Health Risks of of Compulsive Overeating

By John Davenport, Weight loss researcher and Author

www.EmotionalEatingSolution.com

Compulsive overeating – the term is rather self-explanatory, isn’t it? It is compulsive because you feel driven to eat, like an addict who is helpless stop their habit; and it is overeating because you eat yourself until you feel fit to burst. A person who suffers from compulsive overeating disorder has repeated episodes of emotional eating, and they spend too much time thinking about food and planning their next binge. In short, a compulsive overeater is a food addict and they will do what they need to indulge in this habit while carrying on with life as if everything were normal. In many respects it's like leading a double life, but the only one you're really fooling is yourself.

Compulsive overeating poses grave risks to your body and mind in different ways. 

Immediate effects: 

Some of the most obvious and immediately felt effects of compulsive overeating are: 

•       Physical discomfort due to the feeling of being overstuffed 
•      Nausea and heaviness
•       An intense feeling of guilt and remorse

Long-term physical effects

The problem with compulsive eating is that it continuously places a toll on your body which is hard to withstand for long. Compulsive food addiction can lead to serious, potentially life threatening medical problems like: 

• Diabetes 
• Obesity 
• Nutrient deficiencies 
• High cholesterol levels 
• Cardiovascular problems 
• Clinical depression 
• Constant Fatigue 
• Stroke 
• A sthma
• Various kinds of Cancer 

It might seem strange that overeating can lead to nutrient deficiencies, but it is true. People who overeat consume foods rich in carbs, fat, salt and sugar (which are abundant in common comfort foods). This causes their body to become unable to handle foods that are rich in these nutrients. Since the sufferer is gorging on unhealthy foods, there is little interest in and appetite for healthy, wholesome, nutritious foods. This may lead to severe deficiencies, which in turn can bring on episodes of intense fatigue, even though you are actually eating more than you can handle.

In the long run, overeating piles on the fat and this makes it difficult for you to exercise. As a result, you start developing bone, joint and muscle problems. Sudden, steep increase in body weight leads to heightened risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, high blood-pressure, and weight-related conditions. Paradoxically, the overeater who is seeking a solution through eating only makes matters worse by creating more problems for themselves.  It's a vicious cycle.

Mental and emotional effects: 

However, the worst effect of compulsive overeating is on the mind. Most people who suffer from emotional eating disorder or compulsive eating use food to fill an emotional void. They eat large amounts of food in a single sitting. Every time they give in to the urge to binge, they simply entrench themselves in the addiction a little deeper – making it that much more difficult to overcome the habit.

Additionally, every episode brings with it an overdose of guilty feelings. Sufferers feel that they are simply not good enough to deal with life’s troubles. They lose faith in themselves. Their self-esteem and self-confidence takes a huge beating. Ironically, these feelings bottle up inside until they trigger the next attack of over eating. Thus, sufferers become victims of a terrible circle where food becomes an emotional vent but feeding it leads to more bingeing.  

As you can see, bad effects of emotional eating are quite extensive and they damage the entire body and mind.  Make sure to not neglect this problem.

About the Author

John Davenport struggled with weight loss problems and emotional eating since early childhood. Through rigorous research, trial and error, and a firm belief in himself, he managed to find the solution to emotional eating, lost over 30 pounds of fat, and became a long distance runner. He now devotes much of his time to help other people follow in his footsteps: lose weight, get lean, and become free from emotional eating. His articles have been features in many websites and publications.

To read more about John's unique method, the Emotional Eating Solution program, visit: www.EmotionalEatingSolution.com