ABC of binge eating

So, we all have listed up our 2017 goal resolutions which includes clean eating, you’ve excelled that first month however down the track, we start on being naughty and losing our principle. You start to eat everything in sight. To be concise, bingeing and treating yourself are two different things; the difference is in the lack of sense control. The key of success lies within our mind and to find the equilibrium is to ask ourselves why we do that constantly?

Overview

Food craving or as known as binge eating refers to an intense desire to consume a particular food and is regularly experienced by the majority of individuals. The significant differences are in the frequency and intensity of food craving experiences. Nowadays in obesogenic environment, sugary and fat-rich snack foods are often consumed excessively, with the irrelevance food intake balance.

This partly explains why most of us tend to have an intense desire to consume a specific food in the absence of hunger. The type of food we reach out the most are those that are high in fat and sugar. We all have had bad experiences of diet failures due to our strong desire to eat that particular food thus to subsequently increased food intake and resulting in weight gain.

Psychology effects

The state of food craving moment is basically a psychology effect in our mind and it is not yet elucidated in the aspect of its inducement, however the presence of stimuli, repetition of thoughts, and mental imagery all play a role in the intensity of craving. It involves in all aspects such as cognitive, motivational and behavioural.

However, the occurrence of intrusive food craving is explained as the presence of desire, craving is a result of a cognitive elaboration of intrusive thoughts about a desired object, highlighting the role of food-related thoughts as a prerequisite for the emergence of food cravings.

Thus, food cravings are not necessarily triggered by the presence of food stimuli, but can also occur spontaneously through mental imagery of the craved foods. These thoughts can also trigger the desire and consumption of the craved food, particularly when cravings are intense. The frequency and intensity of food cravings are different individually as the higher or intense our food craving encounters, we likely to eat in higher amount and losing that self-control.

Importantly, whereas state food craving is exclusively experienced as transient state in a particular moment, when that individual has finally eaten that particular craved food, that state of craving will vanish immediately and this means a psychology effects play a part and as such refers to the experience of food cravers in general.

Aetiology:

1. Anxiety, depression and negative body image contributions.

2. Another factor that may influence food cravings is dieting phase. Hence when hunger strikes, we eat small snack and they’re usually fatty food such as chocolate, chips, etc and it exacerbates when hunger occurs.

3. Dieting potentially increase ours’ thoughts in craving for a specific food, as a consequence, the thought of suppression has a counterintuitive effect on ours’ thought.

Especially in women who suffer PCOS

PCOS raises androgens and induce menstrual abnormalities hence this aggravates their food cravings. The underlying mechanism for the relationship is not yet elucidated. Although abnormal amount of viable testosterone has been shown to stimulate appetite and is associated with impaired impulse control, irritability and depression. Nevertheless, the increased elevation levels of androgens may promote food cravings subsequently.

Outcomes:

1. Binge eating has been shown to lead extra weight gain

2. Onset of obesity

3. Weight regain after dieting

4. Failed weight loss

Characteristics:

(i)    Sneaking food, with a larger amount of food simultaneously

(ii)  Loss sense of control while eating 

(iii) Majority of women often crave sweet, carbohydrate and fat-rich foods; glucose is considered as an addictive agent

(iv) Cravers tend to have higher Body mass index (BMI)

(v) As a consequence, individuals with a higher BMI tend to imagining more frequently about the foods they crave. 

Solutions

1.     Dieting can be difficult, but set your goal to be realistic

2.     As previously I mentioned stress, anxiety triggers bingeing, instead do some yoga or meditation to find that state of equilibrium

How it occurs:

The occurrence of craving is developed through ours’ senses and neural networking functions, and honestly the process is pretty complex. We have our own preferences in food craving which is influenced by our sense of smell otherwise known as olfaction (a sense for desiring)

To be honest, the prerequisite of addiction is alleviated through craving which is a fundamental aspect of dependence following over bingeing and withdrawal. Dopamine, opioid receptor binding and other reactions in the nucleus accumbens all play a role in the experience of pleasure and addiction. Worst of all, this bad habit is the onset of obesity especially those who are predisposed. This particular theory has stark implications for craving and eventually can take over one’s cognitive.

To be concluded, we all have experienced this especially during when we are not in our greatest state of mind however, our sense of mind has to be fed by positivity as our brain is the most important organ for weight loss. We truly need to keep it in the best state of mind.

Love, Claudia xx

Reference list:

Firmin, M. W., Gillette, A. L., Hobbs, T. E., & Wu, D. (2016). Effects of olfactory sense on chocolate craving. Appetite, 105700-704. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2016.07.004

Jeanes, Y., Reeves, S., Gibson, E., Piggott, C., May, V., & Hart, K. (2017). Binge eating behaviours and food cravings in women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Appetite, 10924-32. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2016.11.010

Richard, A., Meule, A., Reichenberger, J., & Blechert, J. (2017). Food cravings in everyday life: An EMA study on snack-related thoughts, cravings, and consumption. Appetite, 113215-223. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2017.02.037