Eating disorders

Eating disorders are serious conditions related to persistent eating behaviors that negatively impact your health, your emotions and your ability to function in important areas of life. 

Most eating disorders involve focusing too much on your weight, body shape and food, leading to dangerous eating behaviors. These behaviors can significantly impact your body's ability to get appropriate nutrition. Eating disorders can harm the heart, digestive system, bones, and teeth and mouth, and lead to other diseases.

Eating disorders often develop in the teen and young adult years, although they can develop at other ages. With treatment, you can return to healthier eating habits and sometimes reverse serious complications caused by the eating disorder.

Red flags that may indicate an eating disorder include:

• Skipping meals or making excuses for not eating
• Excessive focus on healthy eating
• Making own meals rather than eating what the family eats
• Withdrawing from normal social activities
• Persistent worry or complaining about being fat and talk of losing weight
• Frequent checking in the mirror for perceived flaws
• Repeatedly eating large amounts of sweets or high-fat foods
• Use of dietary supplements, laxatives or herbal products for weight loss
• Excessive exercise
• Calluses on the knuckles from inducing vomiting
• Eating much more food in a meal or snack than is considered normal
• Expressing depression, disgust, shame or guilt about eating habits
• Eating in secret

Symptoms vary, depending on the type of eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder are the most common eating disorders. Other eating disorders include rumination disorder and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder.

1. Anorexia nervosa

When you have anorexia, you excessively limit calories or use other methods to lose weight, such as excessive exercise, using laxatives or diet aids, or vomiting after eating. Efforts to reduce your weight, even when underweight, can cause severe health problems, sometimes to the point of deadly self-starvation.

2. Bulimia nervosa

When you have bulimia, you typically eat a large amount of food in a short time and then try to rid yourself of the extra calories in an unhealthy way. Because of guilt, shame and an intense fear of weight gain from overeating, you may force vomiting, or you may exercise too much or use other methods, such as laxatives, to get rid of the calories. You're probably preoccupied with your weight and body shape and may judge yourself severely and harshly for your self-perceived flaws. 

3. Binge-eating disorder

When you have binge-eating disorder, you regularly eat too much food and feel a lack of control over your eating. You may eat quickly or eat more food than intended, even when you're not hungry, and you may continue eating even long after you're uncomfortably full.

After a binge, you may feel guilty, disgusted or ashamed by your behavior and the amount of food eaten. But you don't try to compensate for this behavior with excessive exercise or purging, as someone with bulimia or anorexia might. Embarrassment can lead to eating alone to hide your bingeing.

4. Rumination disorder

Rumination disorder is repeatedly and persistently regurgitating food after eating, but it's not due to a medical condition or another eating disorder. Food is brought back up into the mouth without nausea or gagging, and regurgitation may not be intentional.  It may result in malnutrition if the food is spit out or if the person eats significantly less to prevent the behavior. The occurrence of rumination disorder may be more common in infancy or in people who have an intellectual disability.

5. Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder

This disorder is characterized by failing to meet your minimum daily nutrition requirements because you don't have an interest in eating; you avoid food with certain sensory characteristics, such as color, texture, smell or taste; or you're concerned about the consequences of eating, such as fear of choking. Food is not avoided because of fear of gaining weight. The disorder can result in significant weight loss or failure to gain weight in childhood, as well as nutritional deficiencies that can cause health problems.

Eating disorders can virtually take over your life. If you're experiencing any of these problems, or if you think you may have an eating disorder, we are always ready to help.