Study Warns That Vegan and Plant-Based Diets Are Silently Triggering a New Wave of Eating Disorders!
Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Apr 14, 2025 1 day, 9 hours, 37 minutes ago
Medical News: In today’s fast-paced world where social media trends, influencer wellness tips, and clean eating philosophies dominate the online space, people are becoming increasingly fixated on their food choices. A growing number of individuals are shifting to plant-based diets, often to improve health or for ethical and environmental reasons. However, a new concern is emerging among medical professionals—this shift might be contributing to or masking a lesser-known eating disorder known as orthorexia nervosa (ON).
Study Warns That Vegan and Plant-Based Diets Are Silently Triggering a New Wave of Eating Disorders
This
Medical News report explores a recent study conducted by researchers from the Division of Food Commodity Science and the Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, at the Medical University of Gdańsk in Poland. Led by Dr Patrycja Szulc, Dr Kaja Willich, and Dr Patrycja Gogga, the review investigates whether there's a hidden and potentially dangerous cycle between plant-based diets and the development of orthorexia.
What Is Orthorexia and How Does It Differ from Other Eating Disorders
Orthorexia is an obsession with eating only foods perceived as healthy. Unlike anorexia or bulimia, the focus is not necessarily on weight loss but on food purity and cleanliness. People with orthorexia nervosa may spend hours planning meals, meticulously counting ingredients, and experiencing intense guilt if they deviate from their rigid dietary rules. This can lead to malnutrition, anxiety, and social isolation.
Plant-based diets, which include vegetarianism and veganism, are often praised for their health benefits, such as reducing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. But when adopted for the wrong reasons—like as a socially acceptable excuse to restrict food—these diets can blur the line between healthy eating and a pathological obsession.
When a Healthy Habit Becomes a Dangerous Obsession
The study from the Medical University of Gdańsk reviewed existing literature and found numerous overlaps between behaviors seen in those following strict plant-based diets and those with orthorexia nervosa. These include restricting entire food groups, planning meals in advance with rigid rules, and avoiding social gatherings due to food concerns.
One interesting finding was the higher prevalence of orthorexic traits among vegetarians and especially vegans compared to omnivores. In one survey, over half of the vegetarian participants showed signs of ON, while omnivores reported significantly fewer obsessive behaviors around food.
The authors stress that while plant-based diets are not inherently dangerous, their restrictive nature—if not properly planned—can act as a cover for disordered eating. Moreover, individuals with orthorexia nervosa may be drawn to veganism or vegetarianism as a way to justify or reinforce their food rules under the guise of ethical or environmental reasons.
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Healthy Orthorexia or Pathological Eating Disorder
The researchers also point out that not everyone who is health-conscious suffers from ON. There’s a distinction between “healthy orthorexia” (HO)—a balanced interest in nutritious food—and full-blown orthorexia nervosa. HO does not interfere with daily life, emotional wellbeing, or physical health, while ON causes stress, anxiety, and nutritional deficiencies.
However, diagnostic confusion is common. Many widely used screening tools for orthorexia nervosa fail to differentiate between someone making intentional food choices based on beliefs and someone struggling with disordered eating. For instance, questions in diagnostic tools like the ORTO-15 may mislabel vegetarians as orthorexic simply because they avoid meat, even if they do so for ethical reasons.
A Vicious Cycle Between Diet and Disorder
One of the most striking takeaways from the review is the proposed “vicious cycle” between orthorexia and plant-based diets. For some, adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet may begin as a healthy choice but later evolve into obsessive control over food. For others, the pre-existing obsession with food purity may lead them to adopt restrictive plant-based eating as a socially accepted outlet.
Interestingly, up to 50 percent of patients with diagnosed eating disorders have followed a vegetarian diet at some point. This has led researchers to caution that plant-based diets can be both a symptom and a trigger of deeper psychological issues.
Call for Better Diagnostic Tools and Clinical Awareness
The study highlights the urgent need to develop new diagnostic tools tailored specifically for vegetarians and vegans. One such promising tool is the Vegetarian Vegan Eating Disorder Screener (V-EDS), which distinguishes between ethical dietary choices and disordered eating behaviors. Early detection is critical, especially since traditional diagnostic methods often fail to recognize orthorexia in plant-based eaters.
The authors also emphasize the importance of understanding an individual’s motivation behind their diet. If the goal is health and sustainability, the risk of orthorexia nervosa may be lower. But if the motivation is rooted in body image or anxiety around food, healthcare providers should proceed with caution.
Conclusion
While plant-based diets offer many health benefits and are generally safe when properly planned, this study sheds light on a critical concern—orthorexia nervosa may be silently growing among those who pursue “clean eating” to an extreme. Understanding the difference between mindful eating and obsessive behavior is crucial. Medical professionals need to be aware of these subtle signs, and society as a whole must stop glorifying dietary perfection. Moving forward, more inclusive, accurate screening tools like the V-EDS should be developed and adopted to protect those at risk.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Nutrients.
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/17/8/1337
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