“Orthoexic” is the newly coined term for people who are picky about what they eat and insist, for health reasons, on eliminating certain foods, or consuming a certain quality of food, such as food free of gluten, dairy, genetic modification, pesticides and chemicals. http://www.naturalnews.com/048886_orthorexia_nervosa_healthy_food_brain_disorder.html

So, following this reasoning, people with Celiac Disease-extreme allergy to gluten- and people who are lactose intolerant, actually have a mental disorder. Adele Davis, Dr. Oz, Gwyneth Paltrow, and just about everyone who shops at Whole Foods can all be diagnosed as mentally ill.

This is pretty hard to swallow, if you will pardon the pun. Makes me wonder if Big Agribusiness is pushing this agenda. Who else stands to benefit if people are like sheep and eat the Standard American Diet (SAD)- full of toxins and deficient in nutrients? Big Medicine and Big Pharma also benefit, because the American diet produces more sick people. This is not just theory. In the U.S. we spend more money on health care, but have the worst outcomes in the developed world. http://time.com/2888403/u-s-health-care-ranked-worst-in-the-developed-world/

Does focusing on eating “clean” ever get out of hand? Sure. Very occasionally I see patients who are afraid to eat anything because nothing is healthy or pure enough. Fear is probably more detrimental to your health than anything that could lurk in your food.

However, when you insist on a high quality diet, you are asserting your right to live as you dictate, not as big money interests want to sell to you for their profit. And you may be asserting your right to live at all, given the rate of obesity, heart disease and cancer which plagues as at epidemic proportions. In fact, it may be more American to insist on healthy food. "Was the government to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in such keeping as our souls are now."
--Thomas Jefferson: Notes on the State of Virginia: Query XVII: Religion, 1781 

Thomas Jefferson grew 18-24 varieties of apples at his estate in Virginia, and by his own accounts, he was a man who enjoyed the fruits of the land. http://www.monticello.org/site/house-and-gardens/royal-family-our-democratic-fruit-thomas-jeffersons-favorite-apples

You are also asserting your right to eat food that has more flavor and enjoyment. Commercial foods often seems flavorless, despite the size and color of produce in the grocery stores. If you choose substance over style, that makes you a wise consumer.

Advocating for your own well-being, and that of your family, would indicate positive mental health to me. Making responsible choices in a sea of confusing marketing  and philosophical messages also indicates positive mental health.

There is always a point where extremism becomes mainstream, when enough people start standing up and demanding a change. It may be that enough people are now demanding organic and unmodified foods that the big money interests are becoming concerned.

Let’s push them harder so that every single family can have the choice of real food instead of chemicals, and experience the benefits of a healthy body, supported by actual Nature-made nutrition.

If you have any confusion about what food is real and beneficial for your body, let us know. Part of our mission is to inform you, so you can be you own health advocate. The term “Doctor” originally meant “Teacher” in Greek.  If you have missed any of my other blogs about optimum health and nutrition, they are all posted in the archives of my website at www.annedunev.com