Binge Eating - unrecognized eating disorder

Hi Paleblack- Welcome to the forum. I've heard binge eating called an ED. I think I saw it listed on the Something Fishy site. I do understand what it's like to start eating and not be able to stop and feeling utterly out of control- under the control of some completely seperate, EVIL entity. It's a terrible state! I get binge urges in spells and I absolutely dread every moment. Time slows to a crawl- it really feels like a form of torture. I can only equate it to a powerful addiction.

It sounds like you've made great strides the past four months. Grief can be such a difficult thing to move through. My condolances for your losses.

The urge to eat can be brought about be a hypoglycemic dip.

This can cause a cravings for food especially sugary food. It requires energy to produce the feel good neurotransmitters such as serotonin, and in a hypoglycemic dip, the brain lacks the energy to produce serotonin.
Thus by eating the body produces insulin, which functions to absorb amino acids, fats and carbohydrates. But insulin does not cause tryptophan to be absorbed. Tryptophan is left behind the eating binge and this is then converted to serotonin - causing you to feel satisfied and so bingeing can cause you to feel good.

Thus if we want to stop the bingeing, we need to control our insulin levels, which triggers the bingeing. The other factor that could play a role is hypothyroidism, that causes the opposite to hyperinsulinism. In case of hypothyroidism we may need thyroxin medication. There are certain nutrients that can help along in the production of thyroxin such as tyrosine and iodine in kelp.

The ultimate aim in nutritional medicine is to stabilize insulin levels. Some management techniques (but not cures) are glycerine and coconut oil. (Search The Hypoglycemic Web Site.

The best way to stabilise blood sugar levels and hence insulin levels is by going on a Hypoglycemic Diet. If hat does not do the trick there may be something else at work that needs proper testing and diagnosis by a Nutritional Doctor.

I've followed a healthy diet for some months now and the cravings come and go.I don't have hypoglycemia nor hypothyroidism. I've been checked for both several times. Nor does eating something every few hours work for me. I eat three simple meals a day balanced for nutrition with little produced food. When I eat, it sets off the cravings and small food amounts all day long keep me in a constant state of craving. Certainly for many people it is as simple as eating and maintaining a "normal" blood sugar, but I assure that is not my issue. Most people eat and lose interest in food as they become satiated, possibly by the mechanism you describe. However, people like me with a binge eating disorder eat and gain interest. I have to tell myself when I've had enough. My brain won't do it.

Finally, I'm always suspicious of those who reduce multiple complex problems - addiction, eating disorders, mood disorders, etc. to a single cause and wish to sell me the "magic bullet" cure in a book or product. I feel such salesmanship is inappropriate on what is supposed to be a mutual support site. I've found a Cognitive Behavioral approach more helpful, a form of self-talk and self-soothing that allows me walk through the cravings or the desire to skip exercise and instead just do the next right thing.[/i]

stella_blues wrote:Hi Paleblack- Welcome to the forum.

It sounds like you've made great strides the past four months. Grief can be such a difficult thing to move through. My condolances for your losses.

Hi Stella, thanks for the welcome and I appreciate the condolences. It's sad to think there are some people I'll never see again (at least in this lifetime), but love goes on as does life, as it should. And yes, I am making progress. It feels good. I'm watching the hummingbirds outside my window and looking forward to a good days work, eating and exercising. Life is good. I hope yours is as well.

paleblack wrote:I've followed a healthy diet for some months now and the cravings come and go.I don't have hypoglycemia nor hypothyroidism. I've been checked for both several times.

If you have been tested for hypoglycemia can you give the results of the test? Most doctors do not know how to test for hypoglycemia. The test is explained here.

[quote="jurplesman"] If you have been tested for hypoglycemia can you give the results of the test?

I certainly will not post personal medical information on the Internet. Leave me alone.

Paleblack- Jurplesman means well, despite borderline spamming and seeming a bit pushy with his pov. I wouldn't take it personally.

That said, I applaud your exercising your right to confidentiality. Just b/c we all post with an annonymous handle, doesn't mean we're necessarily annonymous.

Actually, there is a very factual link with unstable blood sugar levels, food cravings and the sudden urge to eat and eat (as well as anxiety and depresion). I have been bulimic since I was 13 which incorporated binge/compulsive eating episodes. I believe the only difference between bulimia and binge eating is the purging aspect, it is essentially the same!

Even though I also felt I had followed a traditionally healthy diet, I decided to consult a private nutritionist and although I had the standard diabetes test from my GP which came back negative, I had further tests for hypoglycemia and allergies and dietary intolerances. I was also asked to keep a food diary for some time and upon the advice if the nutritionist, my diet changed to eating little and often plus avoiding a lot of food triggers that led to a binge and eliminating foods that had shown up as having minor allegergic reactions. I actually lost weight eating five or more times a day! The result has been that I am never hungry and a drastic and at times almost total elimination of bulimia...and i could empty the fridge previously in one sitting and would do this daily almost (as well as purging). Before this I only considered the emotional aspect and had only considered this as being an emotional problem... a large part of it is of course, but not totally!

Eating disorders of course have a strong emotional component I would reach for food when stressed, angry or upset and still do. The first things we experience when we are born is hunger and being fed, we associate food, perhaps on an unconscious level, with being held and loved. Its perhaps no wonder that this can become distorted and out of control when we have a desparate need to comfort ourselves or fill up an inner void, or csoothe pain; but to say feeling ravenous and having food cravings has no biological factors either is also short sighted really. Jurplesman is quite right, I tested as negative in a general diabetes test but with closer monitoring and different testing, it became apparent that my blood sugar levels were zigzagging to extremes during the day. This was not picked up with the routine test.

The aim is recovery and not having our eating so out of control that it takes over your life, its therefore worth looking at all possibilities. A healthy balanced diet is good, but it may not necessarily be the right diet for an individual. A nutritional evaluation woudl do no harm and may very likely do a lot of good; moreso if there has been continued psychological input without success. well I believe its relevant and i found it helped me a great deal and has drastically reduced what I could only describe as a food addiction of which almost daily binging to extrems was very much a part.