Vegetarian diet and orthorexia nervosa: a review of the literature
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REVIEW
Vegetarian diet and orthorexia nervosa: a review of the literature Anna Brytek‑Matera1 Received: 1 April 2019 / Accepted: 11 November 2019 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Abstract Background The number of individuals following a vegetarian diet has increased in the last 50 years. Although the causal connection between orthorexic behaviors and vegetarianism remains widely assumed, evidence in support of this assumption has been largely inconsistent. Objective The purpose of the study was to conduct a review of the relationship between vegetarian diet and orthorexic eating behavior and to give future directions in this area. Methods A search of the literature within PubMed/Medline was conducted. The search terms were “orthorexia”, “orthorexic”, “orthorexia and vegetarian”, “orthorexia and vegan” and “orthorexia and vegetarianism”. Out of 117 journal articles, 14 met the predefined inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Results The results demonstrated that following a vegetarian diet was found to be related to orthorexic eating behaviors (in 11 out of 14 studies). Conclusion Further longitudinal research is needed to investigate whether following a vegetarian diet serves as a risk factor in the development of orthorexia nervosa. Level of evidence Level V, narrative review. Keywords Orthorexia nervosa · Vegetarian diet · Vegan diet · Eating behaviors
Introduction Vegetarianism has become more popular in recent years. Over the last half century, the number of individuals adhering to a vegetarian diet has greatly increased. Globally, the total number of vegetarians is estimated to be approximately one-and-a-half billion [1]. In Western countries, the estimated prevalence of individuals following vegetarian diets oscillates between 1 and 10% [2]. However it is worth noting that these estimates are derived from polls and surveys carried out directly by vegetarian societies [3] not from national or official observational surveys. According to the Vegetarian Society [4], a vegetarian diet is characterized by the consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, pulses, grains, nuts, seeds, fungi, algae, yeast and/
This article is part of topical collection on Orthorexia Nervosa. * Anna Brytek‑Matera anna.brytek‑[email protected] 1
Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Dawida 1 Street, 50‑527 Wrocław, Poland
or other non-animal-based foods, with or without dairy products, honey and/or eggs. A vegetarian diet excludes foods that contain or have been produced by means of products consisting of or created from any part of the body of a living or dead animal. However, it is worth noting that there is no single dietary pattern that describes vegetarianism [5]. Table 1 summarizes the classification of different types of vegetarian diets. Mainly ethical, but also health-related aspects, ecological reasons, health concerns, sensory and taste preferences, philosophical reasons (e.g. Buddhism), cost, family influences, a reaction to food safety scares (e.g., salmonella) or the use of antibiotics or gro
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