Diet Articles | Weight Loss Diets | Vegetarian Diet | FREE weight loss plan | Calorie Diet | Diet-articles.com Diet Article provides FREE diet information, weight loss diets, weight loss recipes, vegetarian diets and selection of low-calorie diets

Binge Eating

Binge eating is a pattern of disordered eating which consists of episodes of uncontrollable eating. It is sometimes as a symptom of binge eating disorder. During such binges, a person rapidly consumes an excessive amount of food. Most people who have eating binges try to hide this behaviour from others, and often feel ashamed about being fat or depressed about their overeating. Eating binges can be followed by so-called compensatory behaviour, acts by which the person tries to compensate for the effects of overeating. Examples of such acts are purging (induced vomiting or laxative abuse), fasting, and heavy exercising.

Although people who do not have any eating disorder may occasionally experience episodes of overeating, frequent binge eating is often a symptom of an eating disorder. Binge eating is a central feature of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. It is also practiced by some people with an eating disorder not otherwise specified or anorexia nervosa.

What Is Binge Eating?

A binge is an uncontrollable urge to eat tremendous quantities of food, usually in a very short amount of time, and frequently in secret. Binge eating is an eating disorder in which a person repeatedly binges, usually due to a psychological trigger. Some binges focus on one type of food: sweet, salty, crunchy, or creamy, for example. Other bingers report the urge to "eat everything that isn't nailed down"--one binger said she would even eat the nails if given the chance. The tell-tale characteristics of a binge are:

• astonishing quantities of food
• short time span
• secrecy
• inability to stop eating

How Does Someone Know if He or She Has Binge Eating Disorder?

Most of us overeat from time to time, and many people feel they frequently eat more than they should. Eating large amounts of food, however, does not mean that a person has binge eating disorder. Doctors are still debating the best ways to determine if someone has binge eating disorder. But most people with serious binge eating problems have:

Frequent episodes of eating what others would consider an abnormally large amount of food.

Frequent feelings of being unable to control what or how much is being eaten.

Several of these behaviors or feelings:

1. Eating much more rapidly than usual.
2. Eating until uncomfortably full.
3. Eating large amounts of food, even when not physically hungry.
4. Eating alone out of embarrassment at the quantity of food being eaten.
5. Feelings of disgust, depression, or guilt after overeating.

Episodes of binge eating also occur in the eating disorder bulimia nervosa. Persons with bulimia, however, regularly purge, fast, or engage in strenuous exercise after an episode of binge eating. Purging means vomiting or using diuretics (water pills) or laxatives in greater-than-recommended doses to avoid gaining weight. Fasting is not eating for at least 24 hours. Strenuous exercise, in this case, is defined as exercising for more than an hour solely to avoid gaining weight after binge eating. Purging, fasting, and strenuous exercise are dangerous ways to attempt weight control.

What Causes Bingeing?

Each binge-eater has a different trigger. Some are victims of emotional eating. This happens when strong emotions threaten to overwhelm them, their brains short-circuit and force them to eat to dull the pain. Others are compulsive eaters who, as the result of a chemical imbalance in the brain, engage in eating as a repetitive, obsessive behaviour, in much the same way that some obsessive-compulsives wash their hands repeatedly. Some bingers are so desperate to lose weight that they will binge because they are starving, but then they will purge in some way to "atone" for having consumed such great quantities of food.

What are the health consequences of binge eating disorder?

People with binge eating disorder are usually very upset by their binge eating and may become depressed. Research has shown that people with binge eating disorder report more health problems, stress, trouble sleeping, and suicidal thoughts than people without an eating disorder.  People with binge eating disorder often feel badly about themselves and may miss work, school, or social activities to binge eat.

People with binge eating disorder may gain weight. Weight gain can lead to obesity, and obesity raises the risk for these health problems:

• Type 2 diabetes
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Gallbladder disease
• Heart disease
• Certain types of cancer

Obese people with binge eating disorder often have other mental health conditions, including:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Personality disorders

To Purge or Not To Purge

Some binge eaters simply binge and then return to normal eating patterns when the trigger for the binge has been resolved. Many bingers, however, choose one or more methods of purging to make up for the "loss of control" that they displayed by bingeing. Most people are familiar with the victim of bulimia, who purges by forcing herself to vomit after eating. That is the most common form of purging, and one of the most damaging. Other methods of purging include excessive fasting or stringent dieting as a form of self-punishment, excessive exercise, negative self-talk, or overuse of laxatives and enemas. All of these forms of purging can cause severe damage to the body and to the self-image of the victim of this disorder.

Treatment

Binge eating is treated by combining several different approaches. The patient must receive psychotherapy to address the underlying issues, medical treatment for the health disruptions, and nutrition counseling to help them learn to eat in a healthy manner. Of primary importance is discovering the triggers that lead to a binge, and teaching the binge-eater to find other ways of coping with the trigger. For example, emotional eaters must learn to face their emotions and work through them, rather than sedating themselves with food.

Similar Posts:

• Treatment and help for binge eating disorder
• Compulsive Eating and Binge Eating Plan
• How to Lose Weight on Celexa
• Atkins Diet Recipes: Phase 4: Lifetime Maintenance
• The Bible Study on Eating Healthy