While most people are concerned about what they eat, the American Psychological Association (APA) states that people with eating disorders have abnormal eating habits that can be harmful to their health and even their life.1 Although it is hard to get an exact statistic of how many people are suffering with an eating disorder, it…
Tag: eating disorder
Orthorexia
According to the NEDA, or the National Eating Disorders Association, orthorexia is an obsession with healthy eating. The term originated in 1998 and has become increasingly prevalent as societal pressure to diet rises. Orthorexia has become more common as the expansion of social media has given people access to a variety of information on dieting,…
Anorexia
Anorexia, or anorexia nervosa, is a life-threatening eating disorder characterized by significant weight loss due to the restriction of calorie intake.1 This extreme weight loss is accompanied by an intense fear of gaining weight, denial of the seriousness of the weight loss, and perceiving one’s own body differently than reality.1 Anorexia affects all people regardless of class,…
Pica
The National Eating Disorders Association defines pica as “the recurrent eating of non-food substances that offer no nutritional value and are not part of a culturally sanctioned practice”.1 To be considered a disorder, this behavior must take place over at least one month.2 Some of these substances may include cloth, hair, wool, starch, soil, string,…
Diabulimia
Diabulimia is an eating disorder in which patients with Type 1 diabetes deliberately skip and/or restrict their intake of insulin in order to cause extreme weight loss, and many patients often supplement this activity with bulimic behaviors. Bulimia is an eating disorder that involves binge eating followed by a compensatory behavior, such as vomiting or…
Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
Binge Eating Disorder (BED), also referred to as extreme overeating is an eating disorder that can be characterized as an addiction to food. The inability to fight the urge to eat is one of the defining aspects of BED. In addition, those who suffer from BED often seek emotional comfort in food for a variety…
Guide to Healthy Eating
Healthy eating involves knowing what foods your body needs to function optimally, what foods you enjoy consuming, and finding a balanced variety of the two that keeps your body and mind both strong and satisfied.1 The following sections aim to help you understand the various aspects of healthy eating so that you can both reflect…