What Is Binge Eating Disorder?

What are eating disorders?

Eating disorders are complex mental illnesses that anyone can have, no matter your size, ethnicity or gender. There is no single cause, however many different factors go into the development of an eating disorder. This can include;

Cultural aspects such as thin ideals, fatphobia and diet culture.
Food-specific beliefs like food rules.
Past traumatic events meaning food is the only method of control.
Body image concerns
Genetics & upbringing

Common misconceptions of eating disorders…

A phase or something all young people go through
Only about losing weight and becoming thin
Gender specific (in fact 25% of those suffering with EDs identify as men)
Only affecting white, middle-class people. There are higher rates of EDs in black and brown individuals.

The messages sent by social media such as whiten your teeth, shrink your waist or be this clothing size have affected the mental health of many people around the world. ‘Beat eating disorders’ organisation believe approximately 1.25 million people in the UK alone have an eating disorder, with 75% identifying as females.

Binge eating disorder

It generally takes a combination of factors to develop BED. This can be explained simply with the ‘Loaded Gun’ analogy. Firstly, our genes predispose us to be vulnerable to developing an ED, this is the loaded gun. The trigger for this gun is the environmental factors and stressors of day to day life. Social and cultural risk factors may come into play, for example social pressures of being thin can make you feel inferior if you don’t meet these standards, increasing the stressors responsible for pulling the trigger.

Parents/Guardians may unknowingly set the stage for binge eating when food is used as a reward in the home. This impacts the relationship you have with food by labelling certain food as ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

Social media can be another problem by frequently exposing individuals to critical comments about their body or unrealistic beauty ideals promoted by celebrities and influencers. This damages the relationship you have with yourself causing an over critical, unrealistic view of your body. This is an extension of weight stigma which runs deep into current culture.

Weight stigma is discrimination or stereotyping an individual based on their body weight. Weight stigma has been shown to increase body dissatisfaction, a leading risk factor in the development of EDs. The best known environmental contributor to the development of EDs is the sociocultural idealisation of thinness. Weight stigma poses a significant threat to psychological and physical health. Those who experience this type of discrimination are more likely to engage in frequent binge eating and be diagnosed with BED.

Psychological risk factors also come into play with BED. Depression and binge eating are strongly linked, with binge eaters either being depressed or have been before. The incident of binge eating will continue to rise as depression becomes more common, with around 20% of all teens experiencing depression before they reach adulthood.

There are also biological abnormalities that can contribute to BED. The hypothalamus (part of the brain that controls appetite) may not be sending accurate messages about hunger or fullness. There is also evidence that low levels of serotonin play a role in compulsive eating. This is interesting as those with BED often label foods and typically carbohydrates are looked at as ‘bad’, and low carbohydrate intake is linked with low serotonin. This will feed into the act of compulsive eating which is already intensified by food restriction. This again shows the link between depression and BED as low levels of serotonin are linked to depression.

This disorder is not when you choose to eat big servings of food, or are those who suffer with it just overindulging in food. BED is different to emotional eating. Emotional eating is the use of food to make yourself feel better, to fill emotions rather than your stomach. Whereas binges associated with BED are actually a very distressing act. When binging occurs people find it difficult to stop, even if someone was to walk in on them binging. Those with BED have described feeling disconnected from what they are doing during a binge, and sometimes even forget what they have eaten afterwards.

Binge eating disorder cycle

BED consists of a cycle that needs to be broken to begin recovery from the illness. This is what it may look like;

You feel deprived of food due to restriction.
Due to this deprivation, you feel an overwhelming urge to eat which cannot be satisfied in any other way.
A binge occurs.
During and/or after the binge you begin to feel out of control and ashamed of yourself for overindulging in such a way.
You then begin to diet again to regain control over your food consumption
After some time, depending on how extreme the diet is, the cycle will begin again.

If you are suffering from BED there are characteristics to look out for to identify when you are taking part in a binge.

You may be eating much quicker than normal or eating until you feel uncomfortably full

Eating large amounts of food when you aren’t physically hungry

Eating alone due to embarrassment at the amount of food you’re eating

There may also be feelings of disgust, guilt or shame during or after the binge

This cycle can be exhausting and easy for many individuals to get stuck in. Breaking the cycle can be difficult. You can go days or even weeks without a binge episode and suddenly out of nowhere the uncontrollable need to binge hits.

There are some things you could try doing to help break the cycle. Thinking about the number of meals and snacks may bring a more regular eating pattern back to your lifestyle, which could be a great step to overcoming the cycle. This might look like having 3 meals and 2 snacks that can be eaten whenever you feel like it during the day.

Looking for binge triggers could also be a good place to start to be able to notice the trigger for what it is, possibly avoiding a binge. This could be done by keeping a journal to document how you feel before and after eating and making note of times you binged without being hungry as this could be linked to emotional triggers.

Not labelling foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ will help too. Seeing yourself as a ‘failure’ for eating so-called bad food will damage your relationship further and can increase feelings of guilt. Also, throw those diet books in the bin you really don’t need them, you could start to incorporate foods into your daily diet that appeal to you and make you excited to eat, rather than trying to eat in a way an author tells you. And remind yourself it’s very unlikely the people writing these books eat like that every day. Try replacing those damaging books with self-help books instead!

Typical symptoms of BED

Some typical symptoms to identify BED include…

gaining weight
feeling depressed, ashamed or disgusted after binge eating
eating when not hungry
eating alone over fears of binging occurring – this could be seen in via an individual stopping going to social events where food will be part of the occasion.

Some helpful tips for those suffering from BED

Work on eating food regularly
Invest in self-help books
Practice mindfulness through meditation, journaling or breathwork
Keep a food and mood journal
Focus on self-compassion by speaking kindly to yourself, forgiving yourself for mistakes and spending time doing things you truly enjoy
Find someone you trust to talk to about how you are feeling if things get hard

If after reading this article you feel you may need support, here are some simple and discreet ways to do so;

Contact @beateduk who can give you advice for seeking appropriate individuals or information on treatment centres and support groups.
Contact your local GP.
Get in touch with a nutritionist or dietician in your area who specialises in disordered eating.

Guest Writer:

This blog was written by Yazmin Craig, a final year undergraduate student studying BSc Food Science & Nutrition with interests in public health, eating disorders and non-diet approaches to nutrition.

To find out more or get in touch with Yazmin you can find her at…

Instagram & twitter – @ync_nutrition

Gmail – yncnutrition@gmail.com

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