New research looked at people with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) — a pattern involving a strong need for control, order, and perfectionism — and asked whether they're more likely to develop orthorexia, an unhealthy obsession with eating 'perfectly' healthy food.
The study compared 73 people with OCPD to 73 people without it. It found that those with OCPD had higher perfectionism scores, more orthorexic tendencies, and more unhelpful thinking patterns about their own thoughts (called metacognition) than the control group. Interestingly, they also had lower BMIs.
The researchers found that perfectionism was linked to orthorexia, but a big part of that link was explained by these unhelpful thinking patterns — things like believing you always need to monitor your thoughts or that your worries are impossible to control. In technical terms, metacognition partially explained the connection between perfectionism and orthorexic behaviour.
This matters because it shows orthorexia isn't just about food — it's often tangled up with rigid thinking styles and the need to do everything 'right.' Recognising this can help explain why simply telling someone to 'eat more flexibly' rarely works if the underlying thinking patterns aren't addressed too.
If perfectionism or rigid rules around food, control, or order are affecting your life, it's worth reaching out to a psychologist for support.