Binge eating affects roughly four million adults in the United States alone. Yet there is often a lack of understanding for the complexities of the behavior. What we often overlook is how bingeing can stem from emotional, psychological, and/or physiological factors. In this blog, I will be answering the question what is binge eating? I will also explore why it can be so difficult to stop bingeing. I will then outline some of the emotional, mental, and physical factors related to bingeing. Unfortunately, these factors are often reinforced by the messages of diet culture that we face on a daily basis. Many complexities and challenges come when working through bingeing. It is important to approach and understand your unique relationship with bingeing. Reframing your relationship with food through curiosity and compassion can be a good first step.
What is binge eating?
The National Eating Disorders Association defines binge eating disorder as “recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food (often very quickly and to the point of discomfort); a feeling of a loss of control during the binge; experiencing shame, distress or guilt afterwards.” The reasons for binge eating are unique and specific to each individual. That said, a common challenge with binge eating is that it can create a fearful and distrustful relationship with food. Most people experience a loss of control during a binge and then feel guilt and shame afterward. This can often fuel the belief that one cannot respond to hunger without bingeing. For many, the response to this fear is to impose control over one’s eating.
This can look like following a food plan, adhering to food rules, or labeling foods as good or bad. These approaches are often geared towards weight loss. They also lead to an approach towards eating that draws on external rather than internal cues. When we disconnect from our internal hunger cues, we create an imbalance in the body. This makes it harder to recognize comfortable levels of fullness. Eating can ultimately vacillate between restricting and bingeing, which only reinforces feelings of guilt and shame. When working through binge eating, it is important to understand the relationship you have with the behavior. You can then integrate an approach towards food that is about connection versus control.
Challenges, triggers, and misconceptions
When it comes to external cues, it is essential to acknowledge the many different ways that our society conceptualizes food. Food has evolved beyond merely a form of sustenance and holds meaning socially, culturally, and emotionally in our everyday lives. We find meaning in the messages of diet culture, as well as the different labels applied to certain food groups (“comfort,” “healthy,” “junk,” etc.). These messages often come to dictate our relationship with food. They can then play a role in emotional, psychological, or physiological triggers of binge eating.
Emotional factors
Binge eating can sometimes emerge as a coping mechanism that comforts or distracts individuals from their emotional pain. Often this relates to one’s past or childhood. Food may have been the sole means of deriving emotional comfort during experiences of grief, neglect, or abandonment. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying or feeling comforted by food during times of stress or hardship. The problem arises when food becomes the sole means of dealing with one’s emotions. While food can serve to comfort, it’s not the solution to emotional pain.
Psychological and physiological factors
In addition to emotional triggers, binge eating can also emerge as a psychological or physiological response to food restriction. Studies on food deprivation have indicated that, when food is restricted or limited, our preoccupation with food increases and hunger’s physical sensations intensify. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a chemical produced in the brain that stimulates a need for carbohydrates. Food restriction sends this signal into overdrive. The more that food is restricted, the more our psychological focus and physical yearning for food intensify. This dysregulation can ultimately lead to a food binge when we succumb to what we crave.
Diet culture often teaches individuals to ignore hunger cues. This can create an internal conflict between what we’re told is “right” versus how we feel. Furthermore, this can make it harder for individuals to recognize satiety cues. When you are accustomed to feeling either constantly hungry or uncomfortably full, you lose touch with your body’s natural signals. The key is to identify and become familiar with our biological hunger cues. We can then respond to them when they emerge. Imposing food rules or restricting how much we consume only puts us at odds with our bodies. It creates a frame where we’re fluctuating between feeling constantly hungry or uncomfortably full.
Understanding your relationship with bingeing
When working through binge eating, it’s vital to approach yourself with curiosity and compassion rather than judgment and criticism. How binge eating may relate to your emotions, psychology, and/or physiology are unique and specific to each person. Binge eating can stem from various factors. Some of these factors include experiences of food-related trauma, genetic predispositions, or struggles with depression, low self-esteem, and anxiety.
In this exploration, it is essential to acknowledge the depth of the bingeing behavior. You may also want to explore how it could relate to other aspects of your identity. Working with a therapist or other mental health practitioner can help recognize and process the underlying emotions and feelings associated with bingeing. Furthermore, gaining clarity around the behavior can also improve your ability to identify triggers. This is an essential first step in self-regulating when experiencing the impulse to binge. Slowing down and recognizing the emotional, mental, and physical that emerge when experiencing the urge to binge takes time. It is important that you begin to understand your relationship with food as a whole. Then you may recognize how much of your eating is informed by external rather than internal cues.
Read more about identifying disordered eating
Reframing your relationship with food
When reframing your relationship with food, it’s crucial to be kind, compassionate, and patient with yourself. Filtering out the rampant messages of diet culture is almost impossible. Reframing your relationship with food doesn’t need to be contingent on an absolute renunciation of these messages or how they make you feel. The goal is to become more aware of them and to notice the moments when you find yourself leaning towards external cues rather than internal cues.
Intuitive eating is all about bringing one’s attention back to the body. Becoming more familiar with one’s biological hunger and satiety cues is a good start. We all have different nutritional needs. Intuitive eating enables each individual to be the expert on what their body needs. Rather than imposing guides, rules, or plans on eating, the goal is to make peace with food and to cultivate your own unique relationship with eating.
Read more about intuitive eating
Are you struggling with your eating habits? Exploring this with a therapist can help you to steer your eating habits to a healthier place. Reach out to myTherapyNYC to find out more about how our therapists can help!
How do you manage external cues when it comes to your relationship with food? Join the conversation in the comments below!
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1 comment
Thank you for this important blog, Johnny. As we head into more holiday celebrations and the winter, I believe binge eating is a great topic to keep in mind with loved ones and clients. I especially appreciated your comments on the harmful ways diet culture can pressure people to ignore their body’s natural cues.