Normally we are aware of the fact that we are hungry when our “guts rumble,” which is just stomach contractions. For many people, this is a great incentive to eat, but it is not, physiologically, the most significant indicator of hunger.
More important is the blood glucose level. Most of the food you eat is converted to glucose, much of which is converted by the liver into fat for later use. When glucose levels are low, the liver sends signals to the hypothalamus (specifically, the lateral hypothalamus) that levels are low. The hypothalamus then triggers the habits you have acquired related to the search for food and its consumption. But what happens if you have problems eating? Next, in this Psychology-online article, we will talk to you about the Eating disorders of anorexia, bulimia and obesity.
The feeling that it is time to stop eating is called satiety. Again, the main indicators may be distention of the stomach and intestines, that feeling of being full and even bloated that we all know after a Christmas dinner.
There are also certain hormones that are released when food begins to move from the stomach to the intestines it signals the hypothalamus (this time the ventromedial hypothalamus) that it is time to stop eating. And, of course, there is a hormone released by the fat cells themselves called leptin, which reduces appetite via the hypothalamus.
We are sure that you have all heard about one person who has a better metabolism than another. Some seem to burn calories as fast as they eat them, while others gain weight just by looking at food. This is called the reference value hypothesis. It suggests that we each have a certain metabolic set point, a certain weight that we are geared around, which is determined by our metabolism, or the rate at which we burn calories. Different people have different set points, and it is believed that these set points can change depending on several factors, including eating patterns and exercise.
Why do we eat what we eat?
Appetite is, of course, not an entirely physiological process. First of all, the cultural and even individual preferences learned and eating habits can make a difference. For example, some of us eat regular meals and rarely snack, while others only snack throughout the day. Every culture has its collection of foods that are preferred and those that are avoided. Many people like roast meat; others prefer raw squid; others even prefer to eat vegetables…
Our culture and upbringing also provide us with various beliefs and attitudes about food and eating in general, and our personal memories can also influence our eating behaviors. Some of us have grown up with the idea that we should never waste food, for example, and many of us have a particular attachment to what is sometimes called “comfort foods”.
Eating is a social thing in the human being and can give one a sense of love and belonging. It has been suggested that for some people, food is a substitute for the love they crave. Also, some foods (for example, chocolate and ice cream) appear to reduce anxiety and stress in many of us.
One of the most powerful learning experiences for both humans and animals has been called taste aversion : If we feel sick soon after eating something, we may develop an instant dislike for that food for the rest of our lives. Children often say they are “allergic” to one food or another when this happens.
Bulimia and anorexia
As with many things as important as eating, humans have developed several eating disorders.
The bulimia
one is called bulimia nervosa and consists of a pattern of “bingeing” and “purging”, that is, periods of even extreme overeating followed by periods of vomiting or use of laxatives.
Bulimics are often obsessed with maintain or reduce your weight. They tend to suffer from depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and poor impulse control. They usually come from families with emotional problems, such as depression, as well as families with obesity problems.
The anorexia
The anorexia nervosa It is another eating disorder that ranges from unhealthy diet to starvation. The general rule is that a person is considered seriously underweight if they are 15% below their ideal weight. People with anorexia often vomit or use laxatives, as do bulimics. They have an intense fear of being fat and They are obsessed with being thin.
They often have a distorted body image , which means that when they look in the mirror, they tend to see someone overweight, when others see them as walking skeletons. Anorexic people sometimes come from very competitive and demanding families, and are often perfectionists with a great need to control all aspects of their lives.
Bulimia, anorexia and society
Physiologically, anorexia has been linked to abnormal blood levels. serotonin neurotransmitter , which is involved in the regulation of intake. Research with twins suggests that there may be a genetic aspect to anorexia as well.
Most anorexic and bulimic people They are young women , including between 1 and 4% of high school and university girls. It seems that there are physiological aspects of female adolescence contributing to the problem, but we can realize that 10% of adolescents with anorexia are boys. Although a good part of These disorders are probably social : In our society, beauty standards tend to emphasize thinness, and women in particular tend to be judged based on their beauty, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else. Certainly, if you look at many magazines for young women, or advertisements aimed at them, you might think that beauty is everything, and that fat is the kiss of death for self-esteem.
It is interesting to note that, while The average woman is 1’62m tall and weighs about 64kg , the measurements of an average model are 1’75m and a weight of 50kg. If Barbie, that childhood ideal of feminine beauty, were life-size, her measurements would be 36-18-33.
Interestingly, cultures with beauty standards that have more respect for women’s personality or other traits, and cultures that appreciate heavier women, have significantly fewer problems with bulimia or anorexia.
The obesity
Despite all the suffering that anorexia and bulimia are responsible for, there is another eating disorder that causes even more: obesity. Generally, someone who weighs 35% above their ideal weight is considered obese. Following that rule, 21% of Americans are obese. Europeans and others with slimmer populations should not gloat too much about this fact, either way this trend is truly global.
Causes of obesity
The main causes of obesity are the following:
Due to illness : Physiologically, obesity is strongly associated with diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and some cancers. In fact, obesity is associated with the same percentage of cancer deaths (30%) as smoking.
Due to depression : Psychologically, the toll is also high, and obesity is associated with depression.
Due to genetics : Between 40 and 70% of the variation in body weight appears to be genetic. Our ancestors who passed these genes on to us did not become fat, mainly because they did not have as much food available as we did, and because they had to work harder and walk further to do so.
Due to eating patterns : Learning is also an important factor, including childhood eating patterns and a sedentary lifestyle. Not helping matters is our culture, where our food and snack industry spends millions of dollars each year encouraging us (including children) to eat greasy and sugary foods. Often the same companies make millions of dollars selling us weight loss programs and products.
Sociologically, obese people face a considerable discrimination , from childhood teasing to the denial of employment in adults. And unlike other types of discrimination, this is actually considered the fat person’s fault.
How to stop being obese
Most people try to deal with obesity with diet. In fact, 80% of women diet , as well as 25% of men. 50% of girls under 18 also do it. Unfortunately, although diets work in the short term and for small amounts, they often fail in the long term for people who are truly obese.
Dieting becomes even more difficult because of the way the baseline works: when you diet, your body thinks you’re hungry and readjusts your metabolism to be more efficient, so you need less food to maintain your body and makes it even more difficult to lose weight. Even though you need to eat more than you burn to gain weight, once you’re obese you don’t need to eat much at all.
Diet and exercise is of course, the only hope , but the failure rate is so great (95%) that doctors often focus on treating diseases that result from obesity, rather than fighting obesity itself. It may be interesting that bodybuilding training helps: muscles use more calories even at rest than other tissues. There is also some hope in future medical research, including research on the effects of leptin and possible genetic interventions.
If you liked this PsychologyFor article about eating disorders: anorexia, bulimia and obesity, you may also be interested in this other one about I have a fat complex: what do I do.
This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Eating disorders: anorexia, bulimia and obesity we recommend that you enter our Clinical Psychology category.
