What you should know about binge eating and the keto diet | Weight Loss Tips
One of the main reasons the ketogenic diet often leads to temporary weight loss is that it's so restrictive—but that's the same reason it can sometimes make binge eating disorders worse.
The wildly popular but understudied keto diet specifies exact amounts of each macronutrient to consume daily, with daily calories typically consisting of 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbs. According to Colleen O'Sullivan, a member of the nutrition services team at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center in Lemont, Illinois, this entails substantially decreasing the daily carbohydrate consumption of the average American, which is often limited to no more than 15 to 30 grams.
This kind of restrictive keto diet food list can be problematic for someone with binge eating disorder, which involves eating large amounts of food and feeling unable to stop. According to the Mayo Clinic, restricting your diet can make the problem worse and lead to more overeating.
Contrary to popular assumption, binge eaters frequently desire weight loss, which is one reason they may find dieting appealing. Those who struggle with overeating and want to reduce weight "may consider the keto diet as a technique to achieve that goal," says Johnny Williamson, MD, medical director of Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center.
However, would the diet ultimately be helpful or harmful? Examine each side of the debate in depth here.
Can keto cause binge eating or other eating disorders ?
Let's get one thing out of the way: There is no concrete evidence to show that following a keto diet will lead to an eating disorder. The real problem seems to be among people who already have a lousy relationship with food.
According to Dr. Williamson, it is improbable that the keto diet could be the sole cause of an eating disorder. But it's feasible for people who are predisposed to eating disorders to identify with the keto diet and use its tenets to act and control their disordered eating behaviors.
According to the Mayo Clinic, one of the symptoms of binge eating is a feeling that your eating habits are out of control. The idea is that following a restrictive diet will help you reverse it.
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The likelihood of this strategy's success is low. A person with control issues will frequently devour the food as soon as they have access to it since they will crave it if they restrict one food type, according to O'Sullivan.
It doesn't help that many people report that the keto diet is difficult to follow. One study published in August 2013 in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that difficulty tolerating is one of the main drawbacks of the diet. At some point, it is possible that you give up on the diet in favor of overeating "forbidden" foods such as bread, pastries and sweets. Users tend to engage in significant binge eating when a "slip" happens, especially those who already have eating disorders like binge eating, according to Heather Russo, regional assistant vice president and director of the Renfrew Center in Los Angeles. There is a limit to how long one can restrict their intake.
It can be emotionally taxing to lose one's way. Russo cautions that the embarrassment that comes with straying from such a strict diet can be very detrimental to someone with fragile mental health. Failure- and hopelessness-related ideas could appear out of nowhere.
According to O'Sullivan, the keto diet can result in orthorexia, a fixation with good eating, which is a different eating problem. It may also have an impact on some other extreme behaviors. According to O'Sullivan, if you're set up to believe that you can't eat particular food groups, you're inviting yourself to engage in other unhealthy behaviors, such as excessive exercise.
Can keto help cure binge eating disorder ?
Not everyone agrees with the argument that keto can cause binge eating issues, and there's even been some talk online that following the diet can help some people overcome their binge eating issues.
The fact that foods like avocados, almonds, and olive oil fill people up and lessen the impulse to overeat serves as one argument for high-fat diets. The previously mentioned control problem is an additional defense. If individuals follow a fad diet, O'Sullivan speculates, "maybe some feel they can control their binge eating disorder by themselves."
Many of these people may also experience massive weight loss and a new sense of freedom with food, which sounds ideal for someone struggling with binge eating disorder, Russo says.
However, O'Sullivan contends that the hypothesis is oversimplified and that there is no evidence to back up the notion that food may treat an eating disorder. "Diets don't cure anything; they're a temporary Band-Aid," she adds, adding that treating an eating problem effectively needs effort on all fronts (psychological, social, and spiritual), and frequently calls for the assistance of a therapist, nutritionist, medical professional, or psychiatrist. O'Sullivan contends that rather than viewing diet as a panacea, it is crucial to identify the underlying issue that results in a problematic relationship with food.
One more thing about keto and binge eating
Preliminary research suggests that the keto diet helps many people lose weight temporarily and may offer health benefits for some people. The keto diet, in particular, has been used to treat epilepsy in children since the 1920s, according to the Epilepsy Society.
That said, it's clear that keto isn't for everyone, and it seems to be especially risky for people with a history of eating disorders. "The restrictive aspects of the keto diet may increase the risk that some individuals will respond by overeating," says Williamson.
Adopting a restrictive diet may encourage overeating in the majority of people while failing to address the root causes of the problem. According to Russo, altering one's eating habits won't ever provide binge eaters with genuine solace. Only emotional labor is able to provide that.
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