Establishing a regular eating pattern is key to helping to overcome binge eating
Overcoming an eating disorder is a lengthy and often complex process, involving treatment of the whole person, nutritionally, emotionally and spiritually. On a nutritional level there is a huge amount of support that can be provided to help break negative eating patterns and to learn how to have a healthy relationship with food.
A common trait with binge eating, both in those with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder, is that sufferers have very sporadic eating patterns. Breakfast and lunch are often skipped or reduced to a minimum, for example, and stimulants such as coffee are relied upon for energy. This leads to a situation of poor blood sugar regulation and binge eating later in the day or during the night which over compensates for the low food intake during the day. This creates a cycle of feast and famine for the body and reactive hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar levels) which then contributes to further binges. Erratic eating also disrupts the normal mechanisms that control hunger and fullness, so these feelings are no longer a reliable guide for when to eat.
A key step to overcoming binge eating is therefore to introduce a pattern of regular eating. This starts with introducing breakfast on a daily basis. Once breakfast has been successfully introduced then lunch is introduced, so gradually building up to three regular meals per day at regular intervals. Two snacks per day are also introduced, as eating little and often and eating the right foods helps to keep blood sugar levels even and therefore reduce cravings for sugary foods and binges. Planning meals also means that individuals are prepared with food choices and less likely to opt for a foods that may subsequently trigger a binge.
In our London clinic I work with clients with eating disorders to slowly introduce changes so that they can establish a happy relationship with food and to nourish themselves back to health. Please do get in touch to find out more about how we can help you, or contact us to book an appointment.
Julia
Tags: binge eating, bulimia, eating disorders, nutrition
