Are Eating Disorders Caused by Dieting?

Just about all of us at one time or another has been on a “diet.” Whether you need to lose a lot of weight or merely try to tone up a bit before the beach season, dieting is a common and accepted practice by almost everyone. The fact is, however, dieting often leads to the exact opposite effect which is you end up gaining weight rather than losing it. Some statistics show that people who are involved in moderate diet programs are up to five times as likely to gain more weight than they started with and those that are involved in extremely intense diet programs are nearly 20 times as likely to gain weight.

The reasons for this weight gain are fairly easy to understand when you look at some of the facts surrounding them. First of all, many diets promise quick weight loss but that doesn’t necessarily mean healthy weight loss. If your diet program sees you eating an extremely low amount of calories and losing significant weight in a short period of time, it is very common for people to over eat once the diet ends and thus gain back all the weight they lost and sometimes even more. In addition, those who are on diets that are restricting the calories have less energy and therefore oftentimes engage in less exercise as a result. If they simply lose weight by restricting calories and not exercising then this inactivity will lead to weight gain once the diet is over and they began eating normally again. Because of these negative effects of dieting, many folks choose extreme measures surrounding their goal of weight loss which can lead to several types of harmful eating disorders.

One reason people fall prey to eating disorders stemming from failed diets is that they become simply frustrated with the up-and-down process of weight gain and weight loss associated with these diet plans. They may choose instead to eat whatever they want and simply throw the food up so as not to gain weight from the calories. This is known as bulimia and is an extremely harmful eating disorder that often stems from failed dieting. People assume that diets just don’t work so they’re going to go about it their own way which is often counterproductive to their real goals.

Another eating disorder that can stem from a diet is known as anorexia. This can occur if someone is on a diet that is extremely calorie restricted and loses weight but then only gains it back once they start eating properly again. This can lead them to stop eating altogether as it was that part of the diet that seemed to work well for them. Unfortunately, they may never start eating again and lose extreme amounts of weight and they can eventually die from starvation.

Diets in and of themselves are not necessarily harmful if the proper amounts of nutrition and exercise come into play. It is only when diets are not followed properly or consistently that yo-yo dieting can occur and may lead to harmful eating disorders.

Tags:dieting,eating disorder

Related posts

• Having an Eating Disorder: What’s it Like? (0)

Tagged with: dieting • eating disorder

Filed under: Eating Disorders

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!