YOUR FOOD IS YOUR MEDICINE
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“Your
food is your medicine” – The nutritionist’s perspective on obesity and eating
disorders |
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Interview with Dietitian-nutritionist
MONICA SANPALEAN |
Listen to the interview and express your point of view on the following:
1. Nutritional interventions in the case of obesity can fail
2. Common points for obesity and eating disorders
In my opinion there is a strong connection between obesity and eating disorders. That is because no one wants to be or look fat, and if someone gets there, it's because food is controlling them in a very deep mental and uncontrollably way. People are different of course, and every case of obesity is different, but i think it has to do with emotions disorder that get them to food disorder that gets one to be obese. Because no one wants to get ill. That only happens if one is unaware of the risks, or is mentally controlled by something, like a strong addiction. Similar to smoking for example. Everyone knows by now that it's very dangerouse, but for someone that smokes for a long time, it's extremely hard to give up, even if the person knows it's harmfull. Food can be a strong addiction to, and that is already called an eating disorder. So i think that you get obese because you suffer of eating disorders.
ReplyDeleteI was obese , and it was very hard to beat that phase
ReplyDeleteI still have eating disorders, I still eat sugary things
You need to control your mentality and your behavior so the diet work properly .
In regards obesity, indeed as Monica says, there is a bit of social stressors influences, a bit of family behaviors and I would also add lack of nutritional education. We kind of serve what we are used to since childhood, what our family is serving daily, our daily practices are actually defining our life. It takes education, decisions and daily practices to make certain changes in our diet. It needs support, guidance, healthy options to be introduced and keep a constant daily plan to follow. As we are the sum of our daily habits.
ReplyDelete1. Obesity sets in when the daily intake of calories to the body is greater than the ratio of calories you burn. Losing weight and maintaining an optimal weight is difficult to achieve and finding the necessary motivation is a challenge, especially in the situation where a series of repeated failures have been achieved in previous attempts. If successes have been achieved in previous dietary regimes, they will represent a strong basis for re-motivation. If the person is not ready for the changes assumed by the dietary regime, the doctor will suggest setting easier targets.
ReplyDelete2. An eating disorder is an illness that causes severe disturbances in daily eating such as eating extremely small amounts of food or severe overeating. A person with an eating disorder may start by eating only smaller or larger amounts of food, but at some point, the urge to eat less or more will get out of control. Severe stress or worry about your body weight or how your body looks can also signal an eating disorder. In the same way, obesity is a common metabolic disease and is often associated with severe chronic diseases.
Along with the lack of physical activity are the following factors that will form a vicious circle:
- low self-esteem - an overweight or obese person will have a negative self-image. Also, the repeated failures of some weight loss regimes accentuate the negative image, making it even more difficult to apply weight loss strategies;
- emotional problems - states of mental stress, anxiety or conditions such as depression or chronic pain, the person tends to avoid solving problems and negative emotions by taking refuge in food;
- psychological trauma - traumatic events such as physical or sexual abuse during childhood.
Binge-eating disorder (BED) and night-eating syndrome (NES) are two forms of disordered eating associated with overweight and obesity. While these disorders also occur in non-obese persons, they seem to be associated with weight gain over time and higher risk of diabetes and other metabolic dysfunction. BED and NES are also associated with higher risk of psychopathology, including mood, anxiety, and sleep problems, than those of similar weight status without disordered eating.
ReplyDeleteEach person is unique with different feelings, needs, and desires. That's why it's important to treat everyone in a way that suits them individually, rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach. Changing our habits takes time and cannot happen overnight. For example, someone who is used to large portions of food may struggle to adjust to smaller portions. I believe that by taking small steps, can be reduced the chances of fail.
ReplyDeleteOne common aspect for individuals struggling with obesity and eating disorders (as mentioned in the video) is shame. Even though we might not assume that a skinny person (ex. in the early stages of anorexia) would have any negative feelings towards eating, they can still feel ashamed of their body, just like someone who is overweight. We might assume that the latter person simply enjoys eating, but in many cases, they may not want to consume as much—it becomes a physiological need for them.
A healthy diet involves the balanced consumption of healthy and diversified foods, which provide our body with the necessary nutrients. Moreover, adopting a healthy diet means developing balanced eating habits adjusted to the needs of our body. Therefore, choosing a healthy diet and maintaining it are essential to a healthy lifestyle and positive mental health. But not for everyone it is easy to follow a diet or simply to exclude processed and unhealthy products, so a balance is needed, adaptation time, will and motivation, as slowly and progressively, to change the style of life in a healthy one.
ReplyDeleteWhen we talk about obesity and nutritional intervention, we need to be careful about how we prioritize the discussion. When discussing obesity, we must also mention the idea of sustainability, treating obesity in the long term. When dealing with an obese adolescent patient, we need to be very careful about how we approach the entire situation in the circumstances they are in, not just trying to stop the cause of constant overweight. We must also propose in nutritional intervention foods that they enjoy, foods that are easy to cook, and last but not least, a nutritional plan that is adapted to their daily routine, both when dealing with an adult and an adolescent. The meal plan should not contain many restrictions but should be a plan that is not difficult to follow. If it's a meal plan that's hard to integrate into daily life, it will disrupt the balanced relationship between nutrition and psychology.
ReplyDeleteWhen talking about obesity and eating disorders, we need to differentiate some terms: hunger, cravings, and emotional eating. There is a very well-defined connection between eating disorders and obesity, as there is between eating disorders and anorexia, whether we are talking about overeating or insufficient eating. Both obesity and anorexia or bulimia stem from an unhealthy relationship with food, faulty nutritional intervention by moving from one extreme (obesity/anorexia) to another (anorexia/obesity), or through a mistaken consideration related to psychotherapy.