Health Habits

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Posts Tagged ‘eating disorder’

The Mandometer…a cure for obesity, anorexia & bulimia?

January 6th, 2010

There’s a new weapon in the battle against obesity, anorexia and bulimia.

It’s called the Mandometer.

It was developed in 2003 by researchers at the Karolinska Institute to test their theory that restrictive eating behaviors cause psychological disorders (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, etc).

The Mandometer: A device that teaches you how to eat

Here’s how it works:

Mandometer® consists of a scale that is connected to a computer.

You place your plate on the scale and put food on the plate. The computer registers the decrease in the weight of the plate over the course of the meal and in real time shows a curve for your eating speed in grams per minute. At regular intervals, a satiety scale is shown on the computer screen and you are asked to evaluate your satiety by pointing at the screen.

The computer saves the satiety evaluations and generates another curve that shows your feelings of satiety during the meal compared to that of a normally eating individual. When you practice eating, your disordered eating pattern and the normal eating pattern are shown on the screen simultaneously. You are asked to model both your eating rate and feelings of satiety to more closely conform to the normal patterns.

And for seven years, mandometer clinics in Sweden, Australia & the U.S. have been using this tool to help their anorexic & bulimic patients reclaim their healthy eating patterns.

So, what does this have to do with obesity?

Like anorexics & bulimics, I think we would all agree that there is a strong link between obesity and our disordered eating behaviors and sense of satiety.

And these bad habits are precisely what the Mandometer was designed to correct.

But, when it comes to treating obesity, everything we’re talking about here is theoretical. What about the research?

Glad you asked.

In this paper, published online in the BMJ, the Mandometer has been shown to be more successful in helping obese children and adolescents lose weight than traditional methods.

At the end of the 12 month study, the Mandometer group not only had a significantly lower average body mass index and body fat score than the standard care group, but their portion size was smaller and their speed of eating was reduced by 11% compared with a gain of 4% in the other group.

Obviously, more research needs to be done – different settings, different patients, different control methods…

However, the idea of using the Mandometer to help people retrain the eating behavior and re-set their satiety level seems pretty exciting to me.

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Emotional Eating: When Diets Don't Work

September 5th, 2008

Emotional eating is the practice of consuming large quantities of food in response to feelings instead of hunger.

Experts estimate that 75% of overeating is caused by emotions.

And believe it or not, 100% of experts believe that obesity is caused by overeating.

And with researchers forecasting that by 2030, 86.3% of American adults will be overweight or obese, maybe, just maybe we should take a closer look at Emotional Eating and it’s cousin Binge Eating.

A Closer Look

Over the centuries, human beings have evolved to thrive on certain types of food. Sure, we can survive on lesser quality food, but our health will suffer for it.

The Good Stuff:

Vegetables, Fruit, unprocessed Animal Protein, and smaller quantities of Seeds, Nuts, Grains and Dairy.

Keep in mind that there is a wide variety of human dietary practices based upon geography and food availability. But this list encompasses pretty much all of the good stuff.

The Bad Stuff:

Processed foods – The more processed they are, the worse they are for our health. e.g. Trans Fats, High Fructose Corn Syrup and just about any kid’s meal at a fast-food restaurant.

So, how come “when you’re happy, your food of choice could be steak or pizza, when you’re sad it could be ice cream or cookies and when you’re bored it could be potato chips.

Food does more than fill our stomachs. It also satisfies feelings, and when you quench those feelings with comfort food when your stomach isn’t growling, that’s emotional eating.

And emotional eating seldom involves the good stuff. Our bad moods drive use towards the processed foods that satisfy our taste buds, defective insulin receptors and most importantly our serotonin receptors.

Ahhh serotonin. Wonderful stuff. Powerful stuff.

So what’s the big deal?

What’s wrong with treating myself after a hard day?

Well, this tendency to use certain foods as though they were drugs is a frequent cause of weight gain, and can also be seen in patients who become fat when exposed to stress

So, How Can I Tell The Difference Between Real Hunger And Emotional Hunger?

There are several differences between emotional hunger and physical hunger:

1. Emotional hunger comes on suddenly; physical hunger occurs gradually.

2. When you are eating to fill a void that isn’t related to an empty stomach, you crave a specific food, usually something creamy or sweet or salty or crunchy or all of the above. And only that particular food will meet your need. Actual hunger usually doesn’t involve such specific cravings.

3. Emotional hunger feels like it needs to be satisfied instantly with the food you crave; physical hunger can wait.

4. Even when you are full, if you’re eating to satisfy an emotional need, you’re more likely to keep eating. When you’re eating because you’re hungry, you’re more likely to stop when you’re full.

5. Emotional eating can leave behind feelings of guilt; eating when you are physically hungry does not.

Are You An Emotional Eater?

Maybe, maybe not.

If you want to be sure, here is a test from our good friends at Psychology Today that will let you know if you are an Emotional Eater.

Eating Disorders &
Emotional Eating Test
62 questions, 30-35 min

Do you have issues with food? Do you overeat, binge or obsess over calories? The Eating Disorders and Emotional Eating Test will assess your eating habits. It will evaluate whether your relationship to food is mentally healthy or damaging. It will also assess whether you have tendencies towards certain documented eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa.

After finishing the Eating Disorders & Emotional Eating Test, you will receive a detailed, personalized interpretation of your score that includes diagrams, information on the test topic and tips.

So, Are you an Emotional Eater?

If so, come back tomorrow.

I hate to do this to you, but I am going to have to split this topic into a couple of posts.

In my next post, I will cover the strategies that are being used to combat Emotional Eating. I will also spend some time looking at the phenomena of Intuitive Eating.

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