When food is the enemy

Often, we tend to avoid serious topics, but these are the topics that need the most attention. The voices of those who are often not given a platform to speak out about issues that are often misunderstood.The food blog this week will be focused on eating disorders and how to recognize when someone may be suffering from one.

Facts provided from: https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/eating-disorder

The most common disorders include Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder and affect both females and male. Anorexia Nervosa-an individual suffering from anorexia nervosa will typically have an obsessive fear of gaining weight, refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an unrealistic perception of body image. Bulimia Nervosa, is characterized by repeated binge eating followed by behaviours that compensate for the overeating, such as forced vomiting, excessive exercise, or extreme use of laxatives or diuretics.

Causes of Eating Disorders

Eating disorders can be caused by a whole range of factors, these include:

Examples of biological factors include:

Irregular hormone functions
Genetics (the tie between eating disorders and one’s genes is still being heavily researched, but we know that genetics is a part of the story).
Nutritional deficiencies

Examples of psychological factors include:

Negative body image
Poor self-esteem

Examples of environmental factors that would contribute to the occurrence of eating disorders are:

Dysfunctional family dynamic
Professions and careers that promote being thin and weight loss, such as ballet and modeling
Aesthetically oriented sports, where an emphasis is placed on maintaining a lean body for enhanced performance.
Family and childhood traumas: childhood sexual abuse, severe trauma
Cultural and/or peer pressure among friends and co-workers

Symptoms of Eating Disorders include:

Chronic dieting despite being hazardously underweight
Constant weight fluctuations
Obsession with calories and fat contents of food
Engaging in ritualistic eating patterns, such as cutting food into tiny pieces, eating alone, and/or hiding food
Continued fixation with food, recipes, or cooking; the individual may cook intricate meals for others but refrain from partaking
Depression or lethargic stage
Avoidance of social functions, family, and friends. May become isolated and withdrawn
Switching between periods of overeating and fasting