Orthorexia In India
According to nutritionist Samridhi Sharma, “In India, it is more difficult to detect Orthorexia Nervosa because of the many religious restrictions on food. For example, Jains only eat sattvic food, without onions and garlic. Then there are the vegans, who don’t eat any animal products at all. These groups of people are not Orthorexic, as their choices are rooted in deeply personal beliefs are not marked by obsessive behavior.” (Though nutritionists do point out that Vegan may often suffer from a deficiency of Vitamin B12.)
Nutritionist Samridhi Sharma further adds, each month she diagnoses at least three or four patients with orthorexia. “Very few patients easily accept that they have a problem. This is because they believe strongly in naturopathy- they come to me saying, ‘If an elephant can grow to size by just eating grass, why do we need to eat other foods?’ So they do not believe that their diet is a problem. Others believe that a healthy diet can only be beneficial in the long run and do not believe that it can actually be harmful. Some have a health guru who they are inspired by, whom they follow religiously.”
Often, orthorexics realize that they are living with a health condition only when their children face a problem or food-related deficiencies. For example: some naturopaths believe that milk is not required. When deprived of milk, their children experiences stunted growth. In many cases, nutritionists observe, women are prone to fall into orthorexic patterns than men because they are more obsessed with the shapes of their bodies and food intake as compared to men.”
