Star diets that can harm health: Fans of celebrity 'pure food' rules develop mental illness as they deny themselves vital nutrients

By Paul Bentley for the Daily Mail
Updated: 05:58 EDT, 1 February 2011

This is the time of year when women are bombarded with celebrity advice on what they could and should be eating.

But the fad for only the very healthiest food could be putting many dieters at risk of severely damaging their physical and mental health, scientists have warned.

Experts are reporting a rise in a mental illness called orthorexia nervosa.

Nutritionists highlight elebrity fads such as the blood group diet, which is favoured by Cheryl Cole (right) and the Maple Syrup detox diet, used by Beyonce (left)

Those who develop the disorder are worrying so much about the purity of what they eat that they are denying themselves entire food groups.

Nutritionists highlight celebrity fads such as the blood group diet, which is favoured by Cheryl Cole, and the Maple Syrup detox diet, used by Beyonce and Naomi Campbell.

Orthorexia tends to affect middle-class women in their 30s.

While those with anorexia restrict the quantity of what they eat, those with orthorexia are obsessed with quality and can end up eliminating items such as salt, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, wheat, gluten, yeast, soya and dairy products from their diet entirely.

Foods that may contain artificial additives such as MSG or pesticide residues are also rejected.

Adherence to such rigid rules can also mean those with the condition will refuse to eat out at restaurants or at friends’ homes, putting a strain on relationships.

Cutting out entire food groups is likely to lead to serious illness, warn nutritionists – but they point out how an ‘onslaught’ of advice from celebrities, particularly in the New Year, frightens women into going down the path to orthorexia.

Lucy Jones of the British Dietetic Association said: ‘Every day there are new pieces of advice on how to eat healthier.

‘Orthorexia is most in line with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The aim may not to be thin – it’s about the quality of food.’ She said ‘no food should be written off completely’ and it was OK to eat an ‘occasional piece of crap food’.

Supporters of the blood group diet claim that those with different blood groups break down food in different ways and should eat different foods.

Those on the maple syrup diet consume little else but sugary water. This has none of the protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals needed to remain healthy.

Psychologist Anjula Mutanda said the pride with which those with orthorexic tendencies speak about their diets was worrying. She said: ‘Anorexic people are secretive whereas orthorexics can become superior – evangelical almost.

‘What we are bombarded with is the idea of good and bad food. People need an education in normal eating.’