Do you often find yourself hogging on food even when you’re not hungry?
If the answer to that is “YES”, you need help! Chances are that you are suffering from the binge eating disorder. Although there have been no credible researches that declare the act of binging as a disorder, but clinically the problem is treated as such.
The Binge Eating Disorder (BED), also known as compulsive overeating, is described as the habit of consuming excessive quantities of food while lacking control or feeling powerless over the act. Binge eating is episodic. All of us overeat every once in a while; but it isn’t the same for people suffering from this eating disorder. These episodes are a lot more frequent in such cases – around 2 to 3 times during a WEEK!
Around half of the individuals in the UK struggling to control their weight admit to having binged regularly in the past.
Binge eating is often characterised by symptoms like:
- Eating excessive amounts of food when you don’t feel hungry
- Eating too much too fast (faster than you normally eat)
- Eating till the point you feel unnervingly full
- Eating in solitude because the amount of food you consume is embarrassing for you
- Feeling ashamed, disgusted, or guilty following a binge eating episode.
Often, the binge eating disorder is triggered by underlying emotional and psychological issues. People don’t usually become compulsive eaters, just like that. There’s a lot more happening and contributing to this particular disorder than most people would bother to find out about.
So What Exactly Leads to Binge Eating?
Normally, the actual cause of the condition will differ from one person to another. However, there are certain underlying causes that transpire more often than others. These may include:
Anxiety and Depression
This is probably the top reason that drives people into binge eating. Continued stress, fear, and uncertainty are things most people struggle with. It’s not easy to handle these situations, but there are definitely better ways to cope with them than resorting to food.
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Binge eating is also triggered by emotional turmoil. You’re too lonely, too miserable, too ashamed, or too guilty – feelings that you find difficult to deal with. They forcefully desensitise themselves, trying not to feel and think about these things. The only supposedly harmless respite they find to escape from it all is of course food.
Comfort
People have the need to be loved, to be accepted, to belong, to be cared for, to be important – we all have this in us; but not everyone is good with dealing with situations where these needs remain unmet; so they make food the centre of their life.
Self-Shaming
Most people are extremely harsh on themselves. Things go wrong and they resort to blaming and shaming themselves. Constant self shaming kills their spirit – unable to see and find the good in them, they end up hating themselves. It makes it difficult for them to live with someone (read themselves) “bad”, “pathetic”, and “useless”; and eventually they end up finding refuge in food – eating like there’s no tomorrow.
Frustration
People who do not have sufficient outlets to let out their anger tend to build up frustration within them. The dishwasher broke down again, you get late to work because you overslept again, and your spouse forgot to pay the bills on time again – things keep piling up till they become too much to hold, and then you explode. This comes out either in the form of an angry tirade on our loved ones or on the food – you overeat to fuse out the anger.
It must be quite evident by now that binge eating, for most people, is a way to COPE – but does it help? IT DOESN’T!
People think overeating will help them get over a certain situation or bring them at least some form of joy in their lives, but that never happens. Binge eating has never done any good to anyone. It is NOT and will NEVER be your friend.
What Happens When You Binge Eat?
Over-indulgence in food can have serious consequences. Nothing in excess has ever done any good for anyone. The repercussions of binge eating are widespread – emotional, mental, and physical. These may include:
- Bloating: can lead to abdominal discomfort and breathlessness and constipation.
- Weight gain/obesity: Consuming excess food will result in unhealthy weight gain that in turn will increase the risk of other fatal diseases listed below.
- Hormonal changes: can adversely impact hormones like progesterone and oestrogen (produced by the ovaries), leptin and ghrelin (the hunger hormones), cortisol (stress) and insulin.
- Heartburn: chest inflammation, vomiting, and poor oral health.
- Cancer: An increased risk of colorectal cancer.
- Depression and anxiety: excessive release of cortisol can lead to a vicious cycle of depression/anxiety and binge eating.
- Heart diseases: high cholesterol and high blood pressure can eventually lead to strokes and heart attacks.
- Arthritis: weight gain can cause joint damage and increased inflammation in the joints.
- Type-2 diabetes: can be caused as a result of obesity and/or the reduction in insulin levels of the body.
Middle aged women are more prone to falling victim to binge eating than their male counterparts.
No matter how hard it seems, it is possible to overcome binge eating. While distraction and mindfulness help keep the mind off food and eating, regular physical activity and clean eating makes sure your health is not compromised.
Often, in an attempt to get rid of binge eating, people resort to extreme diets. This particularly takes the shape of skipped meals and cutting down on certain foods.
The result? You don’t eat enough food.
This is an extremely unhealthy way to overcome binge eating and lose weight because it may make you relapse and binge again.
The most effective way to overcome binge eating is to make strategic improvements to the dietary nutrition plan you follow. Similar to physical training, nutrition plans require strategic adjustments to prevent the formation of fat plateaus or counter poor eating habits.
Health and dietary experts have come up with a clever way of overcoming binge eating. According to them, dietary fat spiking can proliferate fat burning enzymes in the body, thwart metabolic collapse, and optimise the functioning of fat-burning hormones.
This helps the body burn the stored fat for fuel. When the stored fat is utilised to fuel everyday activities, one can count on the following benefits:
- Weight loss as the amount of stubborn fat in the body decreases
- Experiencing mental and physical uplift
- Alleviated joint pain
- Improvement in exercise performance
- Lesser craving for unhealthy food
- Improved sex drive
- Improved quality of hair, nail, and skin
- Stabilised energy levels
- Improved index for Omega 3
In addition to dietary fat spiking, working out is a great way to overcome binge eating even if you’re doing it for just 10 to 15 minutes a day. With twice a week of intense exercise you can improve your blood sugar levels over the week and improve your satiety preventing the urge to binge. Other benefits include distracting you from your problems that can form the underlying cause of binge eating, and release of endorphins in the body that make you feel good overall – promoting happiness and positivity.
If you still feel nothing seems to be helping, go ahead and consult our Duo Chelsea Team experts or a healthcare specialist. Remember, your health is your responsibility – don’t fall back on it!