Table of Contents
Introduction
Eating disorders Affect Your Health and are illnesses that alter your eating patterns and body image.
Eating disorders Affect Your Health and are not a “fad” or a “personal preference.” Instead, they are severe medical disorders that can hurt both your mental and physical well-being.
An eating disorder can lead to hospitalization or even death in extreme situations.
It’s unclear how eating disorders connect with other mental health problems or whether one causes the other. However, eating disorders negatively affect your physical health, which is inevitable.
If you suffer from such a condition and require eating disorder treatment, you can check into Ocean Recovery. Click https://www.oceanrecovery.com/addiction-treatment-programs/eating-disorder-treatment/ to get more information.
What Is An Eating Disorder and how it Affect Your Health?
An eating disorder can be of multiple types, but Anorexia nervosa is the most common. It is a type of eating disorder characterized by weight loss and nutrient deprivation.
Anorexics have difficulty keeping a healthy weight for their size and form. As a result, they may restrict their calorie intake, exercise obsessively, use laxatives, and purge to maintain their weight.
Anorexia affects people of all genders, ages, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Anorexia cannot be diagnosed just by looking at a person since anorexia can affect persons who do not appear to be the classic slim image.
Those who live in larger bodies are more likely to be underweight and suffer from severe anorexia.
Top 10 Ways Eating Disorder Can Affect Your health and Life
When we hear weight loss stories, we often get inspired and dive into crash dieting habits without consulting a dietician. But, unfortunately, it can cause significant adverse consequences on our health.
Here, we will discuss how an eating disorder negatively affects your physical and mental health. So, let’s take a look:
1: Gastrointestinal Effects
Gastroparesis, or delayed stomach emptying, happens when people reduce their food intake to the point that their body weight is 15-20% below optimal.
Individuals’ small amounts of food pass gradually through the digestive system.
It causes upper stomach pain, bloating, constipation, and irregular bowel movements.
This is due to the colon’s hyperfunctioning due to malnutrition when food is not metabolized and digested as quickly as it should be.
2: Dermatological Effects
Anorexia suffers from nutritional restriction due to weight loss, which causes physical changes in their hair, skin, and nails.
As a result of starvation, blood flow slows down, causing a cold intolerance and a bluish tint in the tips of fingers and ears.
The body produces lanugo hair, which is fine hair that grows abundantly on the top lip, chin, arms, and spine to preserve body heat.
On the other hand, Scalp hair begins to thin or fall out as a result of a lack of essential nutrients for proper growth.
3: Endocrine System Effects
Food restriction and extreme exertion, common in anorexia, cause glycogen depletion, leading to aberrant glucose metabolism and hypoglycemia.
Severe hypoglycemia, which implies liver failure and a lack of substrate to maintain acceptable blood glucose levels, can result in mortality.
Individuals with anorexia experience changes in their sex hormones in both genders.
Low estrogen and testosterone levels are common in humans, influencing potency and fertility.
4: Skeletal Effects
Individuals with a lack of nutrition and calcium frequently have poor bone construction and lower than medically predicted bone density and strength.
According to studies, 85% of women with anorexia and 26-36% of males with anorexia have osteoporosis or osteopenia, putting them at risk for bone fractures.
Individuals suffering from severe anorexia are advised to avoid vigorous or challenging activities since they are at a higher risk of bone-related injuries.
These low levels of bone density could lower the amount of energy required to maintain bone mass.
5: Cardiovascular Effects
Bradycardia, or a slower than usual heart rate, is the most common physical impact of anorexia.
Anorexics cannot surpass 60 beats per minute, but the average adult’s heart beats between 60 and 100 times per minute.
The heart becomes weaker and shrinks in size when the heart rate and blood pressure decline.
A shortage of oxygen to the brain and other organs has been observed, resulting in syncope, dizziness, weariness, shortness of breath, chest discomfort, and confusion.
6: Nervous System Effects
Anorexia, in addition to the endocrine system’s difficulties, may also have substantial consequences on the brain.
Anorexia nervosa is associated with varying but usually significant brain atrophy.
On top of that, severe instances may appear on an MRI, indistinguishable from a person’s brain with Alzheimer’s disease. As a result, memory loss, seizure, and lesser cognitive function may occur.
7: Depression
Some persons who suffer from an eating disorder consume very little food. This can lead to malnutrition, which can increase the risk of depression.
Depression is a prevalent mental illness that affects one’s thoughts, feelings, and physical well-being.
Depressed people are frequently melancholy, flat, or irritated.
Some persons with depression lose their appetite or have difficulty taking care of their bodies, such as washing, eating, or dressing.
8: Anxiety
People with eating disorders are more likely to suffer from anxiety disorders.
Anxiety disorders cause people to have acute, persistent concerns that disrupt their daily lives.
Approximately 65% of persons with eating disorders also suffer from anxiety.
Anxiety symptoms usually emerge before the eating disorder and persist even after the eating issue has been addressed.
9: Substance Abuse Disorder
Substance abuse refers to drinking or taking drugs in a way that is damaging to yourself, others, or both.
Eating disorders frequently co-occur with substance abuse disorders.
According to one study, women who had substance addiction or an eating disorder were four times more likely to get the other disease than women who had neither.
Another study found that nearly a third of women with substance addiction issues also had anorexia or bulimia.
10: Impacts On Brain
Even though your brain is only about 5 pounds, it requires a lot of nutrients. Therefore, your brain will not obtain the needed energy if you eat a small amount of food every day.
This can not only make you always feel hungry, but it can also lead to various brain-related issues, such as poor concentration because not obtaining enough nutrients can damage your capacity to focus during the day.
Your brain goes into hunger mode when it doesn’t get enough calories.
It may be difficult for you to fall asleep. For example, you may lose consciousness if your brain does not receive enough blood, oxygen, or food.
Signing Off
Eating disorders can also cause people to have a dangerous fainting spell where they cannot regain their breath. These symptoms can become severe, if not lethal.
Congestive heart failure can also occur when the heartbeat is abnormally sluggish. Some eating disorders can cause seizures.
So, if you want to know more about these, you can ping us in the comment section.
