Overview

An eating disorder is a compulsion to eat, or avoid eating, that negatively affects both one's physical and mental health. Eating disorders are all encompassing. They affect every part of the person's life. According to the authors of Surviving an Eating Disorder, "feelings about work, school, relationships, day-to-day activities and one's experience of emotional well being are determined by what has or has not been eaten or by a number on a scale." Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the most common eating disorders generally recognized by medical classification schemes, with a significant diagnostic overlap between the two. Together, they affect an estimated 5-7% of females in the United States during their lifetimes. There is a third type of eating disorder currently being investigated and defined - Binge Eating Disorder. This is a chronic condition that occurs when an individual consumes huge amounts of food during a brief period of time and feels totally out of control and unable to stop their eating. It can lead to serious health conditions such as morbid obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Tips on Dealing With Food Addiction

You may have heard a lot on the dreadful effects of drug and smoke addiction. Food addiction is equally a killer as it has close links with the chemical imbalance in the brain. You may feel that food is not as much harmful as drug or smoke addiction is. However, if you eat too much of a particular variety of food, the result seems to be the same. It is a serious problem, as you cannot stop eating that particular food, even if you put in the best of your efforts.

You may have heard a lot on the dreadful effects of drug and smoke addiction. Food addiction is equally a killer as it has close links with the chemical imbalance in the brain. You may feel that food is not as much harmful as drug or smoke addiction is. However, if you eat too much of a particular variety of food, the result seems to be the same. It is a serious problem, as you cannot stop eating that particular food, even if you put in the best of your efforts.

Fortunately, it is possible today to change our brain chemistry and thereby our eating habits. Due to chemical imbalance in the brain, one may become addicted to a particular type of food. This process removes the addictive function and helps your brain to function properly.

There is a neurotransmitter called Dopamine, which helps you feel happy. Without dopamine, life may be miserable. If you are depressed, then it really means that you have a chemical imbalance in your brain and it restrains dopamine to function properly. This problem can be treated by taking some anti-depressants that allow your brain to release more dopamine. This can change your behavior and make you feel happy and good.

The type of food you consume can have a great impact on the functioning of the brain. Certain foods can release a wide range of chemicals in your brain. Even if you think of your favorite food and the taste of that, the chemicals are immediately released in your brain. This in turn increases the dopamine level and makes you feel contented. Some people accept that they feel satisfied, when the dopamine level increases and they stop eating. However, some others do not feel that very easily. They understand the dopamine rush as an ecstatic feeling. Such people are generally overweight, as they tend to eat that particular type of food as it makes them really happy.

If you eat food to feel good, eventually you become addicted to that food. In order to deal with this food addiction, you need to learn how to change your brain chemistry. You cannot lose your weight by simply following a diet program or an exercise regime. For any addiction, the brain looks for the dopamine rush in the form of a reward. If you experience the problem of food addition, it really means that you have trained your brain to get its reward from the food. If you take away this reward, your brain does not have any other choice. You can end your diet war with the help of neuroplasticity.



Autor: Helen R. Miller

Helen R. Miller is a diet control fanatic, who has lost over 70 pounds of body fat. She shares her amazing story of how she did it through her weight and diet control blog.


Added: October 9, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

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