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.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Name Your Best Friend - Food?

When you're feeling lonely, sad or bored do you drown yourself in a bucket of fried chicken or delve in to a huge piece of sinful chocolate?

Eating is a natural part of our body's needs, whether we like it or not our body naturally craves food in the language of hunger. When a person is hungry, he will reach to any food available in front of him even if it is a plate of plain boiled broccoli! Unsurprisingly our tongue craves for taste and flavour, and foods that are high in fat are the most desired foods when you are hungry!

So we do eat when the stomach is hungry, but what if you eat when your soul is empty? Our body interprets loneliness and emptiness as hunger and we think that it is craving food. Resorting to food in response to cravings or emotions eventually becomes a habit and you cannot stop stuffing your mouth with scrumptious goodies.

Delicious food gives almost an elated feeling as one tends to forget upsetting emotions with delectable flavours which tingle in your mouth. Some people tend to eat food to evade stress, but in fact they are doing more harm than good. The infamous phrase "fat and happy" is a superficial phrase since gaining weight leads to other problems which can vary from depression to heart diseases. It is a vicious cycle.

The best advice to overcome this incomprehensible habit is to first of all be conscious of it. You need to identify this problem in yourself and analyse what are the situations which tend to trigger this hunger attack. Make a conscious effort to avoid those situations or if you are helpless in avoiding, you may learn to relax and try to get busy with another engrossing activity until the craving passes.

Yoga and meditation as well as rewarding hobbies such as gardening, walking, or listening to music etc, help a great deal in refusing to feed your emotions.

And if you do give in to your comfort eating once in a way, you should at least make it a point to chew well and in fact, try to enjoy, savour, recognise the flavour, texture and smell of your absolutely favourite food; eating slowly and chewing longer, signals the brain to feel full and satisfied in a shorter while than by gulping down dollops of food!



Autor: Dave Vower

Dave has been writing articles online for nearly 3 years now. Not only does this author specialize in health, fitness and relationships you can also check out his latest website on Wilson Softball Gloves which reviews and lists Tpx Baseball Gloves as well, for safe summer fun and enjoyment.


Added: December 13, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

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