Is there such a thing as eating “too healthy?” On one hand, eating healthy is proven to make people happier and healthier. Sorry, but those are the facts. But can we cross a line between “healthy” and “just too much?” According to psychologists, we can. It’s called orthorexia nervosa.

Now people who know me know that I don’t like diagnoses for emotional issues. I feel it distances us from the person, as opposed to helping them not be in so much pain. It’s almost as if we are dehumanizing them and saying that they’re not like us because they have this disorder. In most cases I’ve seen, people use these labels to make themselves feel better. Yet in this case, it makes it easier to describe the person I’m talking about. What is orthorexia? It’s basically an emotional disorder that has people being obsessively strict about only eating the very purest food, and being very rigid in their healthy practices.

Is eating organic healthier than non-organic? Yes it is. Especially if it’s grown locally, the produce has lots more nutritional value and less danger from pesticides. But it’s expensive, and for people with big families not so practical. 60–80% of pesticides come off with cold water. I would imagine most, if not all, of the pesticides would come off with a good scrubbing. Even so, the nutritional value would still be less. I personally don’t buy solely organic. I look up the list of the fruits and veggies sprayed with the most pesticides, and try to stay away just from those.

But frum people are medakdek in doing mitzvos correctly. If we assume that eating healthy falls into the category of unishmartem me’od lenafshoseichem, then we should be careful about this mitzvah as well. Perhaps orthorexia is a diagnosis just for goyim, but not us?

Before I answer that question, I would like to mention a couple more criteria defining orthorexia. One is isolation. People don’t go to simchas or socialize with others. And as I mentioned before, loneliness is worse than cigarettes. Another criterion is that they aren’t healthy. If someone is overly careful to the point of isolating themselves, they will become physically unhealthy as well. In fact, I was working with a family who’s kid was complaining about feeling different from the rest of the kids in his class because he didn’t get junk food. I advised the parents to give him nosh. The kid had a major turnaround in behavior. The mother was shocked. I wasn’t. I’ve seen many kids who come from homes that are strict about food to only devour all the nosh and soda at a kiddush. I’ve also seen many children become obese because of the rigidness in the home.

Many of us do who know the dangers of poor eating make it mayim genuvim (forbidden fruit). Perhaps we can come up with a simple criterion for whether we are being excessively careful about healthy food: Are we doing it for Hashem, or not? This is the question to ask ourselves about anything we do. People who have orthorexia, just like people with OCD, are in pain. When people are in pain they will do anything they think will remove the pain. That’s what orthorexics do as well.

Ok, so what is the proper balance for healthy eating? First you have to acknowledge the environment you are in. This cannot be ignored. Obesity as well as healthy habits are contagious. The first state in the United States that had a 35% obesity rate was followed by the state right next to it. And the third was right next to that one, until obesity spread throughout the country. In my opinion, you cannot be an island in the community you are in. Feed your kids the foods your friends’ children are eating. What you can do is called “crowding out.” Give them as much good food as they will eat. Make it yummy. Shakes are great for this. You can stick all kinds of veggies in there, and as long as it has a banana and a date or two to make it sweet, kids love it. Talk to your children about the benefits of eating healthy. Never criticize their food choices.