What Causes Binge Eating?
Emotional Overeating
How it All Began:
I am a recovering compulsive overeater where my narcotic of choice is food. When I was 8 years old, I was an emotional overeater. This was characterized by occasional overeating due to a negative emotion (sadness, frustration, anger, boredom, etc). I was using food as a coping tool to self-soothe the emotions away instead of because I was hungry. But I would stop eating when I didn’t feel well and it wasn’t enjoyable anymore.
Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
As I got older, the frequency of these episodes increased as well as the quantity. As I was eating more and more, I felt a loss of control where I couldn’t stop eating once I started, until I had either finished the whole thing or was physically ill or both. The high sugar, fat, and salt content led to soaring weight gain. The lack of control instilled in me a sense of shame because I didn’t have the willpower to stop eating. I hated myself for being so weak-minded, adding more negativity that I needed to escape from. I had become a compulsive overeater with a binge eating disorder. But what truly makes this a disease are the 2 aspects of obsession and addiction.
Disease of the Body: From Allergy to Addiction
An allergy is a damaging immune response by the body to a substance or “trigger food” to which it has become overly sensitive to. For me, my number one trigger food is chocolate. The addiction part came into play at the beginning of a binge. As soon as I would take the first bite of a “trigger” food, I wouldn’t be able to stop eating it. This allergen gave me cravings that would overpower me.
Disease of the Mind: Mental Obsession
An obsession is a thought that overpowers other thoughts until the action is completed. For example, even if I could stop eating chocolate once I started, my mind will convince me that I can handle it in small amounts or on special occasions. Unfortunately, I got very creative with my reasons to indulge. So, what actually happens is the small amounts on rare occasions gradually keep increasing in frequency and quantity and I end up binging all over again. A truly vicious circle. Once I start, I can’t stop. When I do stop my mind takes over and starts me again.
Effects of BED on the Body: Physical & Psychological
BED is a global affliction that has both physical and emotional ramifications. Therefore, it needs an official medical diagnosis.
Physical Effects of High-Sugar, High-Fat, High-Salt Binges:
Obesity - due to prolonged weight gain
Type 2 Diabetes - frequent high-sugar binges can lead to the body not producing sufficient insulin
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) - includes heart disease, heart attack, stroke. Weight gain not only contributes to CVD but high cholesterol and blood pressure as well.
Kidney Disease - diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure will affect the kidneys as well.
Gallbladder - obesity, rapid weight gain/loss can cause gallbladder issues
Pancreatitis - inflammation in pancreas usually caused by gallstones
Fatty Liver Disease - due to accumulated fat in the liver
Sleep Apnea - Obesity can lead to increased fat around the airways which stops breathing for short periods.
Joint Pain - due to the increased weight putting pressure on them.
Emotional Effects of Binges:
Since BED has not only physical effects but emotional ones as well, it is categorized as a psychiatric disorder. Most of the time, people develop it usually to cope with negative feelings (stress, anxiety, depression, boredom, low self-esteem, etc). However, binges can also be precipitated by positive ones (reward for doing well, celebration, pride, feeling in control). During a binge, an individual will feel comfort and a sense of release, but then afterwards, they are left with feeling a lack of self-control and shame.
Compulsive overeaters (binge eaters) tend to feel embarrassed about the condition and promise to themselves and others to stop. However, they can’t because they cannot resist the addiction and compulsion to eat even if they aren’t hungry. If you have BED, you can seek medical attention from doctors and psychiatrists and emotional support from therapists and integrative (holistic) nutrition health coaches. Other psychiatric disorders related to people suffering from BED are depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders.
Symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder
For a healthcare professional to diagnose BED, they need to look for the following symptoms:
Rapid eating of large quantities of food in a short periods of time (2 hours or less) on a regular basis
Eating when not hungry.
Lack of control over the quantity of food being eaten.
Eating in secret when alone to avoid embarrassment and shame
Afterward, feeling ashamed, disgusted, and self-hatred
Frequent dieting only to gain it back and more.
Other Eating Disorders: Anorexia vs. Bulimia vs. BED
There is a lot of confusion surrounding anorexia and bulimia. Frequently, they are used interchangeably because they have the similar symptom of poor body image. However, there are differences.
Anorexics severely restrict calories to lose weight. Unfortunately, this leads to malnourishment. While bulimics, tend to induce vomiting after binge eating, use laxatives, or exercise excessively to get rid of the extra calories, people with BED will be tempted to fast or restrict their diet. This only increases the urge to binge eat. The severity of a binge eating disorder is determined by how often one has binge eating episodes.
Causes of Binge Eating Disorder
More women tend to suffer from binge eating disorders compared to men. Binge eating normally begins when one is a teenager or in their early twenties. However, it’s important to note that anyone of any age can suffer from BED. There are no definite causes of binge eating disorder. However, there are risk factors, which play an important role. Like other eating disorders, the risk factors that trigger BED fall in different categories: environmental, psychological, social, and genetics.
Genetics
There is strong scientific belief and evidence which shows that binge eating disorder can be inherited from parents. People who suffer from BED have increased sensitivity to a chemical in the brain called dopamine. Dopamine is responsible for feelings of pleasure and reward in the brain.
Gender
Statistical studies show that more women suffer from BED than men. Data shows that in the United States, 2% of men experienced BED in their life period, compared to women who had a higher percentage of 3.6%. BED being more common in women has been associated with the underlying biological factors.
Body Size
Statistical analysis shows that more than 50% of people suffering from binge eating disorder suffer from obesity as well. While 25-50% of patients who sought weight-loss surgery suffered from BED. It’s important to note that weight issues are both a cause and a result of binge eating disorder.
Changes in the brain
The brain plays an important role in how we perceive and relate to things, making it a crucial risk factor for BED. Some indicators show that people suffering from binge eating disorder may have different brain structures which contribute to increasing their compulsion and addiction to food and reducing their response to self-control.
Binge Eating Frequently Starts Early in Life
Most patients with binge eating disorder report having a long history of binge eating. It’s usually the first symptom of BED. Adults tend to report having binges when they were children or teenagers.
Body Image
Body image plays an important role when it comes to self-confidence. Most people who suffer from BED confess to having a negative body image. This leads to the start of the dieting and binging cycle frequently seen in compulsive overeaters.
Emotional Stress
When we are faced with emotional stress, we tend to find a way to get a release and find relief from the situation. Different people use different methods. My personal coping tool was to use high-sugar, high-fat, and high-salt foods to self-soothe the negative feelings away. Some of the many stressful events that can trigger BED are fear of not being liked, frustrations at work or in your career, dissatisfaction in a relationship, anxiety over finances, separation from a loved one, grief, and mental or physical abuse.
Other Psychological conditions
Studies show that close to 80% of patients suffering from binge eating disorder tend to suffer from other psychological disorders like anxiety, depressions, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, or bipolar disorder.
Treatment of BED
Treating binge eating disorder depends on several factors: what caused the BED, how severe the condition is, and the health goals of the person suffering from the disorder. BED treatment targets these main areas: body image, excess weight, and physical, spiritual, emotional and other mental health issues. There are different therapy options for patients suffering from compulsive overeating. These therapy sessions can be done as a group, individually, or in a self-help format. The available therapy options include cognitive behavioral therapy, weight loss therapy, medication, interpersonal psychotherapy, and dialectical behavior therapy. Some individuals might opt to take one or more therapy treatments, while others might opt for one. Nevertheless, it may be necessary to consult with a nutritionist, psychiatrist, and therapist to provide the best individual therapy treatment.
Support
Stopping compulsive overeating is not an easy task. The larger the support system you can create for yourself the better your chances are for success. Some very helpful options to seek out are: an accountability partner to help you with following through, and/or a holistic (integrative) nutrition health coach to help you navigate the pitfalls of such an undertaking by tackling the areas in your life that produce stress. That extra level of support can be a game-changer. Also to take away that feeling of isolation, you can go to support meetings either in-person (when it’s safe), by phone, or virtually online.
