There's a lot of information out there about the best foods that help us lose weight,

to prevent cancer-fight inflammation, the list goes on.

In fact, for everything about our health, we try and improve their someone out there

with a new theory on how to do it.

But what does the science say?

Welcome to the Nutrition Facts podcast.

I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger.

And I'm here to give you the evidence-based approach to take the mystery out of the best

way to live a healthier, longer life.

Ortho-rexia.

You may have heard of it, and know it's not a way to straighten your teeth.

It's described as an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating.

In our first story, we trace the source end legitimacy of ortho-rexia.

Ortho-rexia has been styled as a type of self-righteous eating, or as clean eating by

sufferers of the disorder.

Wait, let's take a step back here.

First of all, though this phenomenon has been described in the scientific literature,

it is not formally recognized as an official psychiatric diagnosis.

Furthermore, ortho-rexia doesn't even have an accepted definition, nor validated diagnostic

criteria.

And if you can't, validly diagnose it or even define it, what good is it?

Okay, well, first off, where did this concept even come from?

...