides anorexia and bulimia, a third eating disorder has been officially recognized, I recently read. You may well be familiar with it already. Orthorexia is about the obsession with healthy food, a relatively common disorder nowadays, though often unrecognized. Most of us would like to lead a healthy lifestyle. There is nothing wrong with that, although opinions differ widely on what that might entail. Some people cannot do without meat, fish and dairy, while others eat few or no animal products at all. I don’t need to explain to you what vegan means. In the past, people were obsessed with food because they did not have enough to eat; today we suffer from oversupply, often produced under questionable circumstances. For me, healthy food is locally grown, does not come from factory farming and is as natural as possible. I refuse to eat animals that were born just to die – for me! Though I have a sweet tooth, I try to avoid sugary stuff. I don’t always manage to drink enough, but I drink little alcohol and keep my psychoactive habits under control. Things turn unhealthy when people strictly investigate every bite to make sure that nothing «bad» goes down their throats. When all food can only be organic, and they have to decline when they are invited to eat at friends’ houses who don’t do as they do. Most likely because shopping at the health food store exceeds their budget. This I can well understand, because I too can’t afford to gold-plate every morsel of food I eat. Except for eggs and fish. They must be local and certified in order to reduce animal suffering. Since I eat healthy in general, I allow myself an exception now and then. Rudolf Steiner already said that it is better to drink a glass of wine than to think about it all the time. My motto: the secret of good health doesn’t lie in what you eat, but in what you don’t eat. Exceptions confirm the rule. To think that one can control one’s health through nutrition alone seems to me to be too short-sighted; enjoying your food is just as important, and enough movement and good relationships too, of course.
Healthily Yours
Susanne G. Seiler
A Center
You must hold your quiet center,
where you do what only you can do.
If others call you a maniac or a fool,
just let them wag their tongues.
If some praise your perseverance,
don’t feel too happy about it—
only solitude is a lasting friend.
You must hold your distant center.
Don’t move even if earth and heaven quake.
If others think you are insignificant,
that’s because you haven’t held on long enough.
As long as you stay put year after year,
eventually you will find a world
beginning to revolve around you.
Ha Jin