A well balanced diet and good food habits is the secret of the well being of an individual. A healthy and happy life depends largely on what you eat and the food habits that you follow. However the modern lifestyle and brought with it some disadvantages among which eating disorders form a crucial part.

Learning about Eating Disorders:

Eating disorder can be a very serious illness with far-reaching consequences. Treating eating disorder can be easy once it is properly identified.

To ascertain that an individual suffers from eating disorder, the following points can be checked out:

1) If an individual is obsessed of eating, he suffers from an eating disorder.
2) If individuals deny food for themselves when they are hungry, they suffer from eating disorders.
3) If they over-exercise to the point of physical pain and injury after taking meals, they have an eating disorder.
4) When individuals throw up after taking meals, they suffer from eating disorder.
5) They can suffer from it when they eat large quantities of food non stop.
6) If individuals use diuretics or laxatives regularly they suffer from an eating disorder.

Types of Eating Disorders:

The two main types of eating disorders are- Bulimia and Anorexia.

Bulimia: In Bulimia, individuals tend to eat uncontrollably. They eat excessively and then cleanse by taking laxatives.

Anorexia: This is opposite to Bulimia where individuals starve themselves and do not allow themselves to eat more than 500 calories per day.

There are several other disorders which are characterized by consumption of large quantities of food and not necessarily coupled with purging.

Effects of Eating Disorders:

There are several eating disorders which have enormous ill-effects on individuals. Some of the important effects are as follows:

1) Individuals suffering from eating disorders always feel unwell- physically and mentally.
2) Thus the quality of life too is severely affected.
3) Eating disorder can cause constipation.
4) Eating disorder can also cause infections.
5) Individuals also suffer from stomach ache due to eating disorder.
6) Low pulse and anemia are some of the other effects caused by it.
7) Eating disorders also lead to kidney damage.
8) It can cause cardiovascular disorders and also lead to shortage of skeletal calcium.
9) One of the major aspects of eating disorders is people often induce vomiting after meals. This can cause damage to teeth, shortage of minerals and enlarged salivary glands.
10) People use laxatives which cause obstacles in the normal functioning of stomach, stomach ulcers and heart rhythm problems.
11) It can cause permanent damage to the body as a result of strict diet and lack of essential calories and proteins.
12) Other very important effects of eating disorders are amenorrhea (interruption in menstrual cycle), red blood cell diminution, and osteoporosis: loss of bone density, muscular weakness, insomnia, hair loss, and body hair increase and skin dryness.
13) Obesity can increase the risk of diabetes, respiratory disorders, bilary calculosis, arterial hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, arthrosis of backbone and of lower limbs, nocturnal apnoea, drop in the level of hormones and even cancer.

Steps to Control Eating disorder:

Some of the important steps to be followed to control eating disorder are as follows:

1) Control Bulimia.
2) Stop anorexic pattern of eating.
3) Discard binge eating.
4) Follow a healthy, nutritious and a balanced diet.
5) Exercise regularly.
6) Proper control over mind and think positively.
7) Stop taking diuretics and laxatives.

Conclusion:

Eating disorder can be treated and overcome easily with self-control and through the support of family, friends and professional dieticians. So the new mantra must be “ Eat Healthy and Think Healthy!”