BINGE EATING DISORDER: WHAT UNDERLIES ALL THOSE LAYERS OF FAT?

“Let’s binge eat!” my friend squealed.

 “You mean a ‘who-can-eat-pani puri-till-they-drop’ competition? You’re on, buddy!” I replied.

Fill in any favorite food item of yours in the underlined part above—biryani, ice cream, chips, fries—and there you have it, a fun binge eating day with your BFF by your side or a hearty me-time while you catch up on a rerun of your favorite TV show.

I’m sure that all of us are guilty of “binge eating” on some occasion or the other. So much so, that when I introduce Binge Eating as a disorder, many of you will be surprised, maybe worried? However, let’s not jump to conclusions. In order to qualify for a clinical diagnosis of Binge Eating Disorder (BED), one needs to meet the following criteria:

1. When you say that you are going to binge eat, do you mean that you can eat an amount of food so large within such a short period of time (say, 2 hours) that most others may not be able to consume under similar circumstances? If yes, then you’re binge eating.

2. When you are binge eating, do you feel a sense of lack of control—feel as if you can’t stop eating or how much you’re eating? If yes, then you’re binge eating.

3. Binge eating episodes are often associated with eating rapidly as if under the fear of being caught cheating. You hardly taste the food you are so ravenously hogging on! You may eat until you feel uncomfortably full. You may also eat large amounts of food without physically feeling the need to eat. They feel extremely embarrassed about their seemingly uncontrollable eating behavior. And once the sin of overeating is committed, do you feel disgusted with yourself, guilty or depressed about such “rash” eating behavior? If yes, then probably you’re binge eating.

4. Do you feel distress for gobbling down 10 plates of pani puri? Sure, your body might be protesting for an outlet of all that spice. But do you mentally feel troubled for eating and eating and never stopping?

5. How often do you go on binge eating sprees? In order to receive this diagnosis, one must exhibit a compulsive eating episode at least once per week for a span of 3 months.

6. A person has BED if they don’t repeatedly purge all the food that they eat as in bulimia nervosa and only if they are NOT currently suffering from anorexia during which it is possible to have a few episodes of binge eating while still being significantly underweight and meeting all the other requirements for anorexia nervosa.

It may seem somewhat obvious that individuals with binge eating disorder are often overweight. We don’t binge eat fruits and vegetables. We binge eat fats-laced, carbohydrates-rich guilty pleasures. However, making a reverse assumption that all overweight/ obese people are suffering from BED may not be appropriate. Nevertheless, research has repeatedly shown that BED sufferers are over represented in populations that are obese and seeking help for reducing their body weight.

Binge eating disorder is different from anorexia and bulimia wherein the person starts looking abnormally thin and hence receives a lot of attention and sympathy. Instead, BED simply hides under the layers of fat which somewhat seem normal in our trending move towards widening waistlines but at the same time is despised by most. So if a person is fat, you’re fast to assume that he is lazy and undeserving of your help while if a person looks like a moving skeleton, you may raise your brows to form a crease of worry. Although the process of destigmatizing larger body sizes is a long way to go, would it hurt to ask someone you think is struggling and suffering if they need some love and support?  

How to detect if someone is battling against BED?

Since these individuals are very well aware that there is something wrong with them and that acceptance for their enlarged body shape is scarce, they engage in secretive eating. They may eat in normal quantities at the dinner table but if you were to peep into their room or car, you may discover a secret stash of fatty foods or left over wrappers and tins of such foods. They may eat between their meals to be able to eat “normally” in front of others. There have been cases where binge eaters have reported that they have gone “restaurant-hopping” and feasted on foods while driving their way from one restaurant to the other!

A more extreme step would be to actively isolate themselves while eating their daily meals as far as possible because they fear the judgmental looks that will be directed their way if they eat the way they eat.

Mostly though not always, BED is a response that is triggered by depression or anxiety. So if you find a loved one eating erratically and showing simultaneous unruly mood fluctuations then you may want to talk and find out if everything is okay. All of us find comfort in food. When its exam time, I personally find myself eating more amount and eating at more number of times then I do on a normal basis. That’s basically a response to stress. In our brains, when we eat delicious food, it releases the feel-good hormone of dopamine. Dopamine is the same hormone that is also released when we engage in pleasurable activities or even in addictions like smoking. Thus, speaking of the concept of reinforcement again, we can say that binge eating is somewhat maintained as a disordered habit because the release of dopamine in the brain rewards us to continue this behavior.

Low self esteem and exhibition of a “What-The-Hell” logic can also be considered as indicators of BED. These individuals do not believe in their own ability to regulate eating. Thus, even though they may decide to enter a weight loss regime, the moment they slip (which all of us do, with or without the disorder), they may think, “Of course, I am not capable of doing this healthy eating and exercising stuff. Now that I have already broken a diet rule, what the hell, I might as well break all the other rules!”

We all are foodies in our own right. But when are we pushed across the fine line between normality and abnormality because of a threatened body image is something to ponder on. Keep pondering, keep reading, keep following this series on body image!