Orthorexia (noun) – an obsession with eating foods that are considered healthy, especially when accompanied by an obsessive version to, or even fear of, foods that are considered unhealthy. 

I’d like to think that the internet has had a net-positive effect on humanity. I can’t think of any greater feat of innovation that our ancestors would’ve loved to have experienced than the ability to connect with just about any person on earth.  However, with this ability comes the great risk of being influenced by, let’s just say, people who should not have their say online. If anyone can open their phone or computer and type away or record and upload their thoughts and feelings without the prerequisite of governing auspices, then you can expect to encounter all sorts of improper and disproportionate information from people whose intentions may not be pure, if not outright malicious. 

This is where I’d like to highlight a phenomenon that I’ve seen in the online health community to elucidate this issue. If you’re scrolling through YouTube suggested videos or Instagram and notice that their content seems to geared towards some extreme, whether its relating to diet or lifestyle, then raise your antennas to spot any the following red flags; 

• Over-promotes living an ‘ancestral’ lifestyle, including avoiding EMF radiation, not using transport, eating a very limited or restrictive diet, never touching anything processed or cooked in seed oils, but ironically, these ‘influencers’ and ‘gurus’ are happy to sell their products online and travel around the world on fuel-guzzling airplanes… seems a little hypocritical.
• Retouching on the previous point, preaches to completely avoid things we frequently encounter, like BPA (a compound found in plastics) and any other chemical that isn’t “natural” even though the human body has efficient detoxification mechanisms to process just about any chemical we consume in moderation. Sometimes, they will make the same point towards “chemicals” that are naturally present in food, such as anti-nutrients. Only in certain clinical presentations will a person benefit from completely eliminating certain foods or compounds, such as autoimmune disease. 
• Promotes the concept of ‘one diet for all’, even though there is an interplay between genetic, ethnic, and cultural variables that influence what diet is optimal for a person so it is a misnomer to imply any human can comfortably sustain themselves on a very specific diet. 

At the end of the day, the point of my thought here is to highlight that these “gurus” miss the fact that many of these advancements in technology and agriculture are here for our benefit because realistically speaking, none of us want to go back to living like hunter-gatherers, harvesting and cooking absolutely everything we eat. We should bear gratitude to all the innovations that have made life much more efficient for us.