BY LAURA AGUILAR
“No, I can´t eat bread”, “I want pasta without sauce”, “I don´t snack between meals”, “I’ll only have a salad or some fruit for dinner”……I would not be able to say how many times I´ve heard this sentences in the last 2 months, but I assure you that I am not talking about just a couple of times.
I have noticed that nowadays the number of people that are on a diet is increasing so much, that it seriously scares me. Thinking about this, I have asked myself: are diets a fashion? Do we start a diet because most of the people we know are already going on one? Or maybe because we do not want to experiment the feeling of remaining in the same weight while people around us are getting slimmer? Frommy point of view, the answer to this questions is YES!
I have named this fact “The diet revolution” which not only affects women but also men. I am not talking about eating healthier or taking care of what you eat…I am talking about being obsessed with every single piece of food you have.
I was looking for some information of diet obsession to share with all of you, when I came across with a webpage in which I found that this obsession is an illness. It is called othorexia. Othorexia is defined as a proposed eating disorder or mental disorder characterized by an extreme or excessive preoccupation with avoiding foods perceived to be unhealthful.
The academy of Nutrition and Dietetics explains that someone suffering from orthorexia likely does not enjoy food in the same way that someone with a healthy relationship to food does. Rather, othorexics feel virtuous when they eat the foods they consider to be good or safe, while deviating from their extreme diet restrictions causes anxiety and self-loathing. The academy of Nutrition and Dietetics web page explains deeply this problem, so I encourage you to visit it.
Of course I am not a nutritionist or even a psychologist, but let me give you some piece of advice. Do not get obsessed with what you eat. Eating healthy or taking care of your aspect is not a bad thing. It becomes something bad when you get obsessed about it. So come on! Every girl o every boy is different, and these differences are the ones that make each one special. Be yourself, eat different kind of food, practice some sport, and if you want, GET A CRAVING!
CLARIFYING CHAOS 
It seems that in the past decades lots of approaches, fashion trends, obsessions, and why not, new disorders too, have emerged amongst a variety of profiles. So «othorexia» (never heard of the term before) is the latest one, perhaps combining some different factors already existing.
Maybe we should stop trying to find the perfect diet or way to eat, as probably the best way is trying to eat healthy, having a balance of everything, but not too much of anything. Moreover… experimenting with food and getting to know new dishes is not only a healthy habit, but such a pleasant experience!