Do you have an unhealthy diet? Well, this article might just be the solution to your problem.
What is binge eating disorder?
Binge eating disorder (BED) is the most common type of eating disorder in the United States, despite being lesser known than anorexia and bulimia. In America, there were 2.8 million cases of BED (2017), and 60% of this vast amount were women. Unfortunately, the disorder usually arises very early, typically beginning to surface during one’s late teenage years, or their early 20s.
What are the main causes of BED?
BED can be caused by a variety of different factors, including mood, emotion, personal body image, genetics, and body size.
Emotional factors: Triggers for BED include stress, low self-esteem and body image, lonelin.
Almost 80% of people with BED have at least one psychological disorder. Examples of psychological disorders are phobias, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Stressful life events, such as abuse, death, separation from a family member, or a car accident, are risk factors.
Body image: People with BED often have a very negative body image. Body dissatisfaction, dieting, and overeating contribute to the development of the disorder. Patients with BED show extreme concern with body weight and shape because they want their body image to be perfect, and can result in frequently looking at themselves in the mirror for perceived flaws in appearance. This means that patients suffering with BED will either want to lose or gain an excessive amount of weight; both of which are very unhealthy.
Genetics: The hypothalamus is located in the brain and its functions are to release hormones and regulate body temperature. This also releases dopamine, a chemical in the brain that’s responsible for feelings of reward and pleasure. People with BED may have increased sensitivity to dopamine. This means that patients suffering from BED may need to eat more in order to better feel the effects of the chemical, resulting in an increase in body weight. There is also strong evidence that the disorder is inherited. Researchers have identified a gene (CYFIP2) associated with binge eating. The heritability of BED is estimated to be between 41% to 57%.(The genetics being passed down from the parent to the kids are 41% to 57%)
What are the main impacts of BED?
The main impacts of BED are: bingeing episodes, dermatological effects, gastrointestinal effects (effects on the stomach and the intestines), endocrine system effects (the endocrine system is a chemical messenger system giving feedback loops to the hormones released by internal glands of an organism directly into the circulatory system), and physical effects.
Bingeing episode: An binge eating episode is when in a discrete period of time (a 2-hour period) someone consumes a quantity of food that is larger than what most people would eat in a similar period of time under similar circumstances. There is also a lack of control over what one is eating during such an episode. Other symptoms of a binge eating episode include eating much more rapidly than normal and to the point where one feels uncomfortably full. Eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry. Eating alone because of feeling embarrassed by how much one is eating. Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed or guilty after finishing an binge eating episode.
Patients suffering from BED may find that binge eating is comforting for a brief moment, helping to ease unpleasant emotions or feelings of stress, depression, or anxiety. However, there comes a point where reality sets back in and you’re flooded with feelings of regret and self-loathing. Binge eating often leads to weight gain and obesity, which only reinforces compulsive eating. The worse you feel about yourself and your appearance, the more you use food to cope. It becomes a vicious cycle: eating to feel better, feeling even worse, and then turning back to food for relief.
Effects:
Dermatological effects (effects on the human tissue): It’s common for people suffering from BED to consume copious amounts of sweets and unhealthy foods. The restrictive dieting following a binge may also contribute to a person not meeting their body’s nutritional needs. This low caloric intake (from dieting) and lack of nutrient consumption (from dieting and bingeing) can cause dry skin and may cause hair to become brittle and fall out. Binge eating, specifically sweets and dairy products, may also lead to an increase in facial acne.
Gastrointestinal effects (effects on the stomach and the intestines): Those who engage in frequent bingeing episodes commonly experience a variety of gastrointestinal problems. Following a bingeing episode, individuals may feel uncomfortably full and/or sick to their stomach. They may experience bloating, abdominal pain, and nausea. Binge eating overloads a person’s system with a flood of calories, sugar, fat and/or carbs, which results in the body using a large amount of energy to digest the food, further resulting in low energy, sleepiness, and sluggishness.
The biggest risk factors for kidney disease are diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. These are common problems for people with binge eating disorder. Additionally, your gallbladder can be negatively affected, which comes from being overweight or from losing and then quickly gaining weight. Fatty liver disease can result from BED too, caused by fat buildup in the liver. Simply put, a patient with BED is susceptible to many diseases.
Endocrine system effects(the endocrine system is a chemical messenger system giving feedback loops to the hormones released by internal glands of an organism directly into the circulatory system): Binge eating disorder may cause individuals to have hypertension (high blood pressure). Common risk factors of high blood pressure include being overweight and having diabetes, conditions which are sometimes seen in those suffering from binge eating; although it is important to note not all individuals struggling with binge eating live in larger bodies.
Physical effects: Most people who suffer from binge eating are overweight. People who are overweight are more likely than others to develop type 2 diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes can have serious complications, including heart disease. This means that people with BED could eventually die because of all the other diseases they could develop.
Conclusion: In my opinion BED is a modern problem. This is because nowadays, people are more stressed due to the societal expectations driven by the media (Instagram, twitter, Facebook) which can affect one's self esteem negatively.
This graph represents the number of people with eating disorders. As you can see as time passes, the number of people with eating disorders increases. This is because of the population increase and because more people are stressed such as from work, from school and more.
Here are some simple, but effective ways of releasing stress include through exercise, spending time with loved ones, sleeping more, and listening to music. If you ever think you or someone you know has BED, talk to someone and get some help from a professional.
Citation:
https://blog.orthoindy.com/2019/02/ 04/the-danger-of-extreme-dieting-for-fast-weight-loss/
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