Bulimia: What To Look For [Guest Post]

Signs and symptoms of a dangerous disorder.

[Today’s guest post was contributed by Heidi Taylor. I include it here as part of a continuing series of guest posts having to do with the so-called “lifestyle addictions,” such as perceived addictions to gambling, sex, video games, or shopping—areas in which I can claim no special expertise, and diagnoses which remain controversial among addiction researchers. However, I do strongly believe that the case has been made for the addictive nature of certain eating disorders—bulimia and carbohydrate-craving obesity in particular—in which the ingested substance is food, not “drugs” as we commonly think of them. Eating is one of the most obvious ways in which we alter the neurochemistry of our brains every day. As for treatment, serotonin abnormalities are believed to be the culprit. Many bulimics improve on SSRI antidepressants.]
--Dirk Hanson

Detecting Bulimia in a Loved One

It’s not a disease that’s visible at first or even second sight, but even so, it is one that’s largely ignored and left untreated more because most people are not even aware of its existence. But bulimia, or to be exact, bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that could end up having physical, psychological and sociological consequences that are hard to digest. Bulimics tend to eat more than they should – in fact, they gorge on food – and then force themselves to throw up using emetics, visit the toilet with laxatives, or go without food for the next day or so. In short, they compensate for their over-eating in ways that are neither healthy nor advisable.

While it may not seem like a dangerous disorder, bulimia can have devastating consequences if left unchecked – people affected are prone to suffer from an inflamed throat and neck glands, a torn esophagus, decaying and unhealthy teeth, acid reflux disorder, ruptured intestines, irritable bowels, dehydration and malfunctioning kidneys. Besides these physical symptoms, they’re also going to be obsessed with their weight, suffer from depression and anxiety, and face other mental and social problems. So if you suspect a loved one may be bulimic, here are a few symptoms that will help you detect the disorder and get them professional help as soon as possible:

• Eating more than the normal amount possible in a single meal or over the course of a few meals.
• Frequent visits to the toilet after a meal.
• A washed out and drained look that happens because they’re dehydrated and their body is low in minerals from all the purging and use of laxatives.
• Mood swings that seem to come on for no apparent reason.
• Sores in the mouth and/or on their fingers (because they may be sticking it in their throats to induce vomiting).
• Inflamed throats and bad teeth.
• Bouts of depression or uncalled for anxiety attacks.
• Exercising for a long time, at odd hours of the day and being obsessed with the way they look.
• It’s the women and the teenagers who are more susceptible to this disorder because of their obsession with their weight and the way they look. So if you have a daughter or a close female friend or relative who acts in a way that points suspicion to bulimia, talk to them and get them much-needed medical intervention before the situation worsens.

Even if you just suspect bulimia and are not really sure, you’d do well to talk to the person concerned and get them to see a doctor who can help. Remember, it may sound like a minor thing, but bulimia is a very serious disorder.
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This post was contributed by Heidi Taylor, who writes about the Masters in Healthcare. She welcomes your feedback at HeidiLTaylor006 at gmail.com

Graphics Credit: Graham Menzies Foundation

How Junk Food Works

Ex-FDA chief offers clues to food addiction.

It is a perplexingly common experience: You open a bag of cookies, intending to have one or two. An hour later, the bag is empty, and your self-loathing is at its peak.

But compulsive overeating is not a character flaw, according to David Kessler, former head of the Food and Drug Administration. It is, rather, a “biological challenge.”

Readers may remember Kessler from his anti-cigarette and food product labeling crusades during the Clinton administration. In his forthcoming book, The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, Kessler notes that while food took over his brain, the foods in question were not carrots, apples and green leafy vegetables. “Conditioned overeating,” as Kessler dubs it, is driven by a biological drive to eat high-fat, high-sugar foods even when we are not hungry. Moreover, such foods are cheaper than more healthy alternatives.

What Kessler describes in his book is a system of reward-driven eating abetted by a food industry fully aware of the biological attraction exerted by salt, fat, and sugar. Kessler himself is no stranger to this attraction. “I have suits in every size,” Kessler writes, according to a report by Lauren Neergaard for AP. “Once you know what’s driving your behavior, you can put steps in place.”

Kessler has also served as dean of the medical schools at Yale and the University of California at San Francisco. On the book’s Amazon site, Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food, calls Kessler’s book “a fascinating account of the science of human appetite, as well as its exploitation by the food industry.”

It is becoming increasingly clear that fat and sugar in combination are capable of producing a dopamine-driven surge of intense pleasure in people with a propensity for addictive behavior. Mice that have been genetic altered so that they lack the ability to taste sweet foods still prefer sugar water to regular water. (See my post on Dopamine and Obesity.) Kessler provides additional evidence that certain forms of overeating qualify as legitimate drug addictions. Just as it is with, say, cocaine addicts, the supersaturated reward pathways of the brain do not have effective mechanisms for signaling: “That’s enough. Stop eating.”

It may seem obvious in retrospect that the same mechanisms that make it so difficult for many drug addicts to “just say no” would also function in the case of addicted overeaters. What happens is similar to the flooding of reward circuitry that occurs in cases of what we might call “compulsive overdrugging,” otherwise known as addiction. The food industry, according to Kessler, has figured out what works, has packaged fat-and-sugar foods in products that scarcely even have to be chewed, and it has priced these products to move.

Yale university conducted studies in which “hypereaters” were given the odor of chocolate during an MRI scan. Normal eaters get used to the odor and habituate rapidly. Hypereaters find that the odor of chocolate becomes more demanding and overpowering with time. And even drinking a complete chocolate milkshake did not quell the craving.

According to Publisher’s Weekly, Kessler’s book, set to be released on April 28, “provides a simple food rehab program to fight back against the [food] industry’s relentless quest for profits while an entire country of people gain weight and get sick.”

Photo Credit: Neurological Correlates