If there’s one sure-fire way to lose weight, it’s cutting calories, eating healthy foods and working out. But what happens when you don’t just cut calories by a little bit, but instead periodically don’t eat or dramatically cut calories by 500 or more? While most health professionals and nutritionists wouldn’t tell the everyday average person to dip below getting 1,200 calories a day, there is a small group of people who follow low-calorie diets because they believe it keeps them healthy and prolongs their lives.

While severe calorie restriction (CR) has been shown to increase lifespan in animals, there hasn’t been much research on the practice in humans until now. Although much more research is needed on the quality of life while restricting calories, according to recent research from Washington University, people who drastic cut calories have lower core body temperatures than those who eat more. Having a lower core body temperature better allows your body to operate at maximum efficiency, according to a story on U.S. News and World Report. So what does this research mean to you, and should you try calorie restriction? The pros and cons are below!

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There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that more than half a million adolescents in the United States could qualify for a diagnosed eating disorder according to research published at Archives of General Psychiatry. The study included structured interviews with more than 10,000 teenagers and their parents. The good news is that more than half a million is just under three percent of adolescents.

It is estimated than 0.3 percent of teens will suffer from anorexia nervosa, 0.9 percent will suffer from bulimia nervosa, and 1.6 percent will suffer from binge-eating disorder. Although many of the kids will experience some mental health treatment, it is generally not eating disorder specific.

While I am glad to read a low percentage of teens experience eating disorders, it is essential that proper treatment is provided to those kids that need it. Eating disorders require special treatment by a trained professional and often a team of professionals. The best treatments with which I am familiar include medical professionals, nutritionists, counselors, psychiatrists, and peer groups. Eating disorders are complicated syndromes that must take into account and treat a variety of factors.

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Also sometimes called sleep-related eating (disorder), nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder (NS-RED), or sleep-eating syndrome, sleep eating is a rare and dangerous sleep disorder (not an eating disorder) that affects up to three percent of the population. There can be comorbidity with eating disorders; however, ten to 15 percent of those that suffer from eating disorders also experience sleep eating.

Definition
Sleep eating is classified by episodes of sleep walking during which one eats. Often the foods eaten during sleep are high in sugar or high in fat. Non-food items (such as soap) or odd combinations (such as raw bacon covered in mayonnaise) have also been reported as eaten during episodes of sleep eating. The sleep eater often awakes in the morning with no memory of the event.

There are several dangers associated with sleep eating. Sleep walking of any kind poses the risk of self-injury from running into things, falling down stairs, etc. Those that are sleep eating are at risk of injury from eating uncooked food or non-food items, choking, using knives, and even cooking while sleeping, and starting a fire. In addition, sleep eating also carries the same risks as binge eating, such as weight gain and increased risk of diabetes.
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Binge eating disorder affects two percent of the population overall and eight percent of people who are obese. It is an eating disorder in the “Not Otherwise Specified” category.

Definition

Binge eating disorder is characterized by periodic out of control food binges, but it does not include purging or overexercising to compensate for the calories ingested.

Symptoms

• Episodes of binge eating, defined as eating an abnormally large amount of food and feeling out of control of eating, twice weekly on average for six months
• Binges include shame about the amount ingested, eating when not hungry, rapid ingestion, and/or physical discomfort after eating
• Episodes of binge eating cause emotional distress
• Purging and other compensatory behaviors are not associated with binge eating disorder
• Binge eating disorder cannot be diagnosed if one has an active diagnosis of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa
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Guest blogger Vicki L. VanArsdale is a freelance writer specializing in health and fitness. She’s a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and a nutrition & wellness consultant through American Fitness Professionals & Associates (AFPA). You can read more about health and fitness on Vicki’s blog.

We’ve all been there. We want to lose weight. We eat right and exercise. We follow our healthy eating plan. Then one day something causes us to go off track. Instead of having one cookie we eat the whole bag. Some kind of emotion triggered this response but instead of facing it we binge and then feel guilty. We are emotional eaters.

I once weighed 250 lbs. Another time I weighed 235 lbs. Without a doubt my extensive weight gains were tied to my emotions. I was an emotional binge eater and food was my friend. Food didn’t judge me. Food didn’t belittle me. Food made me feel good and provided comfort. It helped me forget my troubles for a while.

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