Binge Eating: Your Behavior or Your Brain? by Joan Kent, PhD

 

A few years ago, I received an email from a woman at the Diabetes Council. She wanted me to evaluate a compilation of tips and strategies by 54 experts on stopping binge-eating.

 

Most of the experts looked at binge eating from a psychological and behavioral viewpoint, and many of the same tips came up over and over.

 

Tips that emerged repeatedly tended to be about eating mindfully:  staying present, paying attention to the meal, not watching TV, eating while seated, putting food on a plate, slowing down, breathing slowly and deeply.

 

Several experts added a physiological component – keeping glucose levels even. Those practitioners were typically RD’s. They advised eating at regular intervals, eating a balanced diet, not skipping meals, and not dieting too strictly. That was to prevent ravenous hunger and glucose drops that can lead to bingeing.

 

A few others also warned against judging foods as good or bad. They suggested “legalizing” all foods and eating favorite foods in moderation.

 

Obviously, these factors are important, which is why virtually every expert offered tips that were similar to those of the rest of the group.

 

What appeared to be missing, though, was the neurochemical component.

 

 

Moderation Is Not Do-able for Some People

 

Not everyone can achieve moderation around every food. Or successfully legalize all foods. This is where specific food addictions enter the picture.

 

It’s also where genetics can enter.

 

That doesn’t necessarily mean that a parent who binge eats will have children who binge eat, as well. But specific food preferences in a parent, for example, may suggest susceptibilities to binge eating. Participants in my doctoral study were all binge eaters, and over 65% of them had fathers who were partial to bread or pasta.

 

Another factor is a parent’s addiction, such as alcoholism, which may make the kids susceptible to binge eating. The genetic link is neurochemical – low baseline levels of specific brain chemicals that show an exaggerated rise when certain foods are consumed.

 

Those “certain foods” trigger the neurochemical reaction that leads to bingeing.

 

Well, Sometimes It IS About the Food

 

Many experts in this compilation repeated that binge eating “is not about the food.” They state that emotions prompt the binge.

 

Yet my pioneering doctoral research revealed that removing addictive foods from the diet – sugar was a primary culprit – can go a long way toward ending binges. Sugar – and cravings for it – were frequent triggers for binges.

 

Without the addictive trigger, the binges stopped, and so did cravings. With brain chemistry stabilized, participants’ behavior and emotions were less volatile. That made it easier to explore emotional triggers down the line.

 

So I take a neurochemical approach to binge eating. Sure, there’s much to say about both brain chemistry and bingeing. But looking at binge eating in this way can bring an added dimension to important work on binge eating disorder.

 

If you have a problem with binge eating that you haven’t been able to handle alone, I’d love to help you. I invite you to visit LastResortNutrition and grab your free End My Binges consult. Find out how simple it can be to eliminate the cravings and handle whatever emotions might be pushing you to binge.

 

Brought to you by Dr. Joan Kent, best-selling author of Stronger Than Sugar.