Few sights are more heartbreaking than a young woman reduced to a fragile, emaciated wreck by anorexia. For a parent, there is the added sense of helplessness and failure. Seeing your child starve herself because of the demons in her head is torture, and yet there seems to be nothing you can do. However, though anorexia may be a monster, it is a monster you can defeat. Understanding First, find...
Knowing that someone you love struggles with bulimia is deeply upsetting. For many, it is also baffling. But bulimia can be a serious condition – sometimes even a fatal one. Understanding Begin by finding out all you can about the disorder. The more you know, the more help you will be. You will also avoid saying something foolish or insensitive. As soon as someone realizes you don’t know...
Comfort eaters generally receive little sympathy. While most people understand anorexia or bulimia, the comfort eater merely seems greedy. In fact, comfort eating is a serious problem – for some a fatal one. The Nature of Comfort Eating What used to be called “comfort eating” is more commonly referred to today as “emotional,” or “stress” eating. Whatever words...
There are many reasons that we eat and a big part of losing weight is getting to the bottom of them and realising which are most affecting you. Many of us eat for instance simply because we’re hungry, in which case you can looking into staggering meals or eating bigger breakfasts rich in complex carbs. For others eating can be a result of boredom believe it or not, and we can end up eating...
Many of us deal with breakups and bad days by soothing ourselves with a bar of chocolate and a pint of ice cream. These foods taste good, but is there another reason why we look to sweet or fatty foods for comfort? A recent study suggests that a hormonal connection between our stomach and our brain can have an effect on our mood when certain foods are eaten. This study compared two groups of...
Anorexia nervosa is defined as an eating disorder which causes individuals to become obsessed with the food they eat and their weight. Those suffering from anorexia want to maintain a weight well below what is considered normal for their height and age. They may exercise excessively or starve themselves in order to lose weight or to prevent weight gain. Symptoms Symptoms of anorexia are divided...
Terms like “anorexia” and “bulimia” are thrown around pretty commonly, but few people actually know the extent of these disorders or the damage that they cause. Eating disorders are described as an unhealthy relationship with food. Some people diet excessively, starve themselves, purge after eating, or binge eat. Many people also use eating as a way to feel like they are...
Pica eating disorder is a disorder that is characterized by a persistent appetite for non-nutritive materials. That doesn’t mean junk foods, it means things that aren’t ‘foods’ at all. For instance metal, clay, sand, soil, feces, chalk, ink, pencil, batteries, soap, mucus, lipstick and more. In young children this ‘curiosity’ is considered a normal part of...
Being hungry in the night is a common problem and one that many of us deal with. Even if we have managed to be strict and maintain a good and healthy diet during the day, when it comes to the night it is easy to let that slip and plenty of us have found ourselves raiding the fridge in the early hours. But what causes this, and how can you prevent it? Here we will answer both of those questions...
Bulimia is an eating disorder characterized by the patient forcibly vomiting after eating, normally with the intention of losing weight, but other times for other psychological reasons – such as a desire to regress to a more child-like state, or due to actual enjoyment of the sensation of vomiting itself. Those with bulimia then will force themselves to be sick either by producing a gag reflex or...
