View Single Post
  #18   ^
Old Sat, Feb-07-04, 12:00
atlee's Avatar
atlee atlee is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 1,182
 
Plan: SPII IS/BOAG
Stats: 186/136/140 Female 5' 5"
BF:A lot/18%/20%
Progress: 109%
Location: Jackson, MS
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by EvelynS
I also think that bingeing is more than just psychological. Eating disorders often seem to start with low-fat dieting, and I wonder if so many would get into trouble if they started on a low-carb diet instead (assuming they stayed off the processed stuff). If the current low-carb trend continues, perhaps we will see a reduction in bingeing disorders in future?


I don' t think the kind of diet makes any difference at all to the likelihood that one will develop an eating disorder, because they really aren't about food at all. Yes, they often start with low-fat diets, but that's because they start with normal dieting behavior, which has been predominantly low-fat for the last couple decades. Any controlled eating behavior, including low-carb, can slide into eating-disordered behavior if the underlying psychological conditions are right. If you look around these forums, you can certainly find instances of anorexia, and many more examples of binge-eating. Also, if you're going to binge, you can do so on whole, low-carb foods as well as on low-carb goodies or high-carb processed foods. It's not the calorie/carb/fat intake that defines a binge, but the pattern of eating abnormally large quantities of a food, exhibiting unusual behaviors like wolfing the food down, and complete dissociation from normal signals of hunger or fullness. This can just as well be accomplished with bacon, cheese, butter, chicken wings, or pork rinds & dip as with Atkins ice cream or a loaf of bread.

I understand what you're saying about insulin resistance and appetite issues leading to bingeing, but I think that's more of a carbohydrate-addict phenomenon than a true binge eating disorder. It's true that one looks a lot like the other, and that they often overlap and reinforce each other, but carbohydrate addiction is a physical thing while binge eating is psychological. While people with tendencies toward CA can manage them by sticking to a whole-food, low-carb diet, people with true ED tendencies are going to develop them no matter what kind of WOE they follow.
Reply With Quote