Eating disorders
Eating Disorders go hand in hand with Nutritional Psychiatry. When you look specifically at how the food you eat can impact your mood, cognition and behavior we also need to consider how patterns of eating excessively or not eating enough can impact your physical and mental health. Both eating patterns and what we eat directly impact physical and mental health, and our physical and mental health directly impacts eating patterns and food choices. Weather you have struggled with an eating disorder for years or just have some disordered habits around food consumption, we can examine the mindset fueling these patterns and choices, as well as how nutritional deficiencies may be fueling the bad habits.
Hidden Hunger
What happens to your body when you are hungry? You feel hungry! You may even feel “hangry”. You may feel lethargic, have a stomach ache, or feel shaky. Your body is giving you signs that it needs to eat. So what happens when you aren’t giving your body the nutrients that it needs? It might be getting more calories that it needs, but what if it is missing a vitamin or mineral or amino acid? Depending on what it is, you might feel hungry. The Standard American Diet (SAD), which is high calorie and low nutrient density diet, is likely making our bodies feel starved for nutrients despite getting too many calories.
Restrictive patterns
When on a highly restrictive diet, one is not just restricting calories but also micronutrients needed for optimal brain and body functioning. Without appropriate micronutrient support it can be even more of a challenge to break ruminating, obsessive thoughts and anxieties that fuel restrictive eating patterns. Restrictive eating disorders can be some of the most challenging mental health conditions to treat. It is critical to address any underlying deficiencies along with the psychosocial factors to contributing to such a refractory condition.
