Eating Disorder

ABSTRACT

What's the necessity of food? Exactly why do we eat? Answer will vary from person to person. A food lover may say - "Eating is enjoyable." while person like Bill Gates would say - "Its necessary evil". So let's analyze the scientific explanation. Food serves us with energy, with nutrition - to carry on with our activities. This necessarily means, we eat not to just waste time or to enjoy, but to provide the body with energy, to achieve immunity. But this necessary act results in disorder, when we're not eating the way following which the food was supposed to be taken.

The aim of this essay is to

• Clarify necessity/essentiality of food
• Explain the causes of disorders from eating
• Suggest how to prevent eating disorders
• Provide advice to maintain a balanced die

The first portion of the essay is an introduction to Eating Disorders. It provides a definition of eating disorder. It briefly covers the main cause of eating disorders also. The second part goes into details including- classifications, long-term effects. Finally, suggestions will be provided to prevent these disorders.

INTRO

Briefly, "Eating Disorder is abnormality of body's digestive system due to unbalanced food habit". It is referred to the disturbed digestion of foods which results in mental diseases like Anorexia Nervosa.

For example, an adult needs 54 grams of protein per day. Now if he/she takes as much as 100 grams (maybe in a Street Eating Contest), definitely his/her digestive system won't be able to digest flawlessly. This may end up with acidity.

Now, if we don't take adequate food, still our body will be producing digestion chemicals (enzymes). This will also cause acidity. Next section describes this fact precisely.

MEDICAL EXPLANATION

Everything has an optimum capacity including our stomach, till which it can sustain its working mechanism. When food enters stomach, our stomach secretes Gastric Juice which contains hydrochloric acid(HCl) with pH value1 as low as 2. This highly acidic chemical creates acidic state inside the stomach. This is important to kill the bacteria we've eaten along with food.

If large amount of acidic food is eaten, the acidity of stomach rises drastically. Acidic food affects the cells of the stomach, consequently resulting into Acidity. And brain notifies with pain that we've eaten too much to be digested properly.

Now without eating, gastric acid will be concentrated, as there's nothing but only acid in the stomach. Excess to mention, this will cause acidity as well, sometimes more severely than overeating.

CLASSIFICATIONS

All sorts of eating disorders are classifiable into 3 categories:

1. Binge Eating Disorder(BED): Binge eating disorder is referred to recurring eating episodes. Whenever a BED affected person feels guilty or embarrassed, he/she attempts to forget and hide this feeling by eating. The person eats frequently, although he/she may not be hungry.
2. Anorexia Nervosa: This is due to excessive dieting, for being so concerned about fitness. A pathological fear of becoming fat leads girls & young women to eat so less that the body starts to get distorted due to lack of nutrition. Its occurrence is significantly less among male or older women.
3. Bulimia Nervosa: Some people do inappropriate behavior after binge eating. Sometimes they perform self-induced vomiting to avoid becoming fat. This kind of disorder is very rare compared to the availability of the other kinds.

SYMPTOMS

The following are the most common, noticeable symptoms, declared by AED:

• Dehydration
• Mental depression
• Sensitivity to cold
• Eating secretly
• Low blood pressure
• Chest pain
• Dental erosion
• Ruptured stomach
• Electrolytic imbalance
• Frequent breathing

LONG-TERM EFFECTS

It damages stomach cells, causing ulcer eventually. Excessive food pressurizes intestine to bend abnormally, causing appendicitis. It harms insulin production, causing diabetes. Last stage is obesity, when body's fundamental mechanisms fail, ending up in a heart failure or stroke.

PREVENTION

Prevention is always more appreciable than cure. Here are brief guidelines to reduce these disorders:

Personal Controls:

• Decide what to eat today. Consult a medical specialist.
• Don't hesitate to include vegetables in your meal.
• It's better not to keep much popcorn/soda while watching soccer.
• Jog every morning. Set alarm if you need so.
• Always keep engaged in doing something.
• Visit recreational part sometimes.

Social Initiatives:

• If any symptom mentioned above is noticed, consult physician quickly.
• Arrange Health Classes in schools. Teach children about nutrition, importance of food, necessity of exercise.
• Maintain balanced diet including fruits, veggies in family's daily food course.
• Avail health education in schools, colleges.
• Tell little girls about how fake cartoon characters like Barbies are. Make them understand that thinness is not necessarily happiness.
• Let not the soda and junk foods be available in school canteens.
• Write on media to notify them to create realistic characters.

CONCLUSION

Food is the body's energy source. We eat to survive, to lead the life. Body is working 24/7 to process, to digest different sorts of foods we eat. This Digestive System is serving with essential nutritions, minerals. So we have to take care of it. Neither overeating, nor extreme dieting, only balanced diet is the key to prevent & cure eating disorders. In order to keep the body safe & sound, we should maintain a balanced, recommended healthy diet. Because its the crying need of our body, our digestive system, of ourselves.