Trust me, I know the labels.

I'll just let it drop. Arguing is as big a waste of time as worrying about whether some faceless author is trying to label you.

On the question of labels, like all other issues in life labels can have a positive or a negative effect depending on how they are used i.e context etc. I think the diagnosis of Orthorexia or "stressful food syndrome" may guide us in assessing the amount of stress our diets are having on our lives. Life is too short to be stressed over food.

Using the 10 question quiz introduced to us by Coolwater I could have been considered Orthrexic in the past. I am no longer suffering from this condition thanks to Coolwater's post on The Sabbatical Diet. http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=253335

I now only spend a few seconds of my time daily to determine if today is the day I should have a large breakfast or fast. Thanks again Coolwater.

I'm glad coolwater was able to help you with The Sabbatical Diet. The fact remains that the quiz in question here is unfounded and without merit.

One poster stated we should try to not get orthorexia. I suspect the disorder causes the behavior not the behavior causing the disorder. That's kind of like saying washing your hands often can make you compulsive about germs. The list of symptoms could also be someone closely controlling their food intake without indicating a mental disorder.

Before I was diagnosed as hypothyroid I was only eating every other day, exercising 3 hours/day and gaining weight. My dr said I needed to learn portion control and sent me a weight loss class. 3 hours week- planning and recording every bite, learning lowfat cooking tips, adding up every cal of exercise, filling out the boxes. Maybe orthorexias were teaching the class.

The fact that we spend so much time on food suggests that the human species may not be truly progressing. One of the measures we use to justify our advancement over the stone age society is that we spend less time concerning ourself about food so we can use our energies in other directions. But we seem to be reversing this success because again we are spending a great amount of our time and resources on food.
Most persons who are health conscious will score poorly on the Orthorexia quiz. This is not due to any physological disorder but the result of human regression. The sabbatical doctor in his book states that this human regression is because we approach problems with the worldview that we are the product of an accident rather than design. Could he be right?

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[pardon me while I play devil's advocate here for a moment]
So chefs, frycooks and all others working in the food industry are wasting their time and culinary institutes should all close their doors immediately? Why is it a less worthy pursuit to ponder making food tasty and/or meals more healthy than it is to ponder art or music or mathematical equations or spending 6 hours tinkering with the car?
This is where I part company with the author of this quiz. For many people, particularly males as in the author of this quiz (sorry guys, but this is true the majority of the time), thinking about food and its preparation is a colossal waste of time and energy and along those lines of thinking anyone who spends more time thinking about food than it takes to inhale the food placed in front of them must have some type of disorder. I happen to disagree as for some it's a very enjoyable hobby or their chosen vocation.
On the flip side, I imagine the author of this quiz might find himself a bit annoyed were he to come home at the end of a long day to find no dinner prepared, the refrigerator and pantry empty and his wife proclaiming, "I didn't think about food even once today. Aren't you proud of me? Let's eat out all the time and let someone else think about such lowly things. After all, we're too advanced to spend time thinking about preparing meals and shopping for the food."
As advanced as we have become, meals still do not plan themselves, food does not jump into my cart at the grocery store or deliver itself to my front door in exactly the amounts and combinations that I need and it sure as heck doesn't cook itself once I get it home. I'm not saying that it's necessary for all humans to spend a large amount of time thinking about food, but it certainly seems necessary for some or the rest of us wouldn't eat or at least wouldn't eat well.
One attribute that makes us [supposedly] higher than the animals is creativity and the ability to plan ahead and think beyond the here and now. Why is this a bad thing and somehow regressive when it concerns food?

*disclaimer* I don't actually think that the author of this quiz believes that the normal amount of time to plan, purchase and prepare meals or even the amount of time that a 'foodie' spends on food equates to orthorexia. Remember, we are talking about a form of OCD here that is interfering with the person's ability to function in the everyday world.
A good rule of thumb is: "If it's not causing you a problem, then it's not a problem."

Given that the neolithic agricultural revolution resulted in an immediate halving of life expectancy, painful cavities, an average loss of five inches in height, overpopulation, and obesity for possibly the first time in human history, "advancement" is a very subjective term.

Interesting as I just came across this statement

The operative words in my statement are that "we spend less time concerning ourselves about food." This is not to say that meal planning and preparation are not important but why is everybody so concerned about it? We all should feel reasonably comfortable that the average cook or nutritionist should be able to handle these concerns. What is happening is we are all becoming cooks and nutritionists simply because we have not conquered the use of food. Imagine all of us becoming pre-occupied with engineering, nursing, plumbing etc. All stone age people were concerned about food because it was in scarce supply. Most modern people are concerned about food because we dont know how to use it.
Why are we unable to use food safely? Is it because of the fundamental approach to how we view ourselves i.e. an accident or design creature. This is the argument of the sabbatical doctor that we are creatures of design and therefore the answer to how food should be used is found in scripture.

Because everyone eats and most everyone that I know prefers eating food that tastes good. Napoleon observed that an army moves on its stomach; a society is no different.
I'd be interested in knowing what your definition of 'everyone' is as well. Keep in mind that the majority of members here are women who are more likely than not responsible for providing meals for their families. Then you have the singles who are responsible for providing food for themselves.
Add to that the fact that the majority of members here are still in the process of learning a new way to eat and it can seem like everyone is obsessing over food when, in fact, that is not even close to the real situation.



And the problem with this would be? You say this as though there's something wrong or demeaning in being a cook. IMO, it's never a bad idea for anyone to have a good grasp of how to feed themselves instead of always being in the position of having to rely on someone else for that.

Hmmm... I wonder if the objection to spending time thinking about, enjoying, planning how to eat (i.e. being a foodie) is considered a sin in some religious sects? It is all about sensual pleasure for some of us. If I spent as much time thinking about sex as I do food I'd probably raise a few eyebrows!

When I don't "think about food" (meaning decide what food to buy, and what meals, snacks, etc. to prepare, to have the type of food I want to eat ready to eat), I find the quality of my life slipping away (and very quickly!). Because I end up eating fast food/processed junk food and the like. That is when I feel absolutely horrible! If someone has their own private chef that prepares all their food for them, then they are so very lucky! I wonder how many people that would be? And as far as the human species "progressing"... well, Hybrid said a mouthful (read above)!

While I think the initial quiz was a bit silly and just a misguided piece of pop psychology, the thread got me thinking about my mother, who was certifiably mentally ill and for whom food really was her entire life. She spent all day reading about it, talking about it and cooking. But she became a terrible cook in the process because her obsession was how harmful food could be and she tried to make it as non-harmful as possible -- so we'd end up with stuff like her horse sh** cookies -- they were brown blobs with what looked like green grass sticking out of them -- actually carob, shredded zucchini with the skin still on and not a drop of sweetener at all. Her food choices were highly ritualized to protect her health -- a special type of herb tea from a certain shop every morning in a glass pot (it had to be glass) or she thought she'd become constipated -- I could go on and on. But the point is that orthoexia (sp??) is an obsession with food that goes to ridiculous extremes and takes the pleasure out of it. She wasn't happy, and as another poster pointed out, was using her obsession to avoid what was wrong in her life.

Thanks for sharing this story about your mother. It put this disease into its proper perspective for me.

As with all disorders, they are by degrees, different in each person. Some may have a tendency towards a disorder but not actually have the disorder. Some have disorders and are in denial about them. They spend inordinate amounts of time and energy proving that they don't have the disorder. Generalities don't work in this as we are each very different beings.

I've learned about a new disorder that I'd never heard of before....thanks for this thread!!

I think that some of the questions seem simple when taken out of context. I think it is when you say yes to the more uncommon ones that there may be a red flag.


These seem to be more of what they are getting at. When I said earlier in the thread that I probably had this disorder, I was being completely serious. If anyone has ever read my stuff they will find that I recognized these obsessive behaviors in the beginning and I struggle with the line between extreme diet, non-diet, binging, and a healthy WOL. I try to find a happy balance because it seems with me either I am very strict and methodical or totally loose and re-gaining. I think it is a serious disorder, especially if it is the "gateway disorder" to anorexic/bulimia or some sort of OCD.