Healthy living – Eating right

Author: Brett D Fuller

Have you ever known a person who throws up after a meal or one who cannot help but keep eating? Chances are that she/he is suffering from an eating disorder. This kind of disease can

ruin a person’s health and affects their personal life in the worse way. Eating disorders

include Anorexia, Bulimia and compulsive eating or overeating disorder. A person suffering

from this disease will have extreme eating behaviors such as strict diets, obsessively counting calories, vomiting after meals and keep eating large quantities of food. People with such disorders have wrong attitude towards food and body weight and have a distorted self image.

These are one of the deadliest diseases today and a large number of people die annually due to eating disorders. The most affected section of the society, due to this disease, are girls aged 15 – 24, as they cannot take the peer pressure of looking thin. These are complex

diseases which require expert professional help.

People having compulsive eating or overeating disorder have an unhealthy addiction to

food. Such people have an uncontrollable urge to keep eating even after they are full. They

feel completely out of control while eating and will eat more quickly than normal. Such an episode of eating will be followed by intense guilt and depression. These people will spend a lot of time thinking about food and will plan and fantasize about eating alone. They will

normally eat even though they are not hungry. They might also keep coming back to food throughout the day and keep eating small quantities of food. This disorder leads to obesity and unhealthy weight gain.

Medical problems arising from this disorder include obesity, depression, high cholesterol, heart diseases, diabetes, hyper tension, kidney diseases, stroke, bone deterioration and

arthritis. These patients suffer from immense inferiority complex and low self esteem. This disease affects every aspect of their life – professional as well as personal.

There are lots of institutions which offer professional expertise to cure this disease. The

treatment will include programs having group therapy, psychiatric help, lectures and workshops, behavioral therapy, nutritional education, stress management, body image workshops, spiritual help, recreational therapy etc. These institutions have counselors,

psychiatrics and physicians having expert knowledge of the field. Only thing required for curing this disease is acknowledging it and reaching out for help to family and friends, who can further help these people by taking professional help.

Why And How of Drug Abuse

There’s an old proverb that says ‘curiosity killed the cat’. Man is in no way insulated from

this danger. As several sources of data have confirmed over the years, most cases of drug abuse start out as an experiment. The cheap thrill of doing something illegal and

forbidden is what encourages people to try drugs for the first time. The age and the sense of adventure of youth make them the most vulnerable.

One might be tempted to argue that it is just another bad habit, like biting fingernails or coughing without covering your mouth. Can’t it be quit if one wills to do so? Well,

researchers working on various addictive drugs seem to think otherwise and feel that it may be more complicated than that. The human brain is one of the most complex working systems in the world, the functioning of which is not yet fully understood. What

we do know is that there are several chemicals, called neurotransmitters, working in tandem to concoct different signals, which are collectively responsible for various control

functions. And most drugs have a way of interfering with this chemical balance, disrupting the normal functioning of the brain.

One of the neurotransmitters is a compound called Dopamine. This compound is responsible for controlling the feeling of pleasure. When we do something that makes us

‘happy’, like seeing a child or a walking in the park the dopamine levels in the brain increase. Drugs have a way of increasing the dopamine levels in the brain giving the false

sense of elation. And since the brain is also wired to want this kind of feeling, it drives a strong internal craving to repeat this act. These effects last long and affect the ability of clear judgment. Often, there are behavioral changes including depression.

This in no way means that addiction is irreversible and should be treated as a terminal

disease. But, the approach has to be scientific and medical intervention is a must. The addict generally suffers from multiple physical, psychological and behavioral disorders,

requiring dual diagnosis treatment. This ensures that while the body is recuperating

from the effects of drugs, it is also being treated to lose the urge to get back to using them again. The psychological trauma often results in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or

PTSD, making it harder for them to move on and forget the past. This aspect is also

taken care of in the PTSD dual treatment programs.

Anorexia: Cause and Symptoms

How do you know when you fall prey to one of the many eating disorders out there? If

you have an eating disorder is which you refuse to maintain an unhealthy and obsessive fear of gaining weight and thereby fail to maintain a proper diet, then you are probably suffering from Anorexia Nervosa. This is mainly caused by the subject having an

inferiority complex about his/her looks/disposition, coupled with other biases that largely affect body weight and eating habits. Strangely, people with this disorder still feel hungry

but resist from eating too much food. The average intake of calories can range anywhere between 800 to a measly 600, although even more severe cases of self induced starvation are also known.

Anorexia like many other eating disorders (almost like bulimia) does not discriminate

between man and woman—regardless of age, race and country or

social/economic/cultural background. It is known to affect women more than men. For every man with anorexia there are 10 affected women!

An individual affected with anorexia displays a number of symptoms. The type and the

degree of severity differ from person to person—some symptoms are more prominent than others. Some of the symptoms given below also occur in Bulimia Nervosa, which

accompanies anorexia in most cases. The symptoms are:

Excessive and pronounced loss in body weight Scarring seen in knuckles. Caused due to the abrasion caused when placing hand in

mouth to force vomiting. Growth of soft and fine hair on face and parts of the body

Obsession observed with calories and fat High interest in food ingredients, cooking and recipes. Might cook elaborate dishes for

others but not eat themselves.

Continue to diet even when becoming excessively thin and underweight Phobia of gaining weight

Studies and research on anorexia patients have shown that the initial stages exhibit an

excessive weight loss routine—this is a deciding factor in triggering anorexia. Surgery, medicinal side effects and infection can cause anorexia. Women feel pressurized by the

media which continuously hype the perfect figure. People, especially women, are driven consciously or unconsciously towards the attainment of that figure leading to this eating disorder. They stop eating and go on an extensive self starvation routine and also

develop a phobia of calorie rich food. If you or any of your near and dear ones are

suffering from this disorder then get yourself to any reputed treatment centers for

Anorexia. Results may be dangerous if the problem be left unchecked.

Contact details:

Sober Living by the Sea

2811 Villa Way,

Newport Beach, CA 92663

Get Help Now…! Call: - (888) 268-9182

Email ID: mhurst@crchealth.com

Website: http://www.eatingdisordertreatment.com