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Whether you’re overweight and trying to lose it or maintaining your weight, binge eating will affect your efforts. The cycle of eating a balanced diet during the week and then binge eating at the weekend, usually involves consuming a lot more empty, low nutritional value calories than required.
According to Executive Director of Binge Eating Treatment and Recovery at Eating Recover Center Julie Friedman, Ph.D., those with binge eating disorder will binge “at least once a week for three months.”. Binge eating is a serious disorder that comes with both short- and long-term physical and mental consequences.
Though people use phrases like “eating feelings” lightly, it turns out binge eating can wreak havoc on your body. Of course, we all fall victim to binge eating every once in a while.
“Within about three weeks of binge eating highly processed, sugary, high fat foods, hunger and fullness cues are thrown off and dopamine becomes down regulated,” explained Tara Javidan, a licensed therapist at Clarity Clinic based in Chicago. The cycle is just as mental as it is physical.
What does it mean when you binge eat?
But when you binge eat, you take in food too quickly and your body doesn’t have the correct amount of time to register the calorie intake and release leptin correctly.
Binge eating is a serious disorder that comes with both short- and long-term physical and mental consequences. Here’s what happens to your body when you binge eat.
“Within about three weeks of binge eating highly processed, sugary, high fat foods, hunger and fullness cues are thrown off and dopamine becomes down regulated,” explained Tara Javidan, a licensed therapist at Clarity Clinic based in Chicago. The cycle is just as mental as it is physical.
Heartburn is a super uncomfortable sensation you probably notice after eating a spicy meal or any type of food that’s difficult for the stomach to digest. It’s also a direct side effect of binge eating. Eberly told PopSugar that the “stomach makes hydrochloric acid to break down food.”.
According to Executive Director of Binge Eating Treatment and Recovery at Eating Recover Center Julie Friedman, Ph.D., those with binge eating disorder will binge “at least once a week for three months.”. Binge eating is a serious disorder that comes with both short- and long-term physical and mental consequences.
As Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist Dafna Chazin explained, your body releases a chemical called dopamine when you eat. Put simply, dopamine is a “feel good” chemical involved in a ton of processes in your body.
Those two feelings are warning signs of more dangerous digestive issues. According to Chazin, “eating large amounts will often cause distention, reflux, cramping, and diarrhea.” Not fun.
How does binge eating affect your health?
Whether you’re overweight and trying to lose it or maintaining your weight, binge eating will affect your efforts. The cycle of eating a balanced diet during the week and then binge eating at the weekend, usually involves consuming a lot more empty, low nutritional value calories than required. A lot of people find they lose weight steadily from Monday to Friday and by the following Monday morning, their weight has gone up, and is usually more than the previous week. People tend to have less of a routine, socialise more and potentially consume more alcohol at the weekends. In order to maintain or lose weight if needed, lifelong consistency and being mindful of our eating and exercise habits is vital – even at the weekend.
This is because the binge is often on foods that cause our blood sugars to spike, this triggers a sharp rise in insulin so the excess sugar can be absorbed and potentially stored as fat. This can result in fluctuating energy levels, fatigue, tiredness and a signal to your brain to eat more. Long term, obesity can set in and conditions such as diabetes can occur.
Whilst changes in hormones made in the ovaries ( oestrogen and progesterone), the ‘hunger’ hormones (ghrelin and leptin ) and the ‘stress’ hormone (cortisol) have been linked to episodes of binge eating, the foods consumed can also affect other hormones such as insulin, the hormone that helps our bodies process sugar from food.
Food is an integral part of who we are and a necessity for survival. Providing us with the right nutrients, it contributes to us functioning optimally. At the start of the week, we often have good intentions of getting this right- eating nutrient dense, real foods. By the weekend, our good intentions tend to falter for different reasons – maybe it’s the end of a stressful week, or we are socialising more or celebrating events or having a indulgent meal that turns into an excessive food weekend. Maybe we have restricted our food intake during the week and feel justified in a binge on a Saturday. Then again, maybe we’re just bored.
The swelling of our abdomen can cause pressure upwards making us feel breathless as our lungs dont have enough space for us to breathe normally. Binge eating often involves unhealthy junk food with very little fibre. This can lead to even more bloating and constipation.
One cannot highlight enough the effects of undereating. From feeling dizzy, to being breathless and weak to the long term effects on the skin (such as early skin aging), heart and bones (osteoporosis- thinning of the bones which can be painful), these are just some of the consequences of an inadequate balanced diet. Please seek medical advice should these symptoms occur.
Eating ‘clean’ during the week is great as long as it can continue into the weekend and consists of sufficient nutrient dense calories. Depending on your lifestyle, it is important to be aware of adequate portion sizes of fruits and vegetables and good sources of protein and complex carbohydrates to ensure you do not develop a nutritional deficiency. This is even more important if you exercise with moderate to high intensity regularly. The risk of undernourishment can be similar if you binge eat on high energy foods with no nutritional value. Always check the label.
How to learn when you binge?
Keep a food diary. It will help you learn when you tend to binge. You can also see what was going on in your life that may have led you to do it.
Some are: Genes. Eating disorders tend to run in families. If your mother or grandmother binged, you’re more likely to do it. Research shows that a number of genes that affect eating behavior may be passed down through families. Those genes can affect brain circuits that control appetite and mood.
When you eat too much because of a stressful event such as a romantic breakup, it’s sometimes called “ emotional eating .”. Examples of binge eating are: Sneaking a large bag of candy into your room and finishing it in secret. Eating a whole cake in one sitting, and then feeling guilty.
That said, people with the disorder are usually more likely to overeat if they’re anxious or stressed. Extreme Dieting. Sometimes an attempt to lose weight can lead to bingeing. This is especially true when people follow unhealthy diets to lose weight, such as skipping meals or eating too little.
If you think you have binge eating disorder, work with a doctor to get well. Treatment might include counseling and, sometimes, medicine. Keep a food diary .
Binge eating disorder is different, though. You might have it if you regularly eat a lot of food in just a few hours — even when you’re not hungry — to drown out emotion s. Then you quickly feel shame or guilt about it. The disorder is treatable. Your doctor can help you stop and, later on, get to and maintain a healthy weight.
The disorder is treatable. Your doctor can help you stop and, later on, get to and maintain a healthy weight. The first step is to understand why you’re bingeing.
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