Do you eat healthy? Beware, you may still develop deficiencies and fall sick

If you are on a vegetarian diet or eat only ‘healthy’ foods, it may backfire and make you prone to various ailments. Here’s why.

Nowadays, people are becoming obsessive for losing weight and switching to healthy eating. But most people don’t know what they actually are eating and this has become a common problem. A study has found that an obsession with eating vegetarian food may be endangering lives, reports The Independent.

A purely vegetarian diet can lead to B12 deficiency which can cause various health problems.(Shutterstock)

Nutritionist Patrick Denoux believes that a purely vegetarian diet can lead to B12 deficiency which can cause various health problems. B12 is not made by the body and most people get the required nutrient from animal products like eggs, dairy products, meat or fish. If untreated, a vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to vision loss, weakness, tiredness and light-headedness, heart palpitation, nerve problems, depression and memory loss. Earlier studies suggested that children who lacked this vitamin perform poorly in cognitive tests.

The other issue with healthy eating is that it could be leading to orthorexia nervosa — a term first coined by physician Steven Bratman in the year 1990. Someone suffering from orthorexia is imprisoned by a range of rules which they impose on themselves. Orthorexia is not part of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, set down by mental health professionals in the United States that is also widely used as a benchmark elsewhere.

Experts believe that orthorexia sufferers could be treated with cognitive behavioural therapy, which may involve learning how to deal with situations that can cause anxiety about eating, relaxation techniques and discussing excessive beliefs.

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