Binge eating or out-of-control eating is a way of eating and
using food that has no relationship to hunger or to nutrition and is a
form of self-abuse. The size of the binge eating population group is
under-estimated at 3.5% of women and 2% of men. Keep in mind that most
binge eaters do not report their problem in a way that gets included in
an "official" statistical headcount. A more accurate estimate is that
binge eaters represent anywhere from 20% to 40% of the dieting
population.
If you're a binge eater, you know it. For those of you
who need a definition, it's this.
Food is rapidly eaten over a short
period of a time, usually within an hour. Eaters are agitated during a
binge, meaning they may be pacing, frequently getting up and down, or
they may go out to buy food. Eaters experience a sense of being
out-of-control with food and eat way beyond fullness, often to extreme
discomfort. They often feel like they're in an altered state or mind or
trance. Binges are usually done in secret or at least out of sight of
others. The difference between pigging out and binge eating is that
binge eating occurs more frequently and regularly, at least once a week.
And lastly, binge eaters often feel shame and guilt after an eating
episode.
Binge eating disorder (or BED) was just recently
designated as an official mental illness in 2013. Since then it's been
aggressively promoted on TV as a real, treatable disease by Shire
Pharmaceuticals. Shire, of course, is the maker of Vyvanse, the first
drug specifically developed to curb binge eating. Because it's an
amphetamine, Vyvanse is a controlled substance and has a high potential
for abuse and dependence. Vyvanse works by elevating levels of
endorphins and other neurotransmitters, which can make you happier. The
drug, however, can also work against you by causing anxiety, increasing
blood pressure, heart rate and other undesirable side effects.
In
addition to the side effects, reliance on a drug treatment is highly
controversial because it doesn't cure the problem, it just masks it. In
fact, all treatments for Binge Eating Disorder are highly controversial.
There are two basic but radically different theories to consider.
Theory
#1 is that binge eating is a food addiction, and like all other
addictions, the cure is to abstain from the substances that make you
crazy with food and that you can't control. This includes all foods made
with caloric sweeteners and wheat products. It may also include
abstaining from alcohol because alcohol enhances appetite and allows
eaters to forget the intention to abstain from trigger foods. People who
believe they're food addicts have great success with this approach and
quickly normalize their eating practices and weight.
Theory #2 is
that binge eating is an emotional disorder, and underlying emotional
problems have to be solved. The specific foods you eat have little role
in treatment. Even more, avoiding so-called trigger foods is thought to
exacerbate binge eating, and the "all or nothing " approach of
abstinence is perceived as extreme and unreasonable. The most popular
treatments are cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), other psychological
treatments, or some combination of talk therapy and drugs.
CBT is a
particular form of talk therapy that relies on educational and
behavioral interventions to teach eaters how to regain control over
eating. It has a strong clinical success record and is often featured in
many psychologically-oriented books about binge eating. The biggest
complaint with all talk therapies is that they don't always result in
weight or shape change, and they can also take a long time.
Which
cure is best? You have to choose for yourself. A practical and useful
way to get started on this is to consider conducting an experiment of
one. The easiest approach is to focus on diet. Simply abstain from foods
made with caloric sweeteners and wheat for one week, and see if it's
too hard or if it makes a difference. After your short one-week
experiment, you'll have a baseline reference point for making a
longer-term decision.
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