Binge Eating Support

one of the reasons that your plan for recovery from binge eating disorder must include the care of a competent medical professional who has experience in treating eating disorders. With so many biological factors involved in perpetuating binge eating and compulsive eating, you will be fighting an uphill battle to recover if you do not address them.

 

 

Endocrine function abnormalities are not the only biological conditions that have been linked to disordered eating.  Immune system dysfunction has been shown to affect control over food intake and your body’s response to stress.  And autoimmune disease is strongly linked to depression, a condition that most people with BED have.

 

Brain lesions, tumors and calcification have been linked to disordered eating, especially when they involve certain brain structures, such as the hypothalamus, prefrontal cortex or amygdala.  Damage to or irregularities in these areas (among others) have strongly been linked to binge eating and dysregulated emotional processing.

 

Genetic Causes of BED

 

Studies indicate that certain individuals are predisposed to disordered eating patterns.  They have inherited the tendency to overeat and have an addictive-type relationship with food.  This does not guarantee they will develop compulsive eating habits or BED, though.  Likewise, if a person has a genetic predisposition toward dysregulated eating behavior, that does not mean he can never recover and stop binge eating.

 

Sure, you have genes, but the information on those genes is not as hard and fast as people believe. Your body would be very vulnerable if you just had genes that were “set in stone”. You wouldn’t be able to adapt to whatever environment you were in, which would mean just about anything would hurt or kill you.

 

Luckily, your body won’t have that problem because it can decide which genes will be used. So your body can turn genes on and off. It knows which ones to turn on or off based on your environment. This is called gene expression.

Gene expression can be changed.  Changing your environment, habits and coping skills could help you change your body’s expression of genes related to maladaptive emotional processing and binge eating disorder.

 

The Effect of Child Abuse or Neglect on Binge Eating

 

People who were abused or neglected as children are at higher risk for developing psychiatric disorders and eating disorders.  Binge eating behaviors and obsessions involving dieting and food are a coping mechanism for overwhelming emotions, which neglected and abused children have very often.  Children that have an unstable environment may turn to binging and compulsive eating (or other obsessive, compulsive habits) in an attempt to gain stability and comfort in their lives.

 

Social Factors

 

Obsessing about food, diet and shape is encouraged by our culture. We emphasize the importance of thinness, sometimes to the extreme.  It is not hard to see how people with eating disorders get the idea that being thin is all that matters.  Unfortunately, exposure to negative comments and peer pressure regarding weight is a significant factor in developing an eating disorder.

 

Comorbid Psychological Conditions

 

Certain psychological and neurological conditions are associated with BED, although it is not known if these are causes, effects or unrelated to BED. 

 

• Depression

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

• Compulsions and Addictions

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

• Axis II psychological disorders, such as Borderline Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Histrionic Personality Disorder and Avoidant Personality Disorder

• Seizures/Epilepsy

 

Glutamate and Other Food Additives

 

Dietary glutamate has been shown to cause excessive eating.  Glutamate can be found in most processed foods, listed on the ingredient label under various other names, such as monosodium glutamate, MSG, soy sauce or “enzymes”. 

Usually, glutamate is added to foods to make them taste better.  It makes people like the product more and eat more of it. 

 

Other food additives have been implicated in eating and metabolism dysregulation as well.