What Are The Effects Of Bulimia
Like all eating disorders, bulimia is a serious illness. It can permanently damage your body and can even be deadly.
People with bulimia will often eat large amounts of food, or binge, and then try to get rid of the calories in what is called a purge. This often involves vomiting, excessive exercising, or abuse of laxatives or diuretics. This cycle of behaviors can cause problems to all parts of your body.
Bulimia also affects your brain and is often linked to mental health problems like anxiety and depression.
But you can get help. There are many treatment options to stop the cycle of binging and purging. Just be sure to do them with the help of a doctor so that your recovery is safe.
Not Getting Enough Sleep And Bulimia Bloating
When struggling with bulimia, its very common to have interrupted or too little sleep.
As you may have experienced, too little sleep is stressful physically, mentally and emotionally, especially to a body and brain that are already distressed and depleted. The resulting raised cortisol level that lingers in the body may disrupt digestion, causing bloating and can further interrupt sleep.
Bulimia Bloating Strategy #2 Eat Well
A depleted system needs nourishing, balance and consistency. So
- Eat regular meals and snacks throughout the day. Each day. Every day. And be purge free.
- Eat nutritionally balanced meals with a variety of protein, fats, carbs and fresh vegetables and fruit. Remember fuelling your body with adequate calories and nutrition heals your body. It increases the energy in your body and strengthens your digestion It also reduces bingeing and anxiety and will resolve many of the symptoms and side effects of bulimia.
- Avoid eating the same safe food over and over again, even so, called healthy foods. This way of eating doesnt really keep you safe, it can cause malnutrition, a weakened gastrointestinal tract, food sensitives, intolerances, even allergies and bloating.
- As your digestion gets stronger, youll find your body more able to deal with all foods.
ALERT: A lack of fat in your diet causes bloating! Click here to find why Fat Is Good For You!
TIP: STOP all dieting or any form of food restriction even those that appear healthy and START following a Structured Eating Plan, an effective, proven strategy for recovery that works on many levels. Structured Eating and Meal Planning has formed the basic foundation for the full and lasting recovery of many people, including mine. And youll be healing the causes of bulimia bloating at their roots.
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Digestive Issues & Eating Disorders: How To Ease Discomfort Without Obsessing
Digestive Issues & Eating Disorders: How to ease discomfort without obsessing
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For many eating disorder clients, digestive difficulties are, unfortunately, something that they are dealing with in parallel with their eating disorder. In one study of ED clients, 90% reported abdominal distention and more than half reported abdominal pain, gastric distention and early satiety and nausea. It has also been found in research that 41-52% of patients with EDs also have been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome . Gastrointestinal symptoms are very common in anorexia and are often misdiagnosed as IBS rather than a symptom of an eating disorder. These, and additionally studies, support that digestive difficulties are a barrier in treatment and recovery.
Because EDs and digestive difficulties are so closely intertwined, this post offers up some simple strategies that may help in alleviating digestive discomfort and pain. Remember that is very important to talk to your doctor and dietician about your gastric symptoms, as well, in order to rule out any other GI issues such as dairy intolerances, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth or celiac disease.
Below are some simple strategies to implement into your daily routine for alleviating GI symptoms
Address stress
Food
Does It must be something I ate sound familiar? There are some foods that help support our digestive health. Here are some tips:
Beverages
Make These Changes A Lifestyle
Consistency is key. The results are cumulative, so sprinkling your diet with processed foods or missing days of your probiotics will potentially delay your healing. So leave your probiotics in a place where youll remember to take them, and just say no to frankenfoods. Then, take it to the next level.
Take a high quality multi-vitamin. I get asked frequently whether you really need a multi-vitamin if you eat healthy. My answer is yes. A good multi helps to remedy nutrient deficiencies that accompany leaky gut. Its just a good idea.
Take digestive enzymes any time you are going to eat something your body wont digest well. My body doesnt digest dairy well. So if I am going to have dairy, I make sure its grass-fed, whole milk dairy and I take a digestive enzyme so its easier for my body to break down.
Make it Rain Omega 3s.. Even if you eat a lot of wild caught salmon, I highly recommend an omega 3 fatty acid supplement to help repair cell walls.
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Bulimia Recovery Refeeding During Remission
Although bulimia does not usually result in unhealthy and significant weight loss, refeeding is still sometimes a necessary part of patient recovery. Bear in mind, refeeding is typically used in those recovering from anorexia nervosa as this condition often causes severe weight loss and malnutrition.
Refeeding refers to a form of treatment that attempts to restore a healthy body weight. This form of treatment attempts to rectify the effects of unhealthy eating habits and malnutrition and the impact this has on cognitive functioning and overall health.
The process involves strategically increasing ones intake of food , ensuring that the body is receiving the right amount of nutrients. For example, the patient may begin with an intake of 1400 to 1800 calories per day, or less, depending on their current state, with this advancing by roughly 300 calories every three days or so, some experts may view this as an aggressive form of refeeding and recommend that calorie increase is more gradual. If this is done in hospital or in a care facility, the attending doctor will monitor the patients electrolytes and cardiac health during a refeed, otherwise, the individual will need to stick to their refeeding program at home, with the help of loved ones or parents.
The overall idea and goal of refeeding is to help individuals to normalise their eating behaviour.
The Kalejunkie Dish: 5 Steps To Reclaim Gut Health
When I started my eating disorder recovery, my primary concern was stopping the behaviors related to food: binging and purging. At the time, healing my gut was the furthest thing from my mind, but when I started my yoga teacher training, my body began talking to me.
I remember one day I was standing in warrior two, feeling strong, confident, and present but at the same time, completely uncomfortable. My entire abdomen ached with pressure and painful cramps. While my mind was quiet for the moment, I was keenly aware that I was walking an emotional tightrope, teetering between elation and despair. I glanced into the mirror to check my form and saw all of those things. But whereas in the past my distended belly wouldve triggered feelings of worthlessness and an urge to binge, I suddenly found myself feeling something new: compassion for this body that was carrying me through hours of yoga practice every day, even while it was suffering.
All those years of purging meant that Id been exposing my esophagus to digestive acids that were meant to stay down in the stomach. Over time, this began to erode its lining and disrupted the natural flow of the digestive process, leaving me with gas, bloating, indigestion, ulcers, constipation and gastritis. I was a complete MESS.
It takes a lot of dedication on your part, but these simple steps will put you on the path towards recovery.
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Side Effects Of Bulimia Nervosa
How can bulimia harm the body exactly? One of the most dangerous and common side effects of bulimia is damage done to the digestive system, since both bingeing and purging have negative effects on things like digestive enzyme production, fluid balance and electrolyte levels.
Vomiting and taking laxatives can both lead to electrolyte and chemical imbalances, which can wind up causing cascading effects in other systems and organs like an abnormal heartbeat and symptoms of depression. At the same time, high amounts of stress coupled with nutrient deficiencies can alter hormone levels and change neurotransmitter functioning.
Some of the ways that bulimia nervosa diminishes someones health and puts him or her at a greater risk for both mental and physical illnesses include:
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Bulimia Bloating Strategy #6 Exercise
Physical activity stimulates the muscles of your digestive tract, which helps move food and any air bubbles that make you feel bloated through your gastrointestinal tract. So, taking some gentle exercise, like walking or swimming or yoga should be beneficial.
Bulimia Bloating Strategy #7 Self Care
Good self-care reduces stress, anxiety and even depression.
I used all the above strategies when I was on my journey to bulimia freedom as do my private clients. Individually they all help, collectively they provide a powerful and effective way to not just reduce bulimia bloating but support bulimia recovery in general.
Finally
Please dont ignore persistent pain or bloating, Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders are very common in patients with an Eating Disorders and a high percentage of women met the criteria for irritable bowel syndrome . Source:
Rebuilding The Bodys Digestion System After An Eating Disorder
Eating disorders can wreak havoc on all aspects of a persons life: their mental wellness, emotional balance, relationships with the people around them, and most certainly their physical body. Recovering from an eating disorder therefore requires comprehensive treatment in order to address each of these areas of a persons life. Healing the physical body after suffering from an eating disorder is a process that takes care and time, and in some cases needs to be supervised by medical specialists.
Eating disorders can take a major toll on the number and diversity of beneficial stomach flora. It is therefore paramount to rebuild the bacterial colonies before any sort of nutritional absorption can occur. There is not one quick solution to rebuilding healthy digestion, but instead healing requires multifaceted, continual progress. Here are four important nutritional practices to keep in mind when building or maintaining a healthy digestive system:
1. Eat fermented foods. Fermented foods can be the easiest and most cost-effective way of rebuilding your digestive enzymes. Some examples of fermented foods include yogurt, lacto-fermented pickles, kimchi, sauerkraut, and keifer.
2. Stick to a clean, healthy diet. While fermented and fiber rich foods can help contribute to healthy flora in your system, there are also foods that negatively affect this process. Processed foods, sugary foods, and foods laden with chemicals and pesticides should be avoided.
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How Eating Disorder Behaviors Can Affect The Gut
Up to 98% of those who have eating disorders meet the criteria for gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome . This is due to behaviors like bingeing, purging, and restricting food intake. Restriction of food intake, as seen with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, can cause the gut to suffer almost immediately.
Pediatric gastroenterologist Mario Taño, M.D., explains the damage caused by eating disorders, stating, If you dont give yourself the appropriate amount of calories, there will be a prioritization of nutrients, and they go to the vital organs first . With the gut starved of nutrients, serious health problems can follow.
Not eating enough food also disrupts the bodys balance of good bacteria, hurting the immune system and worsening symptoms of IBS and other gastrointestinal conditions . Restricting and purging can lead to gastroparesis, a condition where the stomach no longer contracts properly when breaking down food. This might result in a feeling of fullness well past a meal, reinforcing restrictive eating while causing malnourishment.
Dealing With The Stages Of Change In A Loved One Or Child
The information below explains how to deal with a loved one or child who may be going through the stages of change in bulimia:
Pre-contemplation stage
- It is important to not be in denial of your loved one or childs eating disorder
- Educate yourself on the symptoms and signs of bulimia and know what to be aware of
- Do not rationalise his or her eating behaviours
- Try to share your concerns and thoughts openly with the person
Contemplation stage
- If you are the parent of a child who is younger than 18 years of age, then you can insist that he or she receive the help they need from a mental health care professional, it is advised that you do not force your child into anything but rather show your support for the matter in a firm yet loving way.
- Listen to your child and allow them to openly express what they are going through, be prepared to accept blame even though it may not always be accurately attributed.
- Do not attempt to fix the issue yourself, rather seek professional help.
- As a parent and loved one, you will also need support as an eating disorder in someone close to you will take a personal toll, try to find encouragement from friends, family or local support groups for loved ones dealing with eating disorders in children, friends or other family members.
Preparation stage
Action stage
Maintenance stage
- Applaud your child or loved ones success and milestones in their path to recovery
- Be aware of possible relapses and allow for the sufferer to discuss these with you
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Outer Health Skin & Hair
Dry-brushing I have some loose skin in my stomach, a result of both losing a large amount of weight rapidly and the constant stretching of my stomach that I did while bingeing and purging. I would sometimes binge on so much food that my stomach would stick way out, enough to look like I was 8 months pregnant, and then purge it. As a result, my skin never completely bounced back when I did start to lose weight naturally. It is not terrible and I dont have any sagging, but even in the morning when my stomach is at its smallest I still have what looks like a small pot-belly. When I was my thinnest I still had that pooch. Planks are not a flattering position since the extra skin hangs and is very evident, and when I push the skin around my belly-button together gently you can see the crepe-y skin .
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Anxiety Stress And Bulimia Bloating
It might seem strange that anxiety and stress can cause bulimia bloating but because the brain and the gut are connected by the central nervous system, you cannot separate what is happening in the brain, with regards anxiety and stress, and what happens in the gut.
Whenever the brain perceives a threat to your survival, or theres some kind of anxiety or stress and or low blood-glucose concentration, the flight-fight mechanism is activated and cortisol is released.
And theres no doubt about it
- Bulimia is a threat to your survival.
- Living with bulimia causes great anxiety and stress
- Low blood-glucose is induced by not eating enough, starving yourself or bingeing then throwing up.
And whilst recovery is not a threat to your survival, it can be stressful.
Now cortisol isnt bad: It is a vital part of the flight-fight mechanism, that diverts blood from the digestive system to the muscles, so you can flee or fight.
But because this threat or stress isnt external, you dont fight or flee and the cortisol remains in the system. And to a lesser or greater degree, depending on the individual, digestion is disrupted and slowed down, resulting in bloating and or constipation.
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Effects Of Bulimia Nervosa On The Digestive System
Polly is an addiction recovery coach and writer who teaches women about personal transformation in the realm of eating disorders.
The sooner you overcome bulimia, the more likely your body will heal itself and not show long term effects of this eating disorder.
After reading this, you may think that I am exaggerating about what can happen. Ive seen the results in my own body and have read many devastating stories of how this disorder affected other women. Fortunately, the death rate among bulimics is low, but the damage the disease can do to the body is widespread.
I lived with bulimia for 20 years and I dealt with the emotional and physical problems that my eating disorder caused. Its pretty obvious that bulimia is not good for your body. Just one of the impacts it can have, as it did me, is digestive problems.
Distract Yourself From Your Anxiety
Distraction can be a powerful weapon in combating anxiety. Find ways to self-soothe so you can get past a moment of anxiety. For some people, a repetitive task like knitting or coloring in an adult coloring book can be soothing and distracting enough that momentary anxiety melts away. And some people may need to physically take themselves out of an anxious moment or situation by going for a walk or hopping in their car for a drive with the radio on.
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