Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a serious mental illness. It is not about “losing” interest in food, it is the relentless pursuit of thinness; an intentional food restriction due to the intense fear of being or becoming fat, even when one is very slender.

Bulimia Nervosa (BN) is characterized by frequent episodes of overeating and lack of control over food. The binge eating is followed by purging, often through forced vomiting, excessive use of laxatives or diuretics, fasting and or excessive exercise, or a combination of these behaviors.

People with bulimia are obsessed with their weight and are intensely self-critical.

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is characterized by recurring episodes of eating a large amount of food in a short amount of time, usually in isolation, and with high levels of distress, shame, and guilt.

A “binge” can vary widely in the amount of food consumed. Periods of binge are not followed by purging, excessive exercise, or fasting, which causes weight gain, up to even obesity.

Orthorexia is a disorder in which there is an unhealthy obsession with healthy, “pure” eating. It starts with the genuine desire to eat healthier and gradually develops into an obsession to eat only pure, high quality foods such as organic and unprocessed foods and avoid any food deemed to be “unhealthy.”

In the quest for food purity, the food choices become very restrictive with variety as well as calories, with an emphasis on quality, not quantity. The tendency to eat only “clean” or “healthy” can threaten health and starve the body of basic nutrients.