SALT LAKE CITY — The term "clean eating" is getting big buzz in the diet world but some are calling it "America's new eating disorder.” Have efforts to eat healthy gone too far?

Clean eating has become a point of pride for a lot of people. The term encapsulates several different eating styles from paleo to organic. Brooke Walker of "Studio 5" talked with registered dietitian Trish Brimhall who said some people are simply taking it too far to the point of obsessive — even dangerous — habits.

‘Fixation on righteous eating’

There is a technical term for this type of obsessive eating disorder: orthorexia nervosa. The term was coined by Dr. Steven Bratman in the late '90s when he was trying to describe his previous relationship with food and eating.

“For people with orthorexia, eating healthily has become an obsessive, painful, psychologically limiting and sometimes even physically dangerous disorder, reminiscent of but quite distinct from anorexia,” Bratman wrote on his website, orthorexia.com. “In rare cases, the fixation can lead to death.”

Karin Kratina, a registered dietitian with the National Eating Disorders Association, says that although orthorexia nervosa is not yet a clinical diagnosis in the DSM-5, it’s still causing a lot of problems for people who struggle with the symptoms.

“Orthorexia starts out as an innocent attempt to eat more healthfully, but orthorexics become fixated on food quality and purity. They become consumed with what and how much to eat and how to deal with ‘slip-ups,'" Kratina reported on nationaleatingdisorders.org. "Every day is a chance to eat right, be 'good,' rise above others in dietary prowess and self-punish if temptation wins (usually through stricter eating, fasts and exercise).

Orthorexics are also obsessed with eating healthier than other people, Katrina says, and they sometimes feel better or superior because of their own eating choices.

Do you have it?

The NEDA has compiled a list of questions that are associated with orthorexia. The more questions individuals answer "yes" to, the more likely they are to have the disorder, according to the NEDA.

• Do you wish that occasionally you could just eat and not worry about food quality?
• Do you ever wish you could spend less time on food and more time living and loving?
• Does it seem beyond your ability to eat a meal prepared with love by someone else — one single meal — and not try to control what is served?
• Are you constantly looking for ways foods are unhealthy for you?
• Do love, joy, play and creativity take a back seat to following the perfect diet?
• Do you feel guilt or self-loathing when you stray from your diet?
• Do you feel in control when you stick to the “correct” diet?
• Have you put yourself on a nutritional pedestal and wonder how others can possibly eat the foods they eat?

Talk therapy has been shown to be a successful treatment for eating disorders, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. The NIMH states full recovery is possible with appropriate treatment methods.

How to keep your eating habits healthy

Brimhall offers this advice if you or a loved one has an extreme preoccupation with avoiding unhealthy foods.

First, consciously eliminate positive or negative feelings about food. Food is just food, Brimhall says, and we shouldn't make it a moral issue or a case of good or bad.

Focus on variety, flavor and general enjoyment at meals. Brimhall suggests taking an 80-20 approach to eating.

“Eighty percent of the time, great, you're eating lots of fruits and vegetables lots of whole grains, all these healthy eating habits and patterns,” Brimhall said. “Twenty percent of the time, it's cheesecake. It’s birthday cake. It's going out for burgers on a date.”

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