Nutritional Guide for Eating Disorders
Often times an eating disorder starts out as a “diet” that escalates into extreme behaviors. Diets are everywhere, and we are often easily influenced to follow their gimmicks. The mentality is a quick fix, but those quick fixes can have negative consequences on our health.
POTENTIAL HEALTH RISKS
• Cardiac (Heart) problems
• Arrhythmia (irregular heart beat)
• Low pulse rate (below 60 beats per minute)
• Low K+ (potassium)
• Osteopenia / Osteoporosis
• Low bone density (risk for fractures)
• Renal (Kidney) problems
• Kidney stones
• Kidney failure
• Orthostasis
• Irregular electrolyte balance (can lead to passing out)
• Irregular blood sugars
• Hypoglycemia (Low blood sugar)
• Hyperglycemia (High blood sugar)
These are just a few of the potential health risks due to crash dieting, restricting and/or binge-purging. Luckily, our body is forgiving when we start to treat it right and provide it the nutrition it needs to function properly. Here are a few steps to healthy eating.
GUIDELINES TO HEALTHY EATING
• Start off your morning with a balanced breakfast of protein, whole grains and some fruit
• Skipping breakfast can lead to binge eating later in the day
• Control your blood sugars by eating 5-6 times per day (3 meals and 2-3 snacks)
• A snack is small serving consisting of fruit a small handful of granola
• The goal is to rev the metabolism and to prevent over-eating at the next meal
• Stay clear of artificial sweeteners (splenda, sweet-n-low, equal)
• The can desensitize your taste buds and can also lead to binging on sweets
• This includes Diet Coke….drink water (~60-70oz/day)
• Provide your body the vitamins and minerals it needs by having a fruit and/or vegetable at EVERY meal
• Try to get in a variety of colors throughout the day
• Make sure to get in a healthy amount of fats
• Avocado, almonds, walnuts, flax seed, olive oil, peanut butter (natural)