Slow down, notice the flavours

Bingeing on food can turn into a serious disorder. Here are ways to head off an episode, writes Christy Brissette

EVERYONE overeats sometimes. Maybe it was an amazing buffet where you had to try more than you needed, or a Christmas meal. Binge eating is different. It involves regularly eating a large amount of food in a short period.

As a registered dietician, I have clients who binge eat to deal with stress or boredom or after overrestricting their diets.

These aren’t necessarily people with fully fledged eating disorders, but people who could develop a disorder if they continue a cycle of bingeing and shame.

Binge eating disorder was added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 2013.

It’s by far the most common type of eating disorder in the US, affecting 3.5% of women and 2% of men, and is characterised by recurrent bingeing accompanied by feelings of lack of control and stress.

It differs from bulimia because there isn’t any purging behaviour to get rid of the food or calories eaten. Anyone diagnosed with the disorder should consult a doctor, a psychiatrist or therapist and a dietitian. Here are some tips I’ve found especially helpful for my clients with binge tendencies.

Dieting is a common risk factor for binge eating. Most diets don’t teach you sustainable healthyeating patterns and typically ban certain foods or food groups.

And diets are temporary, so when you eat something that’s not on your diet, you may feel a sense of failure and shame.

With many of my clients, these uncomfortable feelings, combined with feelings of deprivation and hunger, can lead to a binge.

After a binge, people typically feel worse about themselves and try to “undo” the damage with more restricting. They allow themselves to get too hungry and end up bingeing and the cycle continues.

Instead of dieting, eat the foods you enjoy, but try to keep the less-healthy options to smaller amounts. purse, briefcase, etc, so you’re never stuck feeling overly hungry.

Drinking plenty of water throughout the day can also help by preventing you from mistaking thirst for hunger.

Make a list of pleasurable activities you can do to focus your mind on something other than the urge to binge, such as going for a walk, gardening, calling someone and catching up.

Exercise is a fantastic way to not only refocus from the urge to binge, but to manage stress; it is essential self-care for your body and mind.

You can and should still have some of the less healthy foods you crave. Enjoy these foods in controlled settings – such as sharing dessert with a friend at a dinner out. It’s also helpful if you plan something with other people, so you won’t be alone and binge afterwards.

The key to preventing binge eating is developing a healthier relationship with food and learning to manage uncomfortable feelings in healthier ways.

If you’re struggling, seek out a psychiatrist or therapist with expertise in binge eating disorder.

Cognitive behavioural therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy are the most well-studied approaches in treating binge eating disorder.

Mindfulness meditation has been shown to decrease bingeing and emotional eating.

Along with counselling, your psychiatrist may also prescribe medication to help you manage the impulse to binge. And a dietician can help you plan nutritious meals and snacks.

Binge eating disorder also increases the risk of obesity, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Less than half of people with binge-eating disorder receive help.

As our weightobsessed culture slowly shifts its focus to health, hopefully binge eating and the disorder can be better prevented and treated. – The Washington

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