I have spent some lively hours debating with others on the Facething whether compulsive eating is an addiction; which asks for some reflection on the nature of the term "compulsive".
Then I did two BBC Radio stints on overeating, debating with two people who were relying on Overeaters Anonymous to help with their food addiction. It seemed that both participants had become "addicted" to eating as a way of dealing with different forms of loneliness, at different times in their lives.
There are not many eating disorder experts who buy into the notion that compulsive eating is an addiction although they agree the following;
1 You can sort of become addicted to sugar because it affects the same parts of the brain as the other suspects like drugs and alcohol.
2 Eating disorders share some features with addictions.
3 People who overeat speak in the language of addictions. "I can't carry on with my day until I have had my fix... I can't stop at one.... I can't stop when I have had enough".
On our website blog I have made a very short case in favour of not leaping to the conclusion that overeating, even quite horrible variants of it, is addiction. It doesn't help our patients to consider themselves addicts. There are lots of reasons for overeating, even the most compulsive forms. We can free people from their destructive relationships with food without you needing all the paraphernalia of overeating fellowships like group meetings, endless talking about food, sponsors and a lifetime of thinking of your self as "In Recovery". Thousands of us used to overeat and don't now. We are not "In Recovery." We can help you to stop.
Check out http://eating-disorders.org.uk/emotional-eating-addiction/
Showing posts with label Binge eating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Binge eating. Show all posts
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Thursday, 15 January 2015
More About The Personalised Diet
The more I look at this programme the more worried I am becoming. There is some good stuff in it. There are strategies that benefit everyone, like eating slowly and mindfully, teaching people to eat while doing nothing else, finding out that many normal people compensate for exercising by doing less later -hoho!
But I am still absolutely flummoxed by the science behind putting constant cravers on an intermittent fasting programme. Where is the research behind this? We learn that this group of people are always looking compulsively at food, at people eating it, at shops selling it. I think we need to know more about it. It is like an obsession. Is it just about lacking leptin sensitivity? Perhaps the ancestors of the constant cravers were trapped in a famine.
Perhaps the constant craver is behaving like an addict. Perhaps the constant craver has problems in the opioid centres of the brain. Experts call it Reward Deficiency Syndrome. Why didn't they think about that? The so called experts have PICKED OUT BITS OF THE PHYSICAL PUZZLE which suit their programme. But have they looked at the whole map?
Either way if you are a constant craver it seems to make sense that you need to eat frequently but a diet very high in protein and complex carbohydrate too. You need to wear an elastic band on your wrist and snap it whenever you NOTICE you are looking at food. You need to keep binge food out of the house.
Intermittent fasting will make the cravings even WORSE. Oh sure you will lose weight while you do the diet, but you will become even more sensitive to the sights and smells of food. I've a lot of research to prove this point.
OK I'm not trying to dismiss the whole programme, but I'm also something of an obesity expert and I'm asking valid questions. You people out there also need to be asking questions and wondering if these world class experts may have sold their souls to the BBC for the money they will be making out of this programme. They are telling a sort of lie, which is that a particular DIET suits different types of people while the work they do in the background suggests that many more psychological interventions are necessary for someone to lose weight and keep it off. And these other strategies are not just "CBT"
But I am still absolutely flummoxed by the science behind putting constant cravers on an intermittent fasting programme. Where is the research behind this? We learn that this group of people are always looking compulsively at food, at people eating it, at shops selling it. I think we need to know more about it. It is like an obsession. Is it just about lacking leptin sensitivity? Perhaps the ancestors of the constant cravers were trapped in a famine.
Perhaps the constant craver is behaving like an addict. Perhaps the constant craver has problems in the opioid centres of the brain. Experts call it Reward Deficiency Syndrome. Why didn't they think about that? The so called experts have PICKED OUT BITS OF THE PHYSICAL PUZZLE which suit their programme. But have they looked at the whole map?
Either way if you are a constant craver it seems to make sense that you need to eat frequently but a diet very high in protein and complex carbohydrate too. You need to wear an elastic band on your wrist and snap it whenever you NOTICE you are looking at food. You need to keep binge food out of the house.
Intermittent fasting will make the cravings even WORSE. Oh sure you will lose weight while you do the diet, but you will become even more sensitive to the sights and smells of food. I've a lot of research to prove this point.
OK I'm not trying to dismiss the whole programme, but I'm also something of an obesity expert and I'm asking valid questions. You people out there also need to be asking questions and wondering if these world class experts may have sold their souls to the BBC for the money they will be making out of this programme. They are telling a sort of lie, which is that a particular DIET suits different types of people while the work they do in the background suggests that many more psychological interventions are necessary for someone to lose weight and keep it off. And these other strategies are not just "CBT"
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
In Search of The Best Diet For You
In Search Of A Personalised Diet BBC
Horizon January 2015.
Have we finally found the Holy Grail of
weight loss? Is this the way to
personalize eating plans which fit the individual and will help them lose
weight? An army of world famous weight loss experts cannot surely be wrong. Can
they?
Well let’s see.
We are now in the dieting months and I’m
already sick and tired of all the diet plans I’m seeing. There is the Ice Diet being promoted by Peta
Bee in the Times – sorry Peta, bad science. And even a diet called EAT! Which
is just another variant on the low carb diets.
These diets are one size fits all and take no account of personal genes
and nutrient responses. They are designed to fail in the long run, as all
fervent followers will discover.
A few years ago, the BBC ran a diet trials
experiment at the University of Surrey which compared different types of diets
for success. There was a clear winner which I won’t mention now but the take- home message in the long run is that different types of diet suit different
people. People who don't like detail do well with a diet like Atkins, while
some types of people do really well with a group approach. But in the long run
it’s pretty much all the same. Failure, that is, for most.
So here we have an all-singing-dancing world
expert scientific approach that is new. Do people really divide
themselves into three obesity types? The
first “cant-stoppers” who are low on gut hormones. The second “constant cravers”
who probably lack a good leptin response (science here) to tell their brains
they aren’t hungry. The third, “comfort
eaters” who meet the day to day stress in life by using food as a feel-good
drug.
Perhaps. They have all lost weight, HURRAY - but that proves very little; it was poor
research design, and the proof of the obesity pudding must surely be in how
well they are able to keep it off. Oh
well, it makes good TV but probably very little else.
Professor Susan Jebb is an expert-expert on
obesity but has said that losing weight is not a matter of will, but of habits.
People have to change their habits for life. I know that, and part of the
therapy I do is to help change habits from very deep inside. This is useful for everyone and flexibility training was missing
from the treatment given to these subjects.
But there is a whole new science of
willpower – known as self-regulation theory which is available to obesity
specialists and which is helping people to use their willpower to change their
lives. This can help comfort-eaters, constant-cravers
and cant-stoppers too. Why was this
ignored? So what’s going to happen to
these happy weight losers? Will they
have to stay on their diets for life, an impossible task surely, unless they
learn how to exercise their WILL.
I like it when people feel they have done
something valuable and positive. Who could fail to be moved when men weep real tears by having help and support. But is this real science when it ignores
real psychological strategies that work, like flexibility training and self-regulation
training. Is the Intermittent Fasting Regime really the right approach for
constant cravers - WHY- and is group work alone correct for people who have failed to develop better ways of managing the stress of
life and living with other people? Who
said it was?
So for me the jury is out. Some bits of this interesting programme hold
out hope for people who cannot lose weight. It's good for someone to know that they may be
lacking in a gut hormone that helps them to feel full. Its good to suggest that an emotional eater
is not just weak-willed and greedy. It may be useful to know that a constant
craver might not be feeling leptin in their brain.
But I’m waiting for 18 months down the line
to see if you can change habits (as Susan Jebb suggests) by putting people on a
diet that suits their “obesity phenotype.”
World experts should know better than to
suggest that what they have done is a solution. It is just one of a number of
things that must be properly explored in properly designed clinical trials
before we can truly discover a personalized solution for obesity. And we
experts know better than to think that any single diet can provide a quick fix even when the experts say "genes".
Monday, 8 September 2014
Sugar Addiction
Are you a sugar addict?
Can you be addicted to sugar?
There is a robust review on the subject commissioned for the National Institute of Mental Health in the USA which should settle the matter. There is only weak association of attachment to sugar among people who diet or restrict carbs, while sugar given freely in a balanced diet may have no influence on behaviour such as escalation, tolerance and withdrawal.
Evidence for Sugar Addiction: Behavioural and neurochemical effects of intermittent excessive sugar intake. Neuroscience Bio behavioural Review 2008 32(1) 20-39 published online 2007 Avena, N., Rada, P. and Hoebel, B.
Psychologically speaking, work on the subject of sugar addiction by Terence Wilson published in Binge Eating, Nature and Treatment edited by Fairburn suggests that the so-called addiction to sugar is largely psychological. People only lose control of eating sugar when they BELIEVE they have eaten sugar, demonstrating NO evidence of intrinsic addiction to the substance at all.
The role of sugar in the hedonic systems of the brain are not equivalent in effect or severity, as drugs like cocaine and nicotine, even though there is an effect on endogenous dopamine.
Sugar is present in many foods such as vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, lentils and other pulses so eliminating sugar from the diet seems impractical. Sugar is not equivalent in its physical effects as fructose including high fructose corn syrup further confounding the evidence.
Sugar-fat combinations are as potent in promoting the surges of endogenous dopamine as sugar alone if not more so. Thus there is danger in focusing solely on the so-called addictive properties of sugar. Based on a macronutrient analysis of binges by Susan Yanovski in 1998, it seems that it is fat which binge eaters really crave when fat is made palatable by sugar.
Thus while clients talk in the language of addiction to sugar, the evidence-based success of cognitive and cognitive-emotional / behavioural treatments for compulsive eating warn us of the dangers of focusing on sugar as an addictive substance. Addiction approaches to treatment which ask you to remove sugar and white flour from the diet might be unhelpful. It keeps people well only when they continue to restrict their diet. This approach merely fosters the all or nothing thinking that pervades eating disorder work.
I used to get sugar cravings long ago, but I know now that it was just too much dieting. I now eat a broad diet which contains all nutrients including a reasonable amount of refined sugar. And I'm fine.
But if you think you are a sugar addict and need help, call us on 0845 838 2040 OR visit www.eating-disorders.org.uk
Can you be addicted to sugar?
There is a robust review on the subject commissioned for the National Institute of Mental Health in the USA which should settle the matter. There is only weak association of attachment to sugar among people who diet or restrict carbs, while sugar given freely in a balanced diet may have no influence on behaviour such as escalation, tolerance and withdrawal.
Evidence for Sugar Addiction: Behavioural and neurochemical effects of intermittent excessive sugar intake. Neuroscience Bio behavioural Review 2008 32(1) 20-39 published online 2007 Avena, N., Rada, P. and Hoebel, B.
Psychologically speaking, work on the subject of sugar addiction by Terence Wilson published in Binge Eating, Nature and Treatment edited by Fairburn suggests that the so-called addiction to sugar is largely psychological. People only lose control of eating sugar when they BELIEVE they have eaten sugar, demonstrating NO evidence of intrinsic addiction to the substance at all.
The role of sugar in the hedonic systems of the brain are not equivalent in effect or severity, as drugs like cocaine and nicotine, even though there is an effect on endogenous dopamine.
Sugar is present in many foods such as vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, lentils and other pulses so eliminating sugar from the diet seems impractical. Sugar is not equivalent in its physical effects as fructose including high fructose corn syrup further confounding the evidence.
Sugar-fat combinations are as potent in promoting the surges of endogenous dopamine as sugar alone if not more so. Thus there is danger in focusing solely on the so-called addictive properties of sugar. Based on a macronutrient analysis of binges by Susan Yanovski in 1998, it seems that it is fat which binge eaters really crave when fat is made palatable by sugar.
Thus while clients talk in the language of addiction to sugar, the evidence-based success of cognitive and cognitive-emotional / behavioural treatments for compulsive eating warn us of the dangers of focusing on sugar as an addictive substance. Addiction approaches to treatment which ask you to remove sugar and white flour from the diet might be unhelpful. It keeps people well only when they continue to restrict their diet. This approach merely fosters the all or nothing thinking that pervades eating disorder work.
I used to get sugar cravings long ago, but I know now that it was just too much dieting. I now eat a broad diet which contains all nutrients including a reasonable amount of refined sugar. And I'm fine.
But if you think you are a sugar addict and need help, call us on 0845 838 2040 OR visit www.eating-disorders.org.uk
Tuesday, 22 April 2014
Men Hiding Eating Disorders Too
Today I've published an article on my website contributed by Anthony Organ who is interning at a journalism project called The Conversation. Nice name.
You will find it published here http://eating-disorders.org.uk/men-get-eating-disorders-too-guest-blog/
I wish a had a tenner for all the men I've met who have eating disorders. Not in treatment mind you, journalists ask me if I am seeing more men in treatment and I say no I don't, but I meet them everywhere else, at dinner parties where they confess their struggles or in my day to day life outside the office.
They are remarkable for hiding their struggles; maybe because they do feel ashamed at their lack of control over their food and their weight. They hide their struggles inside exercise compulsions, marathon running, daily visits to the gym to work out, taking lifestyle drugs or steroids, purging - but not thinking how serious this is - you name it, I've seen how they hide their terrible struggles with control of food.
I think it will always be the same despite all the publicity; looking into the future I can't really see that it will change, men finding a million terrible ways to control their eating behaviour but never accepting that they are out of control. It's really good that it has all come out into the open, like homosexuality.... but I still cant envisage a time when guys will willingly come forward for treatment if eating begins to rule his life.
So if you are a guy reading this blog, go and check out my website, if you don't want therapy we can offer you coaching to put your eating and body image difficulties behind you. So that you can be happier and more effective in your life.
You will find it published here http://eating-disorders.org.uk/men-get-eating-disorders-too-guest-blog/
I wish a had a tenner for all the men I've met who have eating disorders. Not in treatment mind you, journalists ask me if I am seeing more men in treatment and I say no I don't, but I meet them everywhere else, at dinner parties where they confess their struggles or in my day to day life outside the office.
They are remarkable for hiding their struggles; maybe because they do feel ashamed at their lack of control over their food and their weight. They hide their struggles inside exercise compulsions, marathon running, daily visits to the gym to work out, taking lifestyle drugs or steroids, purging - but not thinking how serious this is - you name it, I've seen how they hide their terrible struggles with control of food.
I think it will always be the same despite all the publicity; looking into the future I can't really see that it will change, men finding a million terrible ways to control their eating behaviour but never accepting that they are out of control. It's really good that it has all come out into the open, like homosexuality.... but I still cant envisage a time when guys will willingly come forward for treatment if eating begins to rule his life.
So if you are a guy reading this blog, go and check out my website, if you don't want therapy we can offer you coaching to put your eating and body image difficulties behind you. So that you can be happier and more effective in your life.
Monday, 7 April 2014
Tips For Working with Anorexia
Everyone needs help with anorexia.
No one fully understands it. Even people who suffer don't really understand it. Anorexia doesn't happen because your mother didn't love you enough or because you were teased in your childhood.
Many people live with low level anorexia - perhaps we call them "orthorexics" or they just happen to run marathons every week. They are quite thin but they say that they just look after themselves. Since they aren't skeletal we just pretend that they don't have "issues".
Even people who had quite serious anorexia once upon a time find that it doesn't really ever go away.
So I'm going to write some of my thoughts about anorexia on my website blog. They are just to help us all think out of the box. I am not going to pretend that I have all the answers about helping people to stop starving, stop running marathons or going on long bike rides when the rest of us are happy to sit by the fire and rest. In fact if they don't want to stop doing what they are doing, I wouldn't have a chance.
So here we are, the first post on my lovely website is here at http://eating-disorders.org.uk/tips-for-working-with-anorexia/
If you want to help me with your comments and ideas please do. I need and welcome your input.
Love to you all.
No one fully understands it. Even people who suffer don't really understand it. Anorexia doesn't happen because your mother didn't love you enough or because you were teased in your childhood.
Many people live with low level anorexia - perhaps we call them "orthorexics" or they just happen to run marathons every week. They are quite thin but they say that they just look after themselves. Since they aren't skeletal we just pretend that they don't have "issues".
Even people who had quite serious anorexia once upon a time find that it doesn't really ever go away.
So I'm going to write some of my thoughts about anorexia on my website blog. They are just to help us all think out of the box. I am not going to pretend that I have all the answers about helping people to stop starving, stop running marathons or going on long bike rides when the rest of us are happy to sit by the fire and rest. In fact if they don't want to stop doing what they are doing, I wouldn't have a chance.
So here we are, the first post on my lovely website is here at http://eating-disorders.org.uk/tips-for-working-with-anorexia/
If you want to help me with your comments and ideas please do. I need and welcome your input.
Love to you all.
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Go Enjoy Your Toast
Carbohydrate phobia is now officially a new psychiatric disorder. No, I'm joking, but Hannah Devlin Science Correspondent of the London Times says that almost half of all women and men are scared to eat carbs, which are an essential part of a normal healthy diet.
Carbs do some very important things in our body which cannot easily be replicated by proteins and by fats. Not being nutritionally trained, few people really know what carbohydrates really do. They are swayed by rogue messages from daft so-called health professionals.
And few people know how much carb they should be eating. It is about 250 grams per day, but what does that mean? Its actually a bowl of cereal, some fruits and vegetables, a bit of pasta, some lentils and beans and a few bits of toast. Who is measuring? I don't.
If you drink alcohol, that's where the trouble creeps in since the carbs are dense and the body isn't quite so sure what to do with them.
I've written more about carbohydrate guilt in my website blog. Follow the link to http://eating-disorders.org.uk/carbohydrate-phobia-go-enjoy-your-toast/
And let me know what you think? If you want to fight your carb phobia and get your life back, I will support you in your fight. Its a crazy world we live in and your carbohydrate phobia might keep you thin and it might not and it will certainly make you less happy.
Carbs do some very important things in our body which cannot easily be replicated by proteins and by fats. Not being nutritionally trained, few people really know what carbohydrates really do. They are swayed by rogue messages from daft so-called health professionals.
And few people know how much carb they should be eating. It is about 250 grams per day, but what does that mean? Its actually a bowl of cereal, some fruits and vegetables, a bit of pasta, some lentils and beans and a few bits of toast. Who is measuring? I don't.
If you drink alcohol, that's where the trouble creeps in since the carbs are dense and the body isn't quite so sure what to do with them.
I've written more about carbohydrate guilt in my website blog. Follow the link to http://eating-disorders.org.uk/carbohydrate-phobia-go-enjoy-your-toast/
And let me know what you think? If you want to fight your carb phobia and get your life back, I will support you in your fight. Its a crazy world we live in and your carbohydrate phobia might keep you thin and it might not and it will certainly make you less happy.
Friday, 13 December 2013
Does Anorexia Ever Really Go?
Reading an old account of a 10 year struggle with anorexia written by Lizzie Porter in The Times led me to wonder if anorexia ever really goes.
I was thinking about this because yesterday I was speaking to colleagues about their treatment of a 17 year old girl who was in hospital with anorexia but that was a while ago. The team feel stuck. Her body mass index is 19 now so she is relatively safe. Should they go on and on with therapy?
Endless therapy can teach a person that they cant cope on their own, so I worry a little about this. We all have times in our lives when we may need someone to support us But this support can be a double edged sword. A lot of therapists are guilty about keeping someone in an endless treatment loop.
Life is stressful and the old backups of tribes and old wise people just aren't there to keep us going any more. But do we have to keep treating people who are possibly OK for now?
I've had letters from people with anorexia who feel completely in thrall to their illness even after many years. If it is so bad that they barely function then yes, some kind of help is needed but which help will this be?
As for the rest, if we are coping and safe we may have to learn meet life on our own. Perhaps find friends to support us rather than "experts". I fear to convince people that the only way they can survive it to be with a therapist. Food for thought.
For my really main big blog about whether anorexia really ever goes, check out this link.
http://eating-disorders.org.uk/does-anorexia-ever-really-go/
Enjoy your Xmas and have a Happy Flourishing 2014
I was thinking about this because yesterday I was speaking to colleagues about their treatment of a 17 year old girl who was in hospital with anorexia but that was a while ago. The team feel stuck. Her body mass index is 19 now so she is relatively safe. Should they go on and on with therapy?
Endless therapy can teach a person that they cant cope on their own, so I worry a little about this. We all have times in our lives when we may need someone to support us But this support can be a double edged sword. A lot of therapists are guilty about keeping someone in an endless treatment loop.
Life is stressful and the old backups of tribes and old wise people just aren't there to keep us going any more. But do we have to keep treating people who are possibly OK for now?
I've had letters from people with anorexia who feel completely in thrall to their illness even after many years. If it is so bad that they barely function then yes, some kind of help is needed but which help will this be?
As for the rest, if we are coping and safe we may have to learn meet life on our own. Perhaps find friends to support us rather than "experts". I fear to convince people that the only way they can survive it to be with a therapist. Food for thought.
For my really main big blog about whether anorexia really ever goes, check out this link.
http://eating-disorders.org.uk/does-anorexia-ever-really-go/
Enjoy your Xmas and have a Happy Flourishing 2014
Monday, 9 December 2013
Obesity Academics For Sale
Today I found myself arguing quite passionately with a member of the NICE Obesity coordination team against the proposal that obese diabetics be put on a very low calorie liquid diet programme.
I suspect that there are interested commercial organisations who are interested in both the proposal and the research which has led to it. What about all the evidence that show the possible long term effects of these diets on weight maintenance, addictive behaviour, binge eating and subsequent ill health?
About a year ago I read a most favourable review about VLCD diets from Dr Ian Campbell who was a very prominent person in the National Obesity Forum. I wondered where this enthusiasm came from. Not one word about their potential side effects. Dear oh dear!
I would guess that most of these commercial weight loss operations - any of them, get an obesity academic on board to lend authority to their operations. Susan Jebb perhaps the most prominent was adopted by Rosemary Conley and by Weight Watchers in 2010.
Shame on individuals who take the Kings Silver which essentially prevents them from speaking out at any time against the practices of the organisations that they represent. Good treatment? The obese and sick hardly have a hope.
I suspect that there are interested commercial organisations who are interested in both the proposal and the research which has led to it. What about all the evidence that show the possible long term effects of these diets on weight maintenance, addictive behaviour, binge eating and subsequent ill health?
About a year ago I read a most favourable review about VLCD diets from Dr Ian Campbell who was a very prominent person in the National Obesity Forum. I wondered where this enthusiasm came from. Not one word about their potential side effects. Dear oh dear!
I would guess that most of these commercial weight loss operations - any of them, get an obesity academic on board to lend authority to their operations. Susan Jebb perhaps the most prominent was adopted by Rosemary Conley and by Weight Watchers in 2010.
Shame on individuals who take the Kings Silver which essentially prevents them from speaking out at any time against the practices of the organisations that they represent. Good treatment? The obese and sick hardly have a hope.
Monday, 25 November 2013
Rebecca Adlington's Body Image Woes
Rebecca Adlington is an inspiration and a star. She has an amazing body and mind which have worked together to give her two Olympic awards, including gold medals.
But she is being tormented about her looks on social media and her tormentors are making her sad. How can we all bear this?
I have written her an open letter which I wont repeat here, but you might like to follow this link. How can we all support her in distancing herself from Appearance Bullies who are nobodies in their own lives trying to pull down people who have put their heads above the parapet.
Anyone who thinks it is a useful life quest to look like a beauty queen of dubious talent needs to have their head examined. Lets celebrate something different.
For my open letter visit below
http://eating-disorders.org.uk/an-open-letter-to-rebecca-adlington-about-appearance-bullies/
But she is being tormented about her looks on social media and her tormentors are making her sad. How can we all bear this?
I have written her an open letter which I wont repeat here, but you might like to follow this link. How can we all support her in distancing herself from Appearance Bullies who are nobodies in their own lives trying to pull down people who have put their heads above the parapet.
Anyone who thinks it is a useful life quest to look like a beauty queen of dubious talent needs to have their head examined. Lets celebrate something different.
For my open letter visit below
http://eating-disorders.org.uk/an-open-letter-to-rebecca-adlington-about-appearance-bullies/
Friday, 15 November 2013
Anorexia NOT Increasing In Children?
In 2013 there was a media storm about increasing rates of childhood eating disorders that was picked up and chewed over relentlessly by eating disorder organisations.
Except by us. At the National Centre for Eating Disorders, when asked to comment about these new terrible findings, we said. Are you sure this is true?
Denying exciting and terrible news stories doesn't make good press. But we let the tide wash over us and like every tsunami it all drained away.
Now our thoughts have been confirmed. It appeared that journalists have been using the wrong information. This is wrong, and the terrible headlines should be disconfirmed.
For the new evidence and for our more detailed thoughts about childhood eating disorders please follow this link to our website. http://eating-disorders.org.uk/anorexia-in-children-not-increasing/
Eating disorder organisations like us need not rely on alarmist stories to gain publicity. There is no need to shock the public in order to keep ourselves in profile. We must both respond to real need and also to calm things down when they are lies, distortions and misinformation.
Except by us. At the National Centre for Eating Disorders, when asked to comment about these new terrible findings, we said. Are you sure this is true?
Denying exciting and terrible news stories doesn't make good press. But we let the tide wash over us and like every tsunami it all drained away.
Now our thoughts have been confirmed. It appeared that journalists have been using the wrong information. This is wrong, and the terrible headlines should be disconfirmed.
For the new evidence and for our more detailed thoughts about childhood eating disorders please follow this link to our website. http://eating-disorders.org.uk/anorexia-in-children-not-increasing/
Eating disorder organisations like us need not rely on alarmist stories to gain publicity. There is no need to shock the public in order to keep ourselves in profile. We must both respond to real need and also to calm things down when they are lies, distortions and misinformation.
Thursday, 31 October 2013
I Wouldn't Eat With You
A while ago I wrote a blog about carer burdens and someone thought that I was on the side of the carers. I wrote about my joy in eating and the lovely thing about sharing food with others. She said to me "I wouldn't eat with you."
When I had an eating disorder I wouldn't have eaten with me either. But now I don't have an eating disorder and I would love to hold out hope for recovery.
Writing about carer burdens does not mean I'm on anyone's side. Everyone in the grip of the eating disorder world lives in pain and in fear. I am not on the side of the Anorexic Voice but I am on the side of the person It talks to even though he or she cannot hear me.
I am on the side of healing and change. No one with an eating disorder is happy even if their eating disorder helps them to feel safe for now.
I saw two parents last weekend whose daughter is in the early ferocious grip of anorexia. She is cold, tired and fainting and her heart is failing and she insists that she really doesn't need help. She measures every single calorie she eats on her iPhone and she may be unable to complete her college education.
There aren't enough buckets in the world to catch the tears of parents who watch their child going through this and who wish it would simply end NOW. So, I am on the side of healing for parents and sufferers. Healing is possible and healing sometimes means confronting ones deepest fears.
The eating disorder won't ever leave of its own accord. There is no other solution other than to fight it with the right kind of help. I can help one sufferer and one carer at a time, and will, as long as I have the strength.
When I had an eating disorder I wouldn't have eaten with me either. But now I don't have an eating disorder and I would love to hold out hope for recovery.
Writing about carer burdens does not mean I'm on anyone's side. Everyone in the grip of the eating disorder world lives in pain and in fear. I am not on the side of the Anorexic Voice but I am on the side of the person It talks to even though he or she cannot hear me.
I am on the side of healing and change. No one with an eating disorder is happy even if their eating disorder helps them to feel safe for now.
I saw two parents last weekend whose daughter is in the early ferocious grip of anorexia. She is cold, tired and fainting and her heart is failing and she insists that she really doesn't need help. She measures every single calorie she eats on her iPhone and she may be unable to complete her college education.
There aren't enough buckets in the world to catch the tears of parents who watch their child going through this and who wish it would simply end NOW. So, I am on the side of healing for parents and sufferers. Healing is possible and healing sometimes means confronting ones deepest fears.
The eating disorder won't ever leave of its own accord. There is no other solution other than to fight it with the right kind of help. I can help one sufferer and one carer at a time, and will, as long as I have the strength.
Monday, 14 October 2013
Scoffing And Starving Kids
This week I was at a meeting chaired by Rod Liddle about Childhood Obesity. To prepare for this event Rod had written a rather devastating overview of the situation which is not just about Britain, even in the so called health Mediterranean culture children are putting on weight an alarming pace.
We will be spending more on obesity related illnesses than we are spending on education. Is the solution just to deal with fat stigma, as proposed by the Health At Every Size brigade?
Later during the week India Knight wrote about the emerging problem of two year old children who have been admitted to hospital for obesity. Now in some young children, there are physical problems which cause obesity and which can be treated. In most fat children there is nothing amiss other than their diet.
I've written more thoughts on my website blog - Id love to know what you think, and you can see it here. http://eating-disorders.org.uk/starving-and-scoffing-kids/
We will be spending more on obesity related illnesses than we are spending on education. Is the solution just to deal with fat stigma, as proposed by the Health At Every Size brigade?
Later during the week India Knight wrote about the emerging problem of two year old children who have been admitted to hospital for obesity. Now in some young children, there are physical problems which cause obesity and which can be treated. In most fat children there is nothing amiss other than their diet.
I've written more thoughts on my website blog - Id love to know what you think, and you can see it here. http://eating-disorders.org.uk/starving-and-scoffing-kids/
Sunday, 15 September 2013
Diet Drug Kills Young Man
A young male just over his A-Levels, living not far from me, has died taking DNP, an industrial chemical popular with bodybuilders to help them to lose body fat. Easily available online, this drug has recently killed a young female medical student who had been battling bulimia with the help of a counsellor.
How sad is this. How much a statement of our times. We don't only have pornography online, we have eating pornography with the entire paraphernalia of diet drugs, diet systems, crazy wacky weight reduction plans and pro anorexia websites that are intruding into our lives our peace and our well being.
This is all designed to make other people rich, this death is just collateral damage. Someone is laughing all the way to the bank.
I have written more on our website about young men who hate their bodies, young women who would rather die than FEEL overweight, and people who say that nothing bad will happen to me.
Please read more on http://eating-disorders.org.uk/diet-drug-kills-young-man/
And I repeat what I said on my website. Parents, teachers, coaches and sufferers take note.
Nothing and I mean NOTHING is more important than health or wellbeing. Not winning at sports, not being a good dancer or a pretty daughter or the thinnest person in the room. NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN LIVING A HEALTHY LIFE IN A REASONABLY HEALTHY BODY.
End of story.
How sad is this. How much a statement of our times. We don't only have pornography online, we have eating pornography with the entire paraphernalia of diet drugs, diet systems, crazy wacky weight reduction plans and pro anorexia websites that are intruding into our lives our peace and our well being.
This is all designed to make other people rich, this death is just collateral damage. Someone is laughing all the way to the bank.
I have written more on our website about young men who hate their bodies, young women who would rather die than FEEL overweight, and people who say that nothing bad will happen to me.
Please read more on http://eating-disorders.org.uk/diet-drug-kills-young-man/
And I repeat what I said on my website. Parents, teachers, coaches and sufferers take note.
Nothing and I mean NOTHING is more important than health or wellbeing. Not winning at sports, not being a good dancer or a pretty daughter or the thinnest person in the room. NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN LIVING A HEALTHY LIFE IN A REASONABLY HEALTHY BODY.
End of story.
Friday, 16 August 2013
How Times Change
and ......People didn't eat in public!EATING IN THE UK IN THE FIFTIESPasta had not been invented.Curry was a surname.A takeaway was a mathematical problem.A pizza was something to do with a leaning tower.Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time.All crisps were plain; the only choice we had was whether to put the salt on or not.A Chinese chippy was a foreign carpenter.Rice was a milk pudding, and never, ever part of our dinner.A Big Mac was what we wore when it was raining.Brown bread was something only poor people ate.Oil was for lubricating, fat was for cookingTea was made in a teapot using tea leaves and never green.Coffee was Camp, and came in a bottle.Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.Only Heinz made beans.Fish didn't have fingers in those days.Eating raw fish was called poverty, not sushi.None of us had ever heard of yoghurt.Healthy food consisted of anything edible.People who didn't peel potatoes were regarded as lazy.Indian restaurants were only found in India .Cooking outside was called camping.Seaweed was not a recognised food."Kebab" was not even a word never mind a food.Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold.Prunes were medicinal.Surprisingly, muesli was readily available, it was called cattle feed.P ineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one.Water came out of the tap, if someone had suggested bottling it and charging more than petrol for it they would have become a laughing stock.The one thing that we never ever had on our table in the fifties .. was elbows!
Do you want to add to this list? Please let me know
Thursday, 15 August 2013
Sharing Meals: Carers And Eating Disorders
I haven't been here for a while, sometimes you just have to
think about other things, like walks in the woods, going to the sea with family
and eating ice creams (Cornish of course) and rejoicing in having the best fish
and chips in the world arguably at Rick Stein's takeaway at Padstow.
And how nice that we were all able to sit down as a family
and enjoy.
I think that it's possibly the worst thing in the world is
to be with someone who won't share in the meal because they are on some kind of
strange diet or they are allergic to fish or because they are terrified of
eating. I've done a family check and everyone finds it traumatic and
distressing when there is someone who won't or can't eat with everyone else.
Why? We're all individuals. Perhaps we have a caveman gene
which puts us on alert when someone in the tribe is not thriving or
participating. I have no idea why sharing a meal with loved ones and sharing enjoyment is so
important. Last night, youngest daughter cooked for us and eating together was
central to the fun.
People with eating disorders really don't know how much of a
burden they put on other people. Much more than other mental health problems.
Maybe because sharing food seems to important to social health.
People with eating disorders under-estimate the impact on carers, siblings
and friends of strained atmospheres, the overall burdens of being with them and
the worries carers have about the future.
Loved ones worry about the effects of
bizarre eating on the sufferer and the
effects of parent's behaviour on their children.
People with eating issues under-estimate the effort it takes
to pretend not to notice bizarre eating habits or to try not to make comments.
They under-estimate the stress of trying to encourage someone who is
struggling.
When we offer unwanted care or attention is being offered, the
person with the eating issue is likely to get aggressive or convince themselves
that we are the problem not them. Then
we have to cope with their anger AS WELL AS the stress and worry of their
disorder. The carer struggles to figure out how to communicate their feelings
without unleashing a tsunami.
It's not YOUR business says the sufferer. It's my choice to
eat what I please. And so it is. No-one wants to be forced to eat things they
don't want or like. Yet there is a fine dividing line where we can see that
eating has become a form of self harm, and we react to it.
Poor carers. How can
we bridge the gap to make sure that people with eating issues are at least
sympathetic to the trauma of living with someone who cannot eat around the campfire with us.
Saturday, 6 April 2013
Men, Muscles & Masculinity A Guest Blog
Hilary Glover (see footnote) has kindly provided the thoughts for this new bloggy.
Feeling like a "real man" is higher in men with muscle dysmorphia, popularly called ‘bigorexia’, than other gym users. On the other hand, male patients with anorexia nervosa had elevated association with feminine stereotypes, according to research in Biomed Central’s open access journal Journal of Eating Disorders.
Research over the last several decades shows that more and more men admit to being unhappy with their body image. This may show itself in either a desire to lose weight and become thinner, or to gain weight and become more muscular. This can become harmful when the person eats unhealthily or abuses steroids, or when the compulsion for exercise can override normal life resulting in loss of sleep, quality of life, and even in an inability to hold a normal job.
Previously it has been thought that sexual confusion was one of the main driving forces behind body dysmorphia in men. But this study suggests that how men view themselves is more important.
Researchers from the Australian National University and University of Sydney used a questionnaire designed to identify how the study participants viewed themselves in comparison to culturally accepted stereotypes of masculine thoughts and behaviors. The results showed that men with a high drive for muscularity (as in muscle dysmorphia) had a greater preference for traditional masculine roles, whereas men with a high desire for thinness (as in anorexia nervosa) displayed greater adherence to traditional feminine roles.
Dr Stuart Murray from the Redleaf Practice, who led this study, explained, “This does not mean that that the men with anorexia were any less masculine, nor that the men with muscle dysmorphia were less feminine than the control subjects we recruited. It is however an indication of the increasing pressures men are under to define their masculinity in the modern world.”
- ENDS -
Media Contact
Dr Hilary Glover
Scientific Press Officer, BioMed Central
Email: hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com
Notes
1. Masculinity and femininity in the divergence of male body image concerns
Stuart B Murray, Elizabeth Rieger, Lisa Karlov and Stephen W Touyz
Journal of Eating Disorders (in press)
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central’s open access policy.
Article citation and URL available on request on the day of publication.
2. Journal of Eating Disorders is the first open access, peer-reviewed journal publishing leading research in the science and clinical practice of eating disorders. @JEatDisord
3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector. @BioMedCentral
Feeling like a "real man" is higher in men with muscle dysmorphia, popularly called ‘bigorexia’, than other gym users. On the other hand, male patients with anorexia nervosa had elevated association with feminine stereotypes, according to research in Biomed Central’s open access journal Journal of Eating Disorders.
Research over the last several decades shows that more and more men admit to being unhappy with their body image. This may show itself in either a desire to lose weight and become thinner, or to gain weight and become more muscular. This can become harmful when the person eats unhealthily or abuses steroids, or when the compulsion for exercise can override normal life resulting in loss of sleep, quality of life, and even in an inability to hold a normal job.
Previously it has been thought that sexual confusion was one of the main driving forces behind body dysmorphia in men. But this study suggests that how men view themselves is more important.
Researchers from the Australian National University and University of Sydney used a questionnaire designed to identify how the study participants viewed themselves in comparison to culturally accepted stereotypes of masculine thoughts and behaviors. The results showed that men with a high drive for muscularity (as in muscle dysmorphia) had a greater preference for traditional masculine roles, whereas men with a high desire for thinness (as in anorexia nervosa) displayed greater adherence to traditional feminine roles.
Dr Stuart Murray from the Redleaf Practice, who led this study, explained, “This does not mean that that the men with anorexia were any less masculine, nor that the men with muscle dysmorphia were less feminine than the control subjects we recruited. It is however an indication of the increasing pressures men are under to define their masculinity in the modern world.”
- ENDS -
Media Contact
Dr Hilary Glover
Scientific Press Officer, BioMed Central
Email: hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com
Notes
1. Masculinity and femininity in the divergence of male body image concerns
Stuart B Murray, Elizabeth Rieger, Lisa Karlov and Stephen W Touyz
Journal of Eating Disorders (in press)
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central’s open access policy.
Article citation and URL available on request on the day of publication.
2. Journal of Eating Disorders is the first open access, peer-reviewed journal publishing leading research in the science and clinical practice of eating disorders. @JEatDisord
3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector. @BioMedCentral
Why Is This Eating Disorder Death Different From (Some) Other Deaths?
Georgia Willson Pemberton aged 26 dies as a result of taking Dulcolax laxatives to help achieve her anorexic longings to be thin and empty.
I am sad and frustrated about another needless loss of life. Who was egging her on; with whom was she competing, who was telling her that the only way to live was to be a princess on a pedestal?
Laxative abuse is a horrible way to die, these are dangerous - dangerous substances which ruin the liver and the gut, sometimes permanently. Deluded users think that they help weight loss. But they don't. They change metabolism and make people gain weight easily, adding to their problems. It's only the starving which goes alongside laxative abuse which keeps weight down.
Condolences to her parents and family.
I'm not surprised that she was a Head Girl. She probably left school "magna cum laude" (with great praise); the kind of girl who would appear to have it all.
What strikes me about this death is that, here she was in 2013 with all the king's horses and all the king's men trying to put her back together again. Nothing that money can't buy. But they couldn't beat the demon anorexia - not with all the money and all the new wonderful state-of-the-art eating disorder services out there.
This was not some poor family trying to get noticed by the national health services. This was a girl whose parents could buy the best there is.
So never mind all the chatter about "there isnt enough help for people with eating disorders". The sad thing is that we could pour millions down into the black hole that is anorexia. Even the best is not good enough to dent this serious mental illness.
But sometimes, someone can make a difference. What we can't always do is "bottle it".
I am sad and frustrated about another needless loss of life. Who was egging her on; with whom was she competing, who was telling her that the only way to live was to be a princess on a pedestal?
Laxative abuse is a horrible way to die, these are dangerous - dangerous substances which ruin the liver and the gut, sometimes permanently. Deluded users think that they help weight loss. But they don't. They change metabolism and make people gain weight easily, adding to their problems. It's only the starving which goes alongside laxative abuse which keeps weight down.
Condolences to her parents and family.
I'm not surprised that she was a Head Girl. She probably left school "magna cum laude" (with great praise); the kind of girl who would appear to have it all.
What strikes me about this death is that, here she was in 2013 with all the king's horses and all the king's men trying to put her back together again. Nothing that money can't buy. But they couldn't beat the demon anorexia - not with all the money and all the new wonderful state-of-the-art eating disorder services out there.
This was not some poor family trying to get noticed by the national health services. This was a girl whose parents could buy the best there is.
So never mind all the chatter about "there isnt enough help for people with eating disorders". The sad thing is that we could pour millions down into the black hole that is anorexia. Even the best is not good enough to dent this serious mental illness.
But sometimes, someone can make a difference. What we can't always do is "bottle it".
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Plastic Surgery: External Locus Of Control?
Professor Tanya Byron writes in the Times to a lady whose daughters are against her having cosmetic surgery. She has been discarded by her husband after 35 years of marriage in favour of a younger model. Her face, she feels, wears the strain of spending a life time looking after a husband and children. She wants a face and breast lift but her daughters are "furious" and call her "shallow".
Prof Tanya devotes her response to the question of where the "locus of control" (LOC) of this poor lady lies. Is it outside of herself, which means that she is sensitive to the opinions of others? Or it is inside of herself, which means that she has greater level of personal control and self-determination. With an internal LOC one assumes, she would not seek to define herself via her appearance.
Tanya Byron thence cautions the lady against having cosmetic enhancement, a contentious position to adopt. She says find another interest to occupy your time. What? Visiting old churches?
I feel that Tanya has hidden her personal biases inside a wall of hypothesis and so-called evidence. about "locus of control".
Prof T misses the point. My attention regarding this problem was directed toward the daughters who were furious with the mother. They may well have opinions, worries about the procedures, undue influence from others, fears and concerns about what their mother might become. But by what right do they accuse their mother of being shallow and insecure?
I specialise in the treatment of body image, locus of control issues, contingent self destructive behaviours and everything else to do with a horrible relationship with food and with oneself. But this does not make me against cosmetic enhancement per se. I feel that I have an internal locus of control and possibly also high "appearence schemacity". This means that my self worth is in part affected by looking as good as I can within reason and without being obsessed by it from one minute to the next.
I reflect this by the clothes I choose, the attention I give my hair, my quest to eat a good healthful diet, the vitamins I take, the occasional facial and anything else that I am able to afford. If Prof Tanya does any of these herself then I suspect a little hypocrisy is at play.
So is cosmetic surgery the thin edge of the wedge? No, I don't think so. I would say to this lady "go for it my dear, and tell your daughters where to go". Spend your money on everything and anything you like. If they don't like it, they can lump it, and if they give you a hard time they don't deserve you. Get real, it's tough out there. I hope you find a man who is good to you with your new face and your new breasts and if you need any help with your "locus of control" then get some counselling alongside your new face but not instead of it.
Prof Tanya devotes her response to the question of where the "locus of control" (LOC) of this poor lady lies. Is it outside of herself, which means that she is sensitive to the opinions of others? Or it is inside of herself, which means that she has greater level of personal control and self-determination. With an internal LOC one assumes, she would not seek to define herself via her appearance.
Tanya Byron thence cautions the lady against having cosmetic enhancement, a contentious position to adopt. She says find another interest to occupy your time. What? Visiting old churches?
I feel that Tanya has hidden her personal biases inside a wall of hypothesis and so-called evidence. about "locus of control".
Prof T misses the point. My attention regarding this problem was directed toward the daughters who were furious with the mother. They may well have opinions, worries about the procedures, undue influence from others, fears and concerns about what their mother might become. But by what right do they accuse their mother of being shallow and insecure?
I specialise in the treatment of body image, locus of control issues, contingent self destructive behaviours and everything else to do with a horrible relationship with food and with oneself. But this does not make me against cosmetic enhancement per se. I feel that I have an internal locus of control and possibly also high "appearence schemacity". This means that my self worth is in part affected by looking as good as I can within reason and without being obsessed by it from one minute to the next.
I reflect this by the clothes I choose, the attention I give my hair, my quest to eat a good healthful diet, the vitamins I take, the occasional facial and anything else that I am able to afford. If Prof Tanya does any of these herself then I suspect a little hypocrisy is at play.
So is cosmetic surgery the thin edge of the wedge? No, I don't think so. I would say to this lady "go for it my dear, and tell your daughters where to go". Spend your money on everything and anything you like. If they don't like it, they can lump it, and if they give you a hard time they don't deserve you. Get real, it's tough out there. I hope you find a man who is good to you with your new face and your new breasts and if you need any help with your "locus of control" then get some counselling alongside your new face but not instead of it.
Monday, 11 March 2013
Implants for Anorexia Nervosa
Last week the Press around the world reported on some partial success for electronic implants given to people with long standing anorexia nervosa. The research was done in Canada and reported in the Lancet.
Partial, meaning that about 2 in 3 of the people in this small trial had positive results. The research is blighted in part by not having a comparison group of people who BELIEVE that they have had an implant, which might have tested for the placebo effect.
This is a very important piece of news which deserves our attention. To get more of my thoughts on whether this is the next best thing, please follow the link below.
http://eating-disorders.org.uk/news/
Partial, meaning that about 2 in 3 of the people in this small trial had positive results. The research is blighted in part by not having a comparison group of people who BELIEVE that they have had an implant, which might have tested for the placebo effect.
This is a very important piece of news which deserves our attention. To get more of my thoughts on whether this is the next best thing, please follow the link below.
http://eating-disorders.org.uk/news/
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