Research
Adherence
Orthorexia is independently associated with executive dysfunction, specifically deficits in set-shifting, external attention, and working memory, which overlap with but are distinct from anorexia and OCD profiles.
If you feel unable to deviate from your strict diet even when it causes problems, you may be experiencing cognitive rigidity. This is a treatable cognitive pattern, not a moral failing. Cognitive-behavioral therapy can help improve mental flexibility.
LimitedSupportsLOW confidence
highly orthorexic participants... performed worse in domains of set-shifting, external attention, and working memory (WM) relative to nonorthorexic participants, even after controlling for scores on measures of anorexia and OCD.
Why this rating
Based on a single exploratory study using a non-clinical sample.
Source
The clinical basis of orthorexia nervosa: emerging perspectives
Nancy S. Koven et al. · Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment · 2015
DOI 10.2147/ndt.s61665
narrative_reviewCited 468×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Orthorexia nervosa is a pathological fixation on healthy food that leads to nutritional deficiencies, medical complications, and poor quality of life, distinguishable from anorexia by its motivation (health/purity vs. weight loss) and from OCD by its ego-syntonic nature.Moderate
- Orthorexia can be successfully treated with a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychoeducation, and medication (such as SSRIs or antipsychotics), managed by a multidisciplinary team.Limited
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This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →