Eating disorders

The main causes of eating disorders are:

A) The normalization of highly processed foods.

B) Unprocessed emotional problems, being projected onto our eating habits

A) Normalization of highly processed foods.

The vast majority of highly processed foods (HPF) are purposely created to make people addicted. Fat, salt and sugar in combination with a bunch of artificial flavouring and various stimulants are a common part of HPF, and therefore they stimulate our dopamine receptors in a way that´ s similar to how many other addictive substances do.

The worst part of it is, that when using any other addictive substances, people are aware of the fact that there is a risk of them becoming addicted. So when they start to become addicted, they know why. But this is not the case with HPF since they are normalized in our society despite the fact that there are countless studies that clearly show how addictive and harmful these foods are. This general lack of knowledge about the affects of these products, combined with the huge promotion of them, causes people to become addicted, which then has an extremely negative impact on their physical health as well as their mental health all whilst they don't even know what´ s actually going on. 

B) Mental issues that are being projected onto our eating habits.

A very common cause of eating disorders is the projection of internal problems onto our relationship with food. In other words, unresolved mental problems end up affecting our eating habits.

THE MOST COMMON EATING DISORDERS AND THEIR CAUSES:

1. Emotional overeating

= The need to use HPF as a way to self-regulate / self sooth. In this case, HPF is being used in the same way as any other addictive substance would (you can read more about addictions in a previous article).

The root cause of this problem is a damaged relationship with oneself, which causes unfulfilled needs and therefore internal feelings of discomfort, which the body then tries to deal with through the overconsumption of HPF. It can also be the result of some unprocessed trauma, which once again, causes feelings of discomfort, that we then try to sooth with the overconsumption of HPF.

In both cases, the cause of the problem is internal feelings of discomfort (unsafety, fear, stress, dissatisfaction, unfulfillment, etc.) which we then try to supress by HPF.

Therefore to eliminate this ED, it is necessary to work on building a healthy relationship with oneself and / or work on processing unprocessed emotions / feelings as well as targeting the addiction to HPF, i.e. focusing on eating whole foods.

2. Extreme food restriction

= Need to gain control over how we look and / or how we feel.

The main causes are:

a) Insufficiently developed self-esteem (unhealthy relationship with oneself)

A very common problem of extreme food restrictions is low self-esteem, which includes self-confidence, self-love and self-respect, which then cause feelings of inadequacy, unneededness and unimportance, creating the need to compensate for them by seeking external acceptance, attention and validation.

This leads many to extreme food restriction in order to obtain a figure that they feel, would be in line with the beauty standards of the time, and through which they would therefore gain the necessary acceptance, attention and validation.

In this case it´ s necesary to create a healthy relationship with oneself and build healthy self-esteem.

b) A need to regain control

This sort of ED can be a result of life changes that make us feel out of control or a specific situation that has deprived us of the feeling of control over our own body. This then causes the need for control, that we compensate for through our eating habits, in which we can control everything.

This ED is also often a consequence of emotional overeating (EO), through which we started to loose a sense of control over what and how much we eat, which then leads us to the need to regain the control via restrictions.

To eliminate this ED, it is necessary to focus on what specifically causes or has caused the feelings of lack of control and work on finding another, less self-destructive way to deal with these feelings.

3. Compulsive overeating

= The need for balance.

a) A result of extreme restrictions combined with strong survival instincts.

The body uses compulsive overeating (CO) as a way to try to keep us alive. In such cases, individuals start eating uncontrollably until they are physically sick. This is the result of long term restrictions causing our body to become malnourished and shifting it into crisis mode. Therefore it tries to keep us alive by CO. This is not something we should beat ourselves up about since it is a sign that we have a strong and functional body with strong survival instincts.

In this case, to eliminate CO, it is necessary to target the cause of the problem which creates the need for extreme food restriction, thus focusing on the previously mentioned ED.

At the same time, it is necessary to eliminate malnutrition causing the need for CO. Therefore it´ s necessary to "eat your way through" CO, by consuming mainly whole foods, thanks to which the body get's out of crisis mode and can slowly but surely start to function optimally.

b) The result of internal imbalance ("all or nothing" mindset)

CO is a very common ED in people who are notorious extremists with an all or nothing mindset. So they either eat whatever they want and end up overeating, the cause of this is usually the previously mentioned emotional overeating (EO), which they then try to compensate for with extreme food restriction, which in the long term leads them back to EO causing them to repeat the cycle, and so on and so forth, creating the cycle of compulsive overeating.

In this case, this ED is linked to the previously mentioned ED´ s. It is a combination of EO and extreme food restriction.

Therefore it is necessary to target the cause of what triggers the need for EO and work on eliminating the given cause. So either work on processing internal unprocessed emotions (trauma) or work on building a healthy relationship with oneself, i.e. the ability to internally regulate oneself and fulfill one's own needs in combination with changing eating habits and therefore focusing on a diet based on unprocessed or as little processed food as possible.

4. Bulimia

= "The need to eliminate the damage caused by food".

Bulimia is a consequence of previously mentioned ED´ s, those being CO and or extreme restrictions. Therefore, to solve bulimia, it is necessary to target the previously mentioned causes of the problem.

5. Orthorexia

= Perfectionism reflected onto our eating habits.

The cause of this ED is perfectionism combined with the need for control.

To eliminate the need for control, it is necessary to target the same causes of the problem as in the second mentioned ED, whilst focusing on eliminating perfectionism as well, which is to some extent also related to the need for control.