Those who treat eating disorders are finding a new one called "orthorexia." Dr. Michael Bratman, who named the disorder, says it is a "fixation on righteous eating."

The typical anorexia nervosa patient starves herself to appear thin, but the orthorexic restricts her food for spiritual fulfillment. Orthorexics often develop such rigid rules about food choices that they end up starving themselves. Because they restrict themselves to only a few foods they believe are "pure" enough to eat, they usually cannot eat out or shop at ordinary grocery stores. Their quality of life decreases as their food obsessions increase.

Some studies have found a link between vegetarianism and eating disorders. In a 1997 Michigan study of 107 teenaged girls, vegetarians were found to vomit four times as often, use laxatives eight times more often, and diet twice as often as meat eaters. A July 2006 study in Israel found that 85% of anorexic patients were vegetarians.

Labels: dieting, orthorexia, vegetarians