What Is Binge Eating

So what is binge eating anyway? How is it related to emotional eating? And what can you do if you find yourself binge eating?

First of all, binge eating is defined in the dictionary as the "consumption of large amounts of food in a short period of time, especially as a symptom of bulimia".

Basically a food binge is eating more than one would consider a 'normal' amount of food in a short period of time.

Binge eating is not the same as emotional eating however they can be related.

For example, emotional eaters may binge as one way to deal with their feelings - or they may also graze throughout the day. Binges may be caused by unresolved emotional issues - or there may be some other reason behind them.

Binge eaters often feel physically uncomfortable after the overeating episode. They may feel ashamed and try to cover up their behavior. They may tend to eat alone or have issues with eating in front of others.

While everyone has occasions when they eat too much, binge eating can become a problem when it becomes a regular occurence.

Binge eating is generally a symptom of a larger complex problem.

For example, it's a symptom of bulimia. Bulimics will eat large amounts of food (the binge) and then purge by vomiting, using laxatives or exercising for long periods of time. Bulimia is a very serious disorder and should be treated by a medical professional immediately.

Frequent food binges can also be seen in binge eating disorder. Binge eating disorder also involves eating large amounts of food - however unlike bulimia, there is usually no attempt to purge.

Binge eating can also be caused by other circumstances. For example, if you go without food for a long period of time, your body may think you're starving and send out physiological messages that cause you to overeating or binge.

Dieting can also cause binging to a less extent as well - especially very stringent dieting.

Regardless of what triggered the overeating, if you find yourself unable to stop binging or having other serious side effects you should get to a medical professional immediately.

Botton Line: So what is binge eating?

Basically it's eating a lot more than normal - usually of junk food like chocolate, sweets, pizza etc. - in a short period of time.

Many people overeat from time to time - especially on holidays. But if you find that food binges are becoming out of control, seek professional help as there can be larger psychological or physical issues behind the binges.

For more help with emotional eating, we recommend Dr Roger Gould's online program Shrink Yourself. It's a 12 week online interactive program that will help you stop emotional overeating and lose weight for good.

Was this information useful? This article on What Is Binge Eating is one of several articles found in our Emotional Eating information section.