Occasional Overeating

What is Binge-Eating Disorder?

Binge-eating disorder (or BED) is characterized by regularly and compulsively eating large amounts of food, often rapidly, and to the point of discomfort or pain from an overfilled stomach. It affects more than 3.5% of women and 2% of men in the United States, making it the most common eating disorder in the country.

Binge eaters are emotional over-eaters. While other disorders are typically twice as common in women, BED is less discriminatory— roughly 40% of those with the condition are men. In women, it most commonly occurs in early adulthood; in men, as they reach middle age. BED affects people of every age, gender, race, ethnicity, body type, and cultural background. Most, but not all, who suffer from BED are overweight.

BEGIN EACH BINGE WITH A PAUSE. During a binge (which actually begins in your head, before food. Occasional overeating. Occasional overeating: See also some of these symptoms or medical conditions for possibly related medical information (note that there may be other causes or relevant symptoms so always see your doctor): overeating. Occasional overeating.

It's OK to indulge once in a while: The body adapts to occasional short-term overeating. By American Physiological Society. Overeating has been found to impair blood sugar (glucose) control. An overeating sesh every couple of weeks or so is NBD. 'Every once in a while, a massive meal won't really do any perceptible damage to your health,' says Langer. Overeating happens to everyone. You might indulge in too many slices of pizza, go back for seconds of a favorite meal, or even find yourself consuming too much popcorn as you watch a late-night movie. There are no set guidelines for how much food is too much to be considered 'normal' overeating.

One factor that distinguishes BED from normal, occasional overeating is a feeling that you have no control over your eating habits. You may eat too much, too quickly, when you are not hungry, and even continue eating after you’re full to the point of discomfort. You may try to eat in alone or secretly in order to hide how much you’re eating, and feel embarrassment, shame, or guilt about your eating behavior. Although you vow to stop, you find yourself binge eating again and again. If you experience this type of binge eating at least once a week for three consecutive months, you may be diagnosed with BED.

What is the Difference Between BED and Bulimia?

Bulimia is characterized by overeating and purging, or trying to compensate for consuming too many calories by vomiting, using laxatives or overexercising. If you have BED, you don’t routinely use any of these methods to try to “undo” any weight gain you might experience from overeating. But even though it is uncommon, you can have BED and not be overweight, thanks to your individual genetic makeup or a particularly fast metabolism.

Are you suffering from Binge Eating Disorder?

Take our 3-minute Binge Eating Disorder quiz to see if you may benefit from further diagnosis and treatment.

What Causes BED?

Although BED is associated with underlying emotional issues, the exact cause is unknown. The condition can likely be attributed to a combination of psychological, behavioral, and environmental influences. Some known factors that can increase your risk of developing BED include:

• A family history of eating disorders. If your parent or siblings have, or had, an eating disorder, you are at a greater risk of developing one.
• A history of psychological issues or negative self-worth. Certain thought patterns and mood disorders are closely associated with BED, including depression, anger, anxiety, a strong need to be in control, perfectionism and rigidity, a need to please others, and negative feelings about yourself, your body, and your accomplishments.
• A history of dieting. While people with BED have a range of body types, they often have a long history of restricting calories.
• Significant loss, relationship problems or traumatic experiences. BED can be a way of trying to deal with stress and distance yourself from emotional pain.
• Experiences with sexual abuse, physical abuse, weight discrimination, and/or bullying. Studies have found that people with BED and other eating disorders often report a personal history of abusive events. ¹

How BED Affects Your Health and Well-Being

BED stems from, and can cause, a variety of emotional, physical, and psychological issues. You may ultimately experience physical complications such as:

• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Heart disease
• Type II diabetes
• Gallbladder disease
• Fatigue
• Joint and muscle pain
• Osteoarthritis
• Certain cancers
• Sleep apnea

You may also experience psychological and emotional conditions that are often linked with BED, including:

• Feeling bad about yourself or your life
• Poor quality of life
• Problems functioning at work, in your personal life, or while socializing
• Anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and substance abuse disorder

Where to Get Help and What to Expect

BED is an illness that requires proper diagnoses and treatment. You didn’t choose to have the condition, but you can choose to seek advise and get medical attention, if necessary, as soon as you recognize the symptoms. Left untreated, BED can steadily get worse and, in extreme cases, can also be life-threatening.

If you don’t already have a mental health care provider, you can start by speaking to your primary care physician. Describe your binge eating symptoms, and the feelings that you associate with your behavior. It may be helpful to make a list of symptoms that you are experiencing before the appointment. Be sure to include all relevant personal information, like any family history of eating disorders, major stress, recent life changes, and a typical day’s eating patterns. In addition to a physical exam, including tests to evaluate whether you are suffering any physical effects from binge eating, your physician may ask questions about your daily food habits, your thoughts and your thoughts and feelings about your weight and appearance. Don’t hesitate to discuss your emotions, thoughts, or other information that may seem unrelated to binge eating; it is important to give your provider a full picture of your mental and physical health.

Occasional Overeating

If necessary, your physician should be able to refer you to a licensed mental health professional. It is important to seek treatment from someone with the appropriate education, training and experience to treat BED. Be sure you agree with their approach to treating BED and understand their proposed treatment plan and what they see as your primary goal for recovery. If you are not satisfied with their answers or feel comfortable working with this person, consider seeking a second opinion.

Mental health professionals who treat BED may draw from different styles of therapy and use various tools to help you move on to a state of recovery. The first line of treatment is usually individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), one-on-one, relatively short-term talk therapy that can help you understand the connections between your thoughts, feelings, and eating behaviors. Your therapist will teach you to normalize your eating behavior and your thinking patterns, with the goal of eliminating or at least reducing episodes of binge-eating. At the same time, CBT offers tools for coping with stress and helping you address and reorient negative thinking patterns about yourself, your body type and your weight.

Some research suggests that another form of talk therapy originally developed to great depression, known as interpersonal psychotherapy (ITP), might also help people suffering from eating disorders in which binge-ing behavior is present. ITP focuses less on food behavior and more on interpersonal relationship issues that may play a role perpetuating binge-purging behaviors. Some researchers feel that identifying and resolving these relationship issues may help reduce the frequency of those behaviors. ITP may be used in place of, or in conjunction with CBT, though studies have shown CBT to be the more efficient form of therapy.

In addition to psychological counseling, other treatments and approaches can help alleviate some of the symptoms and improve the behaviors associated with BED. Antidepressant or anti-anxiety medications may be prescribed to help with mood issues and, in cases of obesity, medications that induce weight loss may be used in conjunction with CBT. A registered dietitian or clinical nutritionist can help you achieve or maintain a healthy weight by teaching you more about good nutrition and helping you develop and follow a balanced eating plan. Your health care providers may also suggest adjunctive therapies like movement classes, meditation and mindfulness instruction, yoga, equine therapy, or art therapy. These programs won’t cure BED, they can help lower your stress levels, elevate your mood, improve your body image, and teach you to have a better sense of control over your life.

Successful treatment of BED most often relies on a combination of therapeutic approaches. A team of mental health care providers, medical providers, nutrition counselors, and other experts can all contribute to a safe and effective treatment plan.

If you need help and you cannot get it from someone in your immediate support circle, call the National Eating Disorders Association helpline toll-free at 1-800-931-2237

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Ever felt guilty for that occasional binge on high-calorie, fatty foods?

Relax: A new study of folks overindulging on pizza finds that if you're healthy and you don't 'pig out' regularly, your body deals with it just fine.

British researchers looked at the effects of eating until not just full, but so full that the participants could not take another bite. Then, they tested the blood of the 14 healthy young men who participated in the study to determine whether there were any changes in blood sugar, blood fats, insulin and other hormones.

The team discovered that even when the men had eaten double the amount of pizza that it would take to make them comfortably full, their blood tests showed no negative consequences.

'I think that's the really remarkable thing here, that we have a huge capacity to overeat and, despite that huge capacity, the body does really quite well at controlling blood sugars and blood fat after that meal,' said study author James Betts, a professor of metabolic physiology at the University of Bath's Center for Nutrition, Exercise and Metabolism.

Betts said it was notable both that the body's response kept blood sugar and lipids under control after such a big meal, and that it was possible for participants to consume so much excess food.

When eating until full, they averaged the equivalent of a large pizza. When eating until maximally full, they ate about two large pizzas, Betts said.

Benefits Of Occasional Overeating

'We expected people to eat more when they were asked to go beyond full, but we expected that to be slightly more,' Betts said. 'We were really amazed that it was almost exactly 100% more.'

The study was published online recently in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Betts and one of his co-authors stumbled upon the idea for the study while traveling to a conference. The only open airport restaurant was a McDonald's, so they each got a McMuffin breakfast sandwich.

'We ate those and enjoyed them and said, 'Oh, I could eat another one,' Betts said. 'That prompted a discussion of 'How many do you think you could eat?' and 'What would be the physiological responses to eating more and more?'

While researching during the long flight, they discovered there had been no previous studies about eating beyond full, Betts said.

They chose pizza because it tastes good, so people would keep eating. Its high fat and carbohydrate content offered a big challenge to the body, Betts said.

Typically, blood sugar and blood lipids increase in response to how much a person eats, Betts said. A small meal will result in fewer changes than a medium meal, for example.

Yet, after overeating, blood sugar was no higher than after a normal meal. Blood lipids such as triglycerides were slightly higher, even though fat consumption was double. Insulin, which is released to control blood sugar, was 50% higher than normal. Hormones that increase feelings of fullness changed the most.

Connie Diekman, a food nutrition consultant in St. Louis, said the study documents what scientists already understand about the body and its ability to process food.

Sometimes people get confused when wondering whether they are eating right, should consume fewer carbs, eat fewer fats or should try something like a Keto diet or intermittent fasting, Diekman said.

'I think it does demonstrate very nicely that our body knows what to do with the food we eat. It knows how to fuel us well,' Diekman said.

Occasional Overeating

Of course, Diekman added, constant overeating would challenge how well insulin can do its job and how well the body can move fat without having a lingering impact on blood lipids. This shows that it's OK to have a larger meal for a special occasion, she said.

'You should enjoy the meal,' Diekman said, 'and then you get back to your regular eating plan.'

The study was limited to individuals who were healthy and lean. They ranged in age from 24 to 37. Only men volunteered. A future study may look at the impact of overeating on people who are overweight or have health issues, Betts said.

Though a one-time indulgent meal appears to be fine for a healthy person, Betts said that he hopes the message is clear that this isn't meant for people who are unhealthy or for indulging all the time.

'If you've got a diet that is already really very healthy and an active lifestyle to go with it, then these overindulgences can be even more frequent without imbalancing everything else,' Betts said. 'How often is too often really comes down to wider choices in the lifestyle.'

More information

There's more on eating healthy at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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