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Carb Cravings? Feeling like you need to eat white flour/white sugar foods? Click here!
welcome to night eating!
Please read the following as it contains important information for optimal site
navigation!


If you haven't visited the homepage, you're missing out on some important info, so I'll just give you a "heads up" here!
You've reached "night eating," part of the emotional feelings network of sites. If you scroll
down to the footer on this page, you'll see the complete listing of all the sites in the network!
All of the sites
in the emotional feelings network of sites are linked together thru a very complete network of underlined link words. Anytime you see an underlined link word, if you should be interested in more information concerning that word, simply click on it & a new browser window will
appear. The page that opens up will give you an entire page filled with information concerning
the word of your interest.
the emotional feelings network
of sites was designed like this because as an ex-night eater, I was also faced with many other life dysfunctions,
mental illness I was unaware of, domestic violence, a lack of any positive self esteem & so much more....
As I began my recovery, I began to slowly discover how all of the subjects contained within the emotional feelings
network of sites are connected to each other. Soon I also discovered that there's power in educating yourself about it all.
As you gain power thru your newly acquired knowledge, you begin to regain a sense of control. As you begin to feel better, you become stronger & you're more able to begin your own journey thru recovery & personal growth. Once you begin, you will see how the subjects contained within this network of sites really is...
all pertinent information for you - as a night eater!
visit the homepage for a better understanding of what's contained within the emotional feelings network of
sites!
thanks for stopping by.... i hope that something
within the network will be of use to you today....
kathleen


"when my night eating began.... it was actually
a crossover from binging white bread & baked goods in the daytime....
i didn't want anyone to see me eating ... i didn't
want to be labeled the "one who ate all the cookies!"

Some reflections:
As I look back as well as
continue to correspond with those of you who may be experiencing night eating, I realize
that the eating / sleeping disorder that we've all been plagued with is certainly a sign
of emotional overload.
Whether you realize
it or not, something is "eating" you up inside. I've had people tell me that nothing is bothering them.
They insist that
their family history includes no dysfunctions. They can't remember any trauma, crises or emotional events that may have caused
emotional pain.
If you're a night eater, believe me, there's something in there. In where?
Inside that place, inside
your heart, your soul of souls, where you hide all the emotions & feelings that you don't know what to do with, how to cope with or don't want to face. It's that well of unresolved issues that stays quiet most of the time. It's that place that you
don't want to go to. It's that place that keeps you on edge. It's that place that doesn't allow you to get close to people
or be vulnerable to anyone.
Maybe you don't know
what it is. It's possible. The subconscious mind is very powerful. In this case, you have your work cut out for you in simply finding, identifying, recognizing & labeling the problems that are secretly plaguing you. If you have some ideas about what your hurts & inner turmoil is about, it's time to start sorting it all out.
Sometimes we have to go way back
in our lives to when we were born. It all starts there believe it or not. It all starts in the womb, actually. So get ready to learn more about yourself than you have ever known before.
This education will lead you to understanding. Understanding will lead you to acceptance & resolution. This will free you up to actually be able to stop the night eating.
There's some new information
at the bottom of the page you might be interested in reading. The chemicals in our brains might
be another missing piece of the night eating puzzle! I'm almost sure of it!
I wish you all well,
because I've been there. I will always be there. I don't believe the urge to night eat ever goes away completely. Once established as a coping mechanism, I believe that night eating is always on that back burner waiting for you to go to the kitchen again,
that first time in the night, to eat your first handful of cookies.
Think about it...
kathleen


the continuing debate amongst professionals today:
"Is night eating
syndrome a sleep disorder or an eating disorder?" the determining factor right now appears to be whether or not the individual's aware of the night eating while it's happening....
there's an "arrogance" surrounding sleep specialists' i've spoken with concerning the lack of knowledge about night
eating.... it's almost as if doctors in the medical profession think that individuals, "choose" this behavior as an "excuse" for their lack of control in eating habits....
as a survivor of night eating i have this opinion: i believe that in the initial stages of night eating, you know or are aware that you're waking up & eating in the night; but the more the syndrome escalates & the more sleep is interrupted,
the less aware one is of the eating process, it becomes almost mechanical & robotic.
....there were times in the most aggravated cycles of my night eating that i didn't remember waking to eat when i actually had done it.


can i tell you that night
eating is a parasomnia? (you may have heard that word in other
research you have done or from a doctor...) or an eating disorder? or a sleep disorder? or a sleep related eating disorder?
- i can only tell you what the experts are telling
us.... they really don't know much about night eating...
If you eat 12 SnackWell's Crème Sandwich Cookies which,
if you think about it, really isn't that hard to do: you've taken in 660 calories. That's more than 1/3 of the daily caloric intake.

The Merk Manual has
night-eating syndrome listed under the heading of obesity & has this to say about the syndrome:
The night-eating syndrome consists of:
Attempts at weight reduction in the presence of these 2 conditions are inordinately difficult & may
subject the patient to unnecessary extreme distress.
are you so tense, irritable, agitated, upset & anxious
that you can't read anymore now because it's difficult to concentrate & sit still? click here!
or just click here to read more information concerning night eating syndrome!
| If you've felt ambivalent about your eating habits |
|
|
| click the picture to visit the ambivalent page! |
If you think back in time, were you at one time a cigarette smoker?
Did you drink alcohol, take drugs, shop too much, get lost in bingo or gambling?
Have you always had a difficult time controlling your weight?
Have you always had a difficult time establishing a regular
exercise routine?
Have you been anxious, depressed or suffered panic attacks?
I ask you these questions because in my own situation, I
first tried to use alcohol to cope with my problems when I realized I was a night eater. I knew, even as a child, that I couldn't
eat all the cookies every night or eat an entire cake or pie.... besides being a pre-teen, my figure was very important to
me!

Listed under "other eating disorders" this info was found:
Night Eating Syndrome
Signs & symptoms
- not hungry &/or upset about how much was eaten the night before
- eating more food after dinner than during dinner
- eating more than 1/2 of daily food intake after dinner but before breakfast
- the pattern has persisted for at least 2 months
- night eating behavior isn't exactly like
binge eating which is done in relatively short episodes
- night-eating syndrome involves continual waking & eating throughout
evening hours

 Click to join nighteating101
consider joining us in the newly formed "night eaters
group" at yahoo groups! there's a few new members who have joined already & articles posted in the database for added
help to those trying to stop night eating! it's a support opportunity for those experiencing night eating.... join us....
we'd love to see you there! click the above yahoo groups link to join!


personal note from kathleen:
In association with the
information above, I just wanted you to understand that with my case of night eating, I had the exact symptoms as mentioned
above. There wasn't a single deviation from their descriptions.
After night eating I'd find myself feeling as though I had a "food hangover" in the morning from all the foods I
had eaten the night before. Most, if not all - of those foods included the high carbohydrate content mentioned and with my particular personal comfort food or weakness being bread, sweets & cereal.
I believe that I chose these foods for 2 significant reasons:
- Comfort: when I was a child, my mother was very distant & cold, experiencing her own depression & dysfunctional marriage & not realizing how it was affecting her children; but there was always one avenue of love & assurance that she offered me - home baked cookies, breads & sweets - there was always an abundance of them in
our home - they instilled a feeling of caring towards me somehow...
- An addictive factor in such foods: high carb foods - white flour &
white sugar foods break down into the same elements as alcohol does... alcohol addiction ran in my family - my parents were both addicted to alcohol, as i was in my teen & early adult life - thus trading in one negative coping method for another when I quit drinking

This "food hangover" would make me believe that I needed to starve myself during the day because I ate so much food at night!
This was a false belief! I was actually perpetuating the night eating syndrome by making myself so hungry at night
that my hunger pains worked in combination with the habitual cycle that I was in.
This almost assured me that
I would night eat again the next night.



Night Eating
Syndrome: a Result of Stress?
This syndrome is fairly common in obese persons.
Experts have evidence that Night Eating Syndrome
(NES), in which over 50% of daily food intake is consumed after 8 p.m.,
may be related to stress rather than hunger or other emotional factors.
While NES is fairly uncommon in the general
population (it's estmated to affect between 1 & 2% of adults), studies show that it
may occur in up to approximately 1/4 of obese persons. NES
was first described in 1955 & is characterized by:
-
lack of or decreased appetite during the day
-
insomnia
-
increased appetite at night
-
evening hyperphagia (increased eating) & nocturnal
eating (arising to eat after having gone to bed)
-
feeling tense, anxious, worried, or guilty while eating
-
the tendency to eat carbohydrate-rich
foods such as sugars & starchy foods.

In contrast to
binge eating disorder, which is characterized by short intense bursts of eating, NES sufferers generally eat
continuously through the evening & night. The causes of NES haven't been understood & it's been thought to result from a combination of environmental & biological factors.
Researchers in Norway studied the neuroendocrine patterns & stress hormone levels in a small group of women with NES & compared these to normal controls.
The doctors injected the study participants & controls with a dose of
the hormone CRH, which stimulates the body's stress response & measured the levels of hormones ACTH & cortisol in response to this trigger.
In the night eaters, the stress response - as measured by the secretion of ACTH & cortisol following CRH injection - was distinctly attenuated. CRH-induced ACTH levels were down 47% & cortisol levels were decreased by 71% in the night eaters.
These findings, published in the February 2002 issue of the American Journal
of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism, suggest that a disordered stress response, characterized by a reduced pituitary- adrenal stress reaction, may be a cause of
NES.
An abnormal pituitary
gland function has also been detected in several other disorders such as insomnia, chronic fatigue syndrome, eating disorders & other mood disruptions.
Reference: Birketvedt GS, Sundsfjord J, Florholmen JR. Hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal axis in the night eating syndrome.
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2002 Feb;282(2):e366-9.
More information concerning cortisol and other hormones at the bottom of this page!



How many people have night-eating syndrome?
Perhaps only 1-2% of
adults in the general population have this problem, but one study suggests that more than a 1/4 (27%)
of people who're overweight by at least 100 pounds eat this way.
Comments
Night-eating syndrome hasn't yet been formally defined as an eating disorder. Underlying causes are being identified and treatment plans are still being developed. It seems likely that a combination
of biological, genetic and emotional factors contribute to the problem.
Researchers are especially interested in the foods chosen by night eaters. The heavy preference for carbohydrates, which trigger the brain to produce so-called
"feel-good" neurochemicals, suggests that night eating may be an unconscious attempt
to self-medicate mood problems.
If you're seeking help for night-eating
syndrome, you'd be wise to schedule a complete physical exam with your primary care physician and also an evaluation
with a counselor trained in the field of eating disorders.
In addition, a dietitian can help develop meal plans that distribute
intake more evenly throughout the day so that you're not so vulnerable to caloric loading in the evening.


so.... night eaters tend to control
themselves at times - what happens when the night eater attempts to go on a diet to lose some of the excess weight gained
from night eating????
Say that you weigh 150 pounds.
That means that you burn 1,800 calories per day
in a resting state.
Let's also imagine that in the course of a day
you burn 200 more calories living your life:
Your calorie needs then are, on average, 2,000
calories per day.
On average, you consume 2,050 calories per day.
On a daily basis your body is taking in & therefore storing, 50 calories more than it needs. So every 70 days (3,500 calories
in a pound / 50 calories each day = 70 days) you gain 1 pound (0.45 kg).
If that "50 extra calories per day" trend continues,
then over the course of a year you would gain 5 pounds. This, by the way, is the pattern for a big portion of the US population.
If you over-consume by just a few calories per
day, over time you'll gain weight. Keep in mind that just one Oreo-type cookie contains 50 calories, so over-consuming (night eaters) is incredibly easy.

One cookie contains 50 calories.
Realizing
how much food a night eater takes in at night, you decide to limit yourself in the daytime when you're "in control."
You consume nothing but 2 cups of brown rice &
a can of Vienna sausages, along with all the onions you care to eat, every day. You start this
eating pattern & you are consuming only 1,000 calories per day.
You also start jogging 2 miles a day. That means
that, on a typical day, you're consuming 1,200 calories less than you need.
Over the course of 3 days (3,500 calories in a pound / 1,200 calories each day = approximately 3 days), you will lose 1 pound of weight.
You keep on this diet for 2 months & lose 20
pounds.
The day you go off this
diet, what's going to happen? First, you are probably going to eat a lot more than normal because you've been eating
nothing but rice & Vienna sausages for 2 months!
Then you will settle into your "normal
night eating pattern" that you had before the controlled diet. Eventually all of the weight comes back & you're depressed, frustrated & hating yourself.
You eat twice as much at night.
This is why diets don't work for most
people. You do lose weight, but then go off the diet & gain it back. What is needed instead is a sustainable diet - a food consumption & exercise plan - that lets you live a normal life & eat normal foods in a normal way.
check in at changes to learn more about healthy foods & great exercise choices.



Yes, it's me again, kathleen, another conclusion I came to after learning more about chemical changes
in the brain thru different emotions, feelings, mental disorder, sleep disorders & eating disorders....
After learning that researchers are studying about the chemical
changes in the body & the brain as a result of night eating, it suddenly occurred to me that there are chemical changes
occurring in the brain & the body as a result of different emotions & feelings as well as because of different mental
disorders...
I've included directly below a description of the chemical
changes that occur in the body & brain as a result of the emotion of fear. how many night eaters are experiencing fear
as well as frustration, hopelessness, anxiety and so many more emotions & feelings?
Also see the links to chemical changes in the body &
brain as a result of mental disorders over at anxieties 101...
What conclusions are you beginning to make?
Add some physical illnesses caused by your night eating,
sleep disorders & any other negative result of negative coping methods & you begin to realize that you body &
brain are so chemically out of whack that you must get control over yourself.... .





Understanding the nervous system
Our nervous system is made up of 3 basic parts:
·
Central Nervous System - the brain & spinal cord
·
Peripheral Nervous System - nerves that run to & from the central nervous system
· Autonomic Nervous System: Sympathetic,
parasympathetic & enteric nervous system: The sympathetic nervous system is aroused by stress, anger or fear. The parasympathetic nervous system
calms & relaxes. The enteric nervous system is responsible for the gut or alimentary canal.
Essentially, our nervous system not only keeps us informed about the world outside us & inside us, but it also allows us to react to it.
Every muscle we move, everything we physically feel & every tissue in our body is controlled or monitored by our nervous system.
If
we sense we're in danger, our body naturally alters its chemistry in order to prepare us for this emergency.
It's the Sympathetic Nervous System which
is responsible for causing these changes to occur. Its function is similar to a modern country's national defense system:
- If danger is detected, all stations are put
on alert.
- These stations increase their area monitoring
so that if the danger approaches a particular location, a message can be sent to the command center.
- The command is dispatched for the appropriate
response.
- If the danger is of
only a minor concern, a yellow alert may be sent out.
- If the danger is more
threatening, a red alert response is sent.
- While in the alert
stage, the various locations continually update the command center with status reports so that the command center can adjust its response according to
the status of the danger.
Information
such as where the damage is located, extent of damage, necessary troops needed to fight, amount of supplies needed & so on, is continually sent until the danger is over.

Our nervous system acts similarly. If we perceive danger, our body's defense mechanisms are put on alert, ready to act at a moment's notice.
The degree of alertness is determined by the amount
of perceived danger. Not only does our nervous
system become extremely receptive, which instantaneously feeds our command center (the brain) information with which we can make quick decisions, but it also prepares our bodies for action by inducing into our bloodstream a "super fuel"
for us to use in the case of action.
When
our bodies perceive danger, our chemistry
changes according to the amount of
the perceived danger. This means that if you sense you're in a slightly dangerous situation, the chemical changes may be small
or barely noticeable. But if you perceive you are in a life - threatening situation, the chemical changes may be extreme.
There
are many theories as to the exact order of the chemical reaction, but the most agreed to is this:
- When
we sense danger, a part of the brain called the Hypothalamus sends out the initial alarm.
- This alarm stimulates
the pituitary gland
- Which in turn signals
the adrenal glands to release into the bloodstream a drug called adrenaline (epinephrine).
· This chemical action has
commonly been called the "fight or
flight response." This process prepares
the body for action. Some of the most noticeable changes we experience are:
· increased rate of breathing
· increased blood flow to the brain & heart
· increased heart rate
· increased awareness
· increased metabolism
· increased energy
· increased blood pressure
· increased muscle blood flow & constriction of blood vessels & arteries
· the ability for the blood to quickly clot

Do some of these sound familiar? It's been proven that
too much adrenaline causes fear & anxiety.
It's important to know that every human being experiences this process
to varying degrees when faced w/danger.
I repeat that - the degree of perceived danger determines the degree of response. This process continues until the perceived danger has passed.
This is very important to remember: Once the danger is over, the body - if allowed to - naturally breaks down the induced chemicals, which allows
the body to return to its normal relaxed state.
This early warning defense
system helps us to survive in times of danger, but unfortunately, if we continue to remain in the "red alert" stage or continue to push the panic button without
the necessary time for our bodies to rejuvenate or rebuild, we can overwork our nervous system. Not only does our nervous system sense danger from outside our bodies, it also senses danger or damage from
inside.
i.e., if we're over-using a particular muscle, this
muscle, w/the help of our nervous system, will tell our brain there's a problem which needs attention.
The message that is sent by our nervous system may be pain or fatigue. If we listen to the message, as we should, we'd stop working until the pain or fatigue goes away, which is how the nervous system lets
us know when we can resume working. If
we don't listen to the message, further damage may result & the messages become stronger. These messages will continue to intensify until
we're forced to stop the damage. In the case of a muscle, the message may be intense pain or muscle spasms.

Our nervous system is
no different. If we're continually over -working the nervous system, it'll send us early warning messages that tell us something
is wrong.
These messages may be in the form of a headache,
stiff neck, fatigue, trembling, depression, tight muscles, insomnia & so on.
There are a vast number of messages that could be sent. If we listen, relax & give the nervous system some time off, it'll rebuild
itself & be ready for more later.
If we don't listen to the messages, they'll continue to intensify until we can no longer ignore them.
Understanding how you got ill
Everyday life
experiences such as anger, frustration, sorrow, worry, excitement, tension, strenuous exercise, anxiousness, nervousness, always being in a hurry, always having to please people, always doing the
absolute best you can, caffeine, alcohol, sugar & many other drugs or emotions, cause our emergency system to be activated.
Everything we do stimulates our nervous system to
some degree or other. Our nervous
system is "hard-wired" into our bodies
& there's nothing we can do to change that. What we can do is understand how it works & be aware of what messages it's sending us so that we can respond to those messages with positive rejuvenating actions.

I want you to think back in your life to shortly before your illness began. Ask yourself:
·
Were you under a lot of stress recently or for a sustained period of time?
· Did
you experience a frightening event?
· Were you working too hard or too many hours w/out proper rest?
· Was there an illness in the family?
· Were you facing an operation?
·
Were you experiencing financial
problems?
·
Did you feel
you would never get caught up?
· Did
you always have too much to do?
· Were
you experiencing family problems?
·
Were you fired from a job
you enjoyed?
Did you change jobs recently?
· Were
you extremely frustrated in a job that you couldn't quit?
·
Are you afraid of flying & your job
requires that you fly a lot?
·
Are you afraid of being alone?
· Were you in an accident recently?
· Were you afraid of being sick?
These are only examples of the many things that may have happened before you
became ill.
As I mentioned earlier, if we don't allow the
nervous system time off, it has no chance of rejuvenating itself.

Life is a matter of balance. If we're bothered by something 8 hours a day, we should have at least an equal 8 hours
a day of mental time off just to break even. The more the balance shifts away from the rejuvenation period towards the stress period, the more over-worked your nervous system becomes.
Unfortunately,
continuous stress can happen over an extended period of time & consequently we don't notice the effects
of a tired nervous system immediately.
When we do notice the messages, most of us will either ignore the symptoms or get a quick fix "band-aid" medical treatment.
i.e., if we get a headache, we'll take a pain
reliever. If we get acid indigestion, we'll take an antacid. If we get shaky, we'll have a couple of drinks or perhaps a cigarette. If our shakiness becomes worse, we'll get a tranquilizer.
The list goes on & on. We've been trained to think that if we
mask the symptom, the problem also disappears. As you now know, that doesn't
work. What we really should do is eliminate the underlying problem or at least give ourselves sufficient rest until our nervous system says that it's
okay to return.
In most cases, our responsibilities, social commitments & time schedules dictate how our priorities are set. Our technological society today
is bombarding us with a deluge of information, responsibilities & demands.
It seems to be human nature that the more we can do, the more we want to do.
Our boom in technology is nourished only by our desire to make things that are better & faster. This race to
perfection has us doing more so we can do more,
as quickly as humanly possible.
Our nervous system doesn't work that way. It needs a balance. It needs time to rest. Because the nervous system senses danger
from the outside & inside, it's difficult to give it a rejuvenating rest.
If we're living & breathing, the nervous system
is active. Even though we're away from the physical problems of day-to-day life, the internal system is
still working.
If we have a particular problem on our mind,
our thoughts stimulate the nervous system accordingly. If we're only mildly bothered,
the body responds slightly. If we feel
we have a major problem, the body
naturally responds with a major reaction.
If
we're continually working the nervous
system without sufficient
time to recover & we continually ignore the early warning messages, our symptoms will intensify until they get our undivided attention by making us ill.
How did you get ill? By not allowing your
nervous system time to rejuvenate.
Understanding what's keeping
you ill
Once our symptoms are strong enough to make us ill, another situation occurs. If we don't receive the proper
help & advice, these strong symptoms may now become the cause of the nervous system "always being on alert." Now our symptoms become the problem. We become afraid of our symptoms because they feel so bad & are so unsettling.

The "fear cycle" begins.
An over-worked nervous system begins to send us messages by itself whenever it decides to.
We could be trying to relax in a quiet room when all of a sudden we feel one or
more of those dreaded feelings. This usually makes the unsuspecting
person think "oh-oh, what's happening", which in turn activates the emergency warning system which then causes the chemistry in the body
to "get ready for action".
Now the chemistry in the body that over-worked the nervous system in the first place is being induced into the bloodstream again. This sets up a repetitive cycle: symptom-fear-adrenaline
symptom-fear-adrenaline...
Once you understand that the more adrenaline there is in the bloodstream, the more sensitive you become & the more sensitive you become, the more symptoms you'll
experience... it's easy to see how
someone who has an over-worked nervous
system can be
trapped for a long time.
Let's recall the emergency response chain of events:
· Hypothalamus senses danger &
sends a message to the Pituitary gland.
·
The Pituitary gland sends
a message to the Adrenal glands.
· The Adrenal glands release adrenaline into the blood-stream.
Adrenaline sets up other chemical reactions & prepares the body for
action. All systems go.
To further clarify the "fear cycle":
· Our over-worked, adrenaline-fatigued nervous system causes a symptom.
·
We become concerned & fearful about the symptom.
· Our
mind senses danger & sends an automatic message to the Pituitary gland.
· The
Pituitary gland sends a message to the adrenal glands.
· The
Adrenal glands release more adrenaline into the bloodstream.
·
Adrenaline sets up other chemical reactions & prepares the body for action. All systems go.
- Another symptom, more fear, another chemical reaction, another symptom, more
fear, another chemical reaction & so on.
As this "fear cycle" or ill spell becomes
established in the individual, the emergency chemical levels increase in the blood. This produces more symptoms & the
occurrences of the fear cycle becomes more regular & more intense.
The body is telling you to give it some rest to recover. The problem is that since the danger is
now being sensed inside you, you have no means to get away, hence you can't relax & the "fear cycle" intensifies.
This not only makes the individual sensitive & stressful, the illness also forces that person to change his or her lifestyle because of poor health, which
adds more fuel to the "fear cycle."
Since the sick spells are coming more often & are more intense, normal
everyday experiences become difficult to live with. Because of the nature of the symptoms & the fact that they can come
at any time, the individual now only finds comfort at home.
Therefore, any venture away from these comfortable surroundings produces a nervous response, which will make
the individual ill. Even places where the individual used to go may be uncomfortable because of an earlier "bad experience".
i.e., Joe X is becoming nervously exhausted. He doesn't know what's about to happen to him because he hasn't paid attention to his earlier symptoms.
Joe is always on the go in search of his financial freedom. One day while having lunch at his favorite restaurant, he experiences his first panic attack.
He becomes overwhelmed by these feelings & has to immediately leave. He rushes home & stays in bed for 2 or 3 days. Because
of the nature of this illness, he feels okay again & returns to his hectic lifestyle only to suffer another attack.
These attacks continue to happen out of the blue & because he doesn't get the proper information,
he now becomes afraid of the attacks. Since he doesn't want those feelings, he begins to stop going to the places where he had his attacks in order to prevent them from returning.
One day he's asked to go for lunch at the restaurant where he experienced
his first attack & because this brings back the memory of his bad experience, he declines in fear.
He goes to another restaurant, but because he's now afraid of having an embarrassing attack there, he is nervous. While sitting
& talking, he has another attack, becomes afraid & has to leave once again.
This experience tells him not to go to restaurants because he can't handle
it. He knows that he can't quit work so he has to go there no matter what. The thought of "no matter what" scares him & now he's nervous about what will
happen if he gets sick at an important meeting.
The next morning an important meeting is scheduled for two o'clock that
afternoon. He thinks to himself that he had better not get "that
feeling" during the meeting.
He becomes nervous about it & while in the meeting, as he thinks to himself,
"what happens if I get sick, I'll make
a fool out of myself & I can't leave".

This thought stimulates the emergency response & his chemistry changes to prepare for danger.
This chemical change, as you now know, is enough to make Joe X have another attack. He has to immediately leave the meeting & ends up home ill again.
As Joe X continues in his illness, his world begins to shrink. More &
more things that were normal to him are now riddled w/bad experiences. His
world continually shrinks until he is house-bound, afraid to go anywhere because of the panic attacks.
My dictionary defines "agoraphobia" as "the morbid fear of open places". This term is often
used to describe an individual who becomes house-bound because of the illness I'm describing.
Unfortunately, in this case it's a misconception to think that the individual is afraid of people or open places. The reality of the situation is that they're afraid of the panic attack or the fear itself.
Since the over-worked nervous system
is extremely sensitive & the emergency chemical levels are on average abnormally
higher, even the slightest increase in adrenaline can tip the scales from just being nervous
to an all out panic attack.
Therefore, if you add together the average everyday stresses w/an already very over-worked & sensitive nervous system, plus the stress of being ill & trying to find the proper answers, plus the embarrassment of not being able to function normally, plus the sheer fear of the panic attacks themselves, it's easy to understand why this illness can consume the sufferer for a long time if the proper help isn't found.
What keeps you ill?
Not understanding your nervous
system & being trapped by the "fear cycle."

Some personal thoughts just for you...
I keep digging down deep,
searching within myself for the absolute correct words to say that will offer you just what you're looking for while you're
here. I want to relay to you so badly, the importance of giving up night eating now.
It's not just the fact
that you have to make the decision to try to stop night eating, it's the fact that in order to quit night eating, you MUST...
let me repeat that.... you MUST make a commitment to yourself to stop. It's not easy. You'll want to give up.
But when you do give
up... it's a few more nights of night eating when you wake up feeling like you have
a food hangover....it's then... that you'll remember why you needed to quit the habit so badly.
please read my column on confidence i recently wrote... click here!
I'm just so intent on trying
to make you see how important it is to try to get better and never give up. I have been night eating my entire life. Many
people who write in tell me that they've been night eating for 20 years...
There is a way to stop.
It just takes commitment, confidence, determination & education which in turn allows you to understand why you've been
night eating.
When I had escaped from
living in domestic violence, I picked up and moved my son and I when I was due to have my last baby, at 37 years of age. I
arrived here in Dayton, two days before I delivered my daughter - which was by the way - my due date. Soon after that I had
to re-establish myself, start all over again - I had to get a whole new life.
I began working in a catering company.
This catering company was hard work, but I had always done well with managing, waitressing and cooking in restaurants. Dealing
with the public was so simple for me to do. It wasn't long and I was promoted to sales. After awhile, I was doing so well,
I was promoted again to Sales Manager. Even though I was working between sixty to eighty hours a week, I loved it!
The customers loved me as well.
Things were almost perfect. The problem was my boss. My immediate supervisor was a woman who was very difficult to get along
with. She was always forgetting to do thiings on her jobs. She would forget to enter some of the jobs into the computer. It
was getting very tense in there when her customers started to ask if I could help them instead of her.
She began to be nasty with me.
When this started I made a commitment to myself. I told myself, "I will not quit this job because of her." I used to sit in
my chair and repeat that to myself over and over. It was important to me that I keep this job. I earnestly loved this job.
I did well with this job. My kids could come to work with me sometimes, watch television or a movie and it all just worked
out.
But this woman
continued to harrass me. One lunchtime when everything was especially chaotic because one of our servers didn't
show up for work, there were also deliveries to make and I was the one who was having to go run around and fix everything
that went wrong and make the deliveries. I was running around like a mad woman, literally running, and my boss was hot on
my tail ... nagging me and nagging me about things that she had forgotten to enter in on the paperwork. The problem was, "It
was her job and her mistakes that I was fixing." She had no right to be antagonizing me like she was. I stopped aburptly as
she followed directly behind me. As she bumped into me slightly I turned around to face her.
I told her in no uncertain terms
that she was speaking to me in an abusive manner. I told her loud enough for everyone to hear that I had already had 3 abusive
relationships with husbands who spoke to me the way she was and I had left them all. I told her that no one was allowed to
talk to me in an abusive manner. I told her that I had made a commitment to myself that she wouldn't be the reason that I
quit this job when the time came, so I was going home for the rest of the day on personal time.
She was totally silent.
She followed me as I unloaded my car. She began to apologize, but I told her that I wasn't accepting any apologies until she
had time to think about what I had said. She wanted me to go do the jobs. But I had put my foot down. I was in tears, but
they were good tears. I knew that I had the confidence within myself from counselring. I was proud of what I had
accomplished. I loved my job and I wouldn't let anyone control me any more.
It was with this attitude
that I was able to quit night eating. I refused to do it any longer. I just went on with my business. I made the
commitment and never looked back..
Kathleen


Brain Changes Seen In People With Depression
JACKSON - A scientist at the
University of Mississippi Medical Center has demonstrated for the first time that two types of brain cells are abnormal in
the brains of people who suffered from clinical depression & most of whom committed suicide.
Dr. Grazyna Rajkowska, associate
professor of psychiatry & human behavior, looked at the region of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex.
This "gray matter" -- located
just behind the forehead -- is responsible for higher intellectual functions & regulation of emotional & motivational behavior.
The results of Rajkowska's
work appear in the lead article in the May issue of the journal, Biological Psychiatry.
Earlier work that scanned
the same region of the brain in living subjects indicated that this region of the brain was smaller in those who suffered
from depression than in the brains of those who didn't.

"The decrease in volume was
an indication to me that something was unusual in the cell architecture & that there might be cellular changes in that
area," she said.
The changes Rajkowska noted
were in neurons & glial cells. The neurons are the basic unit of the brain, transmitting & receiving signals &
processing information. Glial cells form the "support system" for the neurons.
They don't transmit impulses,
but they:
- control the nutrients the neurons get from the blood
- are active in the immune response
- generally facilitate the work of the neurons
While other scientists pinpointed
changes in glial cells in one region of the cerebral cortex in individuals w/depression, Rajkowska's work at the same time found changes in both types of cells in 3 different regions of the cerebral cortex.
Rajkowska's career has been
spent examining changes in the brain in several types of psychiatric & neurological illnesses including:
- schizophrenia
- manic-depressive illness
- Huntington's disease

Her current research in depression showed there are fewer glial cells in the brains of people w/depression & that the neurons in the same brains were smaller than normal & lower in density.
The opposite is true in neurodegenerative
diseases such as Huntington's chorea. "In these kinds of brain illnesses, neurons die & the glial cells try to compensate
& support the neurons that are still alive. That's why there are more glial cells in diseases classified as neurodegenerative,"
Rajkowska said.
Further studies will show
whether the changes in the brain were the result of depression or anti-depressant medication prescribed to help depression.
To sort out that information,
Rajkowska will work w/ neuroendocrinolgist Dr. Garth Bissette, professor of psychiatry at UMC, who has an animal model for
depression in rats & will look at rats given antidepressants & those not given medication.
"If the structural changes
we're seeing do, in fact, coincide w/clinical depression, we could be looking at a major step toward designing better antidepressants," she said. "We will certainly know more about
the mechanisms of depression."
Rajkowska's work also points
to depression as more than a "chemical imbalance," as it's been called. "It's actually a complicated
physiological illness that involves both brain structure & biological processes," she said.
Rajkowska uses brain tissue
collected by Dr. Craig Stockmeier of the University Hospitals of Cleveland & Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland,
Ohio.

There, researchers seek permission
from the families of suicide victims for donation of brain tissue & an interview. By asking certain key questions, the
interviewer determines if the person who committed suicide also had major depression or another type of psychiatric illness.
In addition, donations of
brain tissue are sought from people who had no history psychiatric illness.
"These control subjects are
valuable standards for comparison w/ the suicide victims," Stockmeier said. "They enable us to identify abnormalities in the brains
of people w/clinical depression."
Rajkowska & colleagues
Stockmeier & Dr. Greg Ordway, associate professor of psychiatry & human behavior at UMC, share the brain tissue to
examine several biological features in a number of brain regions.
While Rajkowska focuses on
changes in neuroanatomy in the brain, Ordway & Stockmeier examine two neurochemicals, norepinephrine & serotonin,
that appear to be key to regulation of mood & suicidal inclinations.
This collaborative research
receives financial support from the National Institutes of Health & private foundations including National Alliances for
Research on Schizophrenia & Depression & the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Rajkowska will be a panelist
at a satellite symposium organized by the National Institute of Mental Health this month during the annual meeting of the
American Psychiatric Association. She was invited as 1 of the 5 leading scientists in the country on the neurobiology of mental
disorders.
It was Rajkowska's work that
allowed scientists for the first time to identify characteristics of overlapping layers of brain tissue in the cerebral cortex.
"The layers are formed at different points in the brain's development & I found cellular characteristics that distinguish
one cortical layer from another. Now, when you look for cell changes, you can know at what period of development the changes
occurred."



Date: 2002-02-18
"Night Eating Syndrome" May Be Related To The Performance Of The
Body - Not The Mind
Bethesda, MD (February 4, 2002) -- According
to new research findings by Norwegian physiologists, the midnight raid on the refrigerator may not be
the product of an insatiable appetite.
Instead, the night eater may be suffering from a failure of the body to respond appropriately to stress. In addition to irregular eating habits, this condition can lead to a number of harmful psychological & physical disorders.
“Night eating syndrome” will soon join the ranks of conditions related to the
performance of the body & not state of mind.
Background
The anatomical & functional
relationships between the nervous system & the endocrine apparatus of the night eating syndrome
has previously been described as changes in the circadian rhythm (biologic variations or rhythms
w/a cycle of about 24 hours) by a nocturnal rise of plasma concentrations of melatonin & leptin & an increased
circadian secretion of the steroid hormone, cortisol.

Cortisol, melatonin &
leptin are regulatory hormones w/typical circadian rhythms that regulate various physiological & metabolic functions.
Another main regulator is
the hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis, which coordinates several biological functions. The circadian rhythms represent
the biological endocrine clock, whereas the HPA represents the stress-induced biological response.
However, the interplay between
these two main regulators of biological functions isn't well understood. Therefore, observations of irregular secretions of circadian neuroendocrine secretions inclusive of cortisol are of special
interest, as the night eating syndrome most likely represents changes in the HPA axis.
The Study
The aim of this study was
to test the hypothesis that night eaters have an overexpressed hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal
axis w/a diminished response to stress.
The authors of "Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal
Axis in the Night Eating Syndrome" are Grethe S. Birketvedt, Johan Sundsfjord & Jon R. Florholmen, all from the University
of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway.
Their findings are published
in the February 2002 edition of the American Journal of Physiology -- Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Methodology
This study investigated the
neuroendocrine patterns of subjects w/ night-eating syndrome. 5 female night eaters &
corresponding age & weight-matched healthy controls were recruited, w/the night-eaters
diagnosed w/the consumption of >50 % of the daily food intake after 8:00 PM & w/1 or more nighttime awakenings associated
w/food intake.
Night-eating
episodes were recorded for 7 consecutive days. Subjects were then admitted to the Clinical Research Center at 8:00 AM after
an overnight fast.
Shortly after admission, blood
samples were drawn from an indwelling catheter during the next 150 min. After an observation period of 30 min of rest in bed,
100g of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH; corticorelin human trifluoroacetat) were injected
intravenously & the response parameters of ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) &
cortisol levels in plasma were measured.
The subjects stayed in bed
during the observation period. Blood was collected in precooled glass tubes containing 20 mmol EDTA and 1,000 KIU aprotinin)
per milliliter blood & were kept on ice until centrifugation at 4°C & storage at -27°C. Cortisol & ACTH were then
measured using commercial immunoassay.
The significance of differences
between the two groups in the plasma concentrations at time point 0 was evaluated by a Wilcoxon’s rank sum test.
The significance of differences
between the two groups in the changes in plasma concentrations (after subtracting the levels at
baseline, 0 min) during the CRH test was evaluated by repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance. P >0.05
was considered statistically significant.
Results
The incidence of night-eating
episodes during the seven 7-day observation period was 3.2 + 0.5 among the night eaters,
whereas among the healthy controls no night eating episodes took place.
The results showed that, in
night eaters compared w/controls, the CRH-induced ACTH & cortisol response was significantly
decreased to 47% & 71% respectively. Disturbances in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis w/a diminished ACTH &
cortisol response to CRH were found in subjects w/night eating syndrome.
Conclusions
The study found that:
- The results indicate that the night
eating syndrome is associated w/a reduced pituitary-adrenal response to CRH.
- The elevated plasma levels of cortisol reflect increased activity
of CRH, as expressed by an attenuated ACTH & cortisol response that may well explain the disrupted sleep & appetite
pattern observed in night eaters.
Several other disorders, such as obesity, fatigue syndrome,
anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa , insomnia & depression, have been linked to disturbances in the HPA axis.
All of these disorders share some phenotypes w/the night eaters, such as mood disruptions, eating disorders & sleeping disorders. Whether these clinical features are the result of common pathophysiological mechanisms in the HPA axis remains to be clarified
& awaits further studies.
The authors also concluded
that subjects suffering from night eating episodes have signs of disturbances in the HPA
axis w/an attenuated ACTH & cortisol response to CRH. The mechanisms behind the increased CRH stimulation may involve
alterations in the neurotransmitter systems, causing increased nocturnal appetite & disruption in the sleep pattern.
This may, to some extent,
explain the disturbances in the circadian secretions of melatonin & leptin & the behavioral characteristics of the
night eating syndrome.
Source: American Journal of Physiology -- Endocrinology and Metabolism,
February 2002.
The American Physiological Society (APS) was founded in 1887 to foster
basic and applied science, much of it relating to human health. The Bethesda, MD-based Society has more than 10,000 members
and publishes 3,800 articles in its 14 peer-reviewed journals every year.



Body's Food Cycle Amiss in Night Eaters
Oct. 16, 2003 -- Night
eating syndrome is commonly seen in overweight people. And new research shows that the cause may
be an abnormal food cycle in the body.
Researchers say
that people w/night eating syndrome appear to have disturbed circadian
rhythms of food intake. Circadian rhythms are the cycle that your body operates on
-- your body's 24-hour clock.
Night eating syndrome
is seen in about 6% of people who seek treatment for obesity, according to Albert Stunkard, MD, emeritus director of the Weight
& Eating Disorders Program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Night eating
syndrome may also run in families.
First described
by Stunkard in 1955, night eating syndrome may be stress related & is often accompanied by depression. Individuals w/the disorder eat 1/3 or more of their daily calories after their evening meal, sometimes rising
from their beds once or twice a night to snack.
Speaking at the
North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) annual meeting this week, Stunkard
presented some of his latest findings.
In his new
study, Stunkard & colleagues monitored sleep/wake activity over one week in 55 obese adults w/night
eating syndrome. Participants were compared w/60 people of similar weight who didn't have night
eating syndrome.
The researchers
found that night eating syndrome involves a disturbed circadian
rhythm of food intake while circadian sleep rhythm remains normal.
"The circadian rhythm of food intake is extremely disturbed & the timing is delayed by 4 or 5 hours
compared to that in normal people," Stunkard tells WebMD.
According
to the researchers, night eating syndrome "is the first clinical disorder to manifest different
circadian rhythms of two biological systems."
Stunkard
also found that 36% of those w/night eating syndrome had at least one first-degree relative
w/the disorder, compared w/22% of those who weren't night eaters.
The researchers
also report that night eating syndrome may respond to treatment w/the antidepressant Zoloft.
In a separate
study of 17 night eaters, 29% of patients taking Zoloft experienced total remission of the
disorder & 18% improved significantly. This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health & Pfizer Pharmaceuticals,
the manufacturers of Zoloft.
On average,
nighttime awakenings fell by 60%, nighttime eating by 70% & number of calories eaten after supper by 40%, they report.
A paper describing
these research findings will be published in the January issue of the International Journal of Eating Disorders.
Stunkard
says that their ongoing research is looking at the effect of certain hormones, such as insulin & leptin, on circadian rhythms.
With reporting by Emma Hitt, PhD.



Dark secret: Night eating syndrome
By LINDA STAHL The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal Mar. 16, 2005 05:05
PM
Imagine a scenario where you get up in the morning with absolutely
no hunger. You don't eat.
As the day wears on, you drink a lot of coffee. You eat
a light lunch or snack.
Come dinnertime you're ravenous. You eat dinner.
But then you snack after dinner almost continuously right up to the
time you go to bed. Your choices might include candy, cookies, potato chips or ice cream.
After
falling asleep, you wake up & are convinced you can't get back to sleep unless you eat something. You feel frantic. That's when you steal into the kitchen & eat peanut butter right out of the jar.
This
is the pattern day after day for people with night eating syndrome.
Dr. Albert J. Stunkard, a psychiatrist & director emeritus
of the Weight & Eating Disorders Program in the Dept. of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, first
described night eating syndrome with two colleagues in 1955.
Today the syndrome, which had remained a lesser-known disorder for years, is getting new attention because of
its link to obesity & the current focus on overweight Americans, says Kelly C. Allison, a psychologist who is director
of the night eating syndrome study at the University of Pennsylvania.
Night eating syndrome affects about 1 - 2% of the general population.
While you don't have to be obese to have night eating syndrome, about 25% of people who are overweight by at least 100 pounds are thought to have night eating syndrome, according to several studies.
Both men & women are affected, with women representing about 60% of sufferers & men about 40%.
Research published last year in the International Journal of Eating Disorders indicated the syndrome
might be a pathway to obesity.
An obese group & non-obese group with almost identical night eating behaviors
were studied. The only difference that emerged was age. The non-obese were about 10 years younger, which led researchers to
speculate that the night eating disorder would make them obese
in time.
Those with night eating syndrome consume
more than half of their daily food intake during & after dinner.
The foods of night eaters tend to be sugary & starchy.
"They're
eating chips & cookies," says Cheryl Ades, a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in a center that treats
eating disorders in Louisville, Ky. "They're grabbing a pack of Reese's."
She says
research shows night eaters are trying to relieve stress. The brain triggers a heavy preference for carbohydrates so the anxious mood of the person can be quieted.
Norwegian researchers found evidence the midnight
raid on the refrigerator has more to do with the failure of the body to respond appropriately to stress than to a person's appetite. The hypothalamus, pituitary & adrenal glands may be chronically overstimulated in people
with night eating syndrome.
Allison says that in
her night eating syndrome study group the usual age of onset is about 30 & for about
3/4, there was a trigger event for the behavior.
"There was a stressful event - the loss of a job, difficult pregnancy, getting off drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. They calmed their stress or anxiety by eating."
The University of Pennsylvania research has shown that the circadian
cycle, 24-hour biological rhythm, for eating becomes disturbed in those with night eating syndrome,
while their circadian cycle for sleeping doesn't.
Imagine that your body's 24-hour
cycle for eating & 24-hour cycle for sleeping were at odds with each other. This is the first disorder to be discovered
in which the 2 biological rhythms have been dissociated, the researchers report.
With
the biological rhythm for food intake shifting to about 6 hours later than normal, sleep becomes more & more troubled
by episodes of waking up hungry & stress builds.
If you've started eating a majority of your calories at night to deal with
sleep problems, to distract you from depression or to quell anxiety, it could become habitual & you could be headed for night eating syndrome, Allison
warns.
If you occasionally go to the kitchen for a midnight snack,
then you probably aren't in danger.
Studies of night eating
syndrome are continuing.
Some findings by the University of Pennsylvania indicate
night eating syndrome runs in families.
University
researchers have found some success in treating night eating syndrome by prescribing an
SSRI sertraline, the antidepressant Zoloft, for stress.
Researchers saw reductions in nighttime eating,
nighttime awakenings & nighttime calorie consumption among those prescribed Zoloft in a double-blind, placebo-controlled
trial.
The hope of experts studying night eating syndrome is that it'll become more widely recognized as an eating disorder & that strategies of treatment & prevention can be developed.

in response to the survey provided here at "night eating"
the following information has been obtained:
- almost all of those, night eaters, who replied to the
survey have been night eaters for at least five years
- more than one respondent was male
- more than one respondent had a family member who was
also night eating
- more than one respondent had mentioned their night eating
problem to their primary care physician & were not taken seriously about the problem
- all respondents asked for support
What I've learned about night eating syndrome from my visitors
& our survey...
Most visitors that e-mail me to explain their situation
with night eating are frantic, anxious & extremely driven to stop the night eating.
To date: 5/7/05 - more than half of survey respondents who
are experiencing night eating have had a family member who was also a night eater. Some
respondents were brother & sister. While most who described their family member who had also experienced night eating,
noted it was a parent. (most often their mother)
Most night eaters that respond to the survey & send
a personal e-mail describe their lives to be chaotic. There has been about 75% of the respondents who experienced extreme
dysfunction in their family life growing up & about 50% who had experienced some kind of abuse as a child.
Only 1 respondent to date has noted that she experienced
more than 1 kind of eating disorder: night eating switching off w/anorexia.
The typical night eater is a woman w/about 10% of the respondents
to my survey being men.
Most men tend to feel as though medication alone will solve
their problem of night eating.
Night eaters experience peaks & valleys of night eating
patterns. They can go for a few months or sometimes only weeks without binging at night, but suddenly they experience some
kind of stressful trigger & they frantically fall back into the night eating pattern.
Most night eaters give up trying to get better within a
week or two.
A small percentage of respondents were currently taking
counseling & medications. Although they were on the right track, they scoffed at learning relaxation methods that could truly be helpful for them.


personal note:
in the times in which i wasn't night eating in my life,
i was smoking & drinking...
sometimes i would eat only a yogurt all day... maybe
a cup of chicken broth, but i started drinking wine at noon, went to happy hour at four, and partied in palm beach into the
wee hours.... dancing, trying to be happy... it never worked.... (actually i was depending on different negative coping methods (self medicating) instead of
night eating!)
definitions w/important pertinent information
compulsive
adj
1: caused by or suggestive
of psychological compulsion; "compulsive drinking"
2: strongly motivated to succeed
[syn: determined, driven] n : a person with a compulsive disposition; someone who feels
compelled to do certain things
com·pul·sion noun
1. The act of compelling.
- The state of being compelled.
2. An irresistible impulse to act, regardless of the rationality of
the motivation:
“The compulsion to protect
the powerful from the discomfort of public disclosure feeds further abuse & neglect” (Boston
Globe).
-
- An act or acts performed in response to such an impulse.

Compulsive eating habits in eating disorders
Understanding Compulsive
Overeating or What is Binge Eating Disorder (BED)?
Article by Judy Lightstone,
LMFT
Binge eating disorder, or BED follows predictable patterns. Compulsive overeating patterns can be understood
by following the diet / binge cycles described below on this page. You may stay in one cycle or move repetitively back &
forth between the two, alternating periods of compulsive overeating w/periods of compulsive restriction, or you may never restrict, although the wish to do so is part of what drives the binging.
Whichever pattern you follow, understanding the triggers to your eating & being able to slow down the binges are the key
to breaking the cycles.
this article is restricted thru copyright so if you would like to read the article in its entirety
- recommended - click here to visit the source site!

Soul Lessons Posted on November 1, 2004
Article by Carolyn Costin,
M.A., M.Ed., MFT.
You
know of the disease in Central Africa called sleeping sickness…there also exists a sleeping sickness of the soul. Its
most dangerous aspect is that one is unaware of its coming. That is why you have to be careful. As soon as you notice the
slightest sign of indifference, the moment you become aware of the loss of a certain seriousness, of longing, of enthusiasm,
and zest, take it as a warning. You should realize your soul suffers if you live superficially.1
Dr. Albert Schweitzer
Superficial living is part
of having an eating disorder. This isn't to say that those who suffer from these disorders
don't have meaningful lives. It's to say that they've lost track of the meaning.
They've indeed lost track
of what's really important. i.e., surely a number on the scale isn't more important than one’s health, yet those with eating disorders live their lives as if this were the case.
In the eating disorder world fitting into a size 4 might be so important that vomiting several times a day in order to stay at this size is acceptable. (clicking on the beforehand underlined link will open a new browser window at emotional feelings website so you can explore more about what's
acceptable & what's not.) And those w/eating disorders are just taking the
current cultural trends to the extreme. this article is protected by copyright, therefore i'm
unable to display it here w/out the permission of the author (i'm seeking it presently) - to read this article in its entirety
at the source site, please click here!

Repairing Body Image - Part 1 Posted on July 9, 2004
by Abigail H. Natenshon, MA, LCSW, GCFP
Body Image is:
- How you see yourself when you look in the mirror, or when you picture yourself in your mind.
- What you believe about your own appearance.
- How you feel about your body, including your height, shape & weight.
- How you feel in your body as you move.
A negative body image is:
- A disorted perception of your shape. You perceive parts of your body unlike what they really
are.
- You feel that your body shape is a sign of your personal failure.
- You feel awkward & uncomfortable in your body.
People w/a negative body image are more likely candidates to develop depression, low esteem, anxiety, obsessions about losing weight & eating disorders.
to read this article in its entirety, please click here to visit the source site - a new browser window will open for you to read it in.

Repairing Body Image - Part 2 Posted on July 16, 2004
by Abigail H. Natenshon, MA, LCSW, GCFP
Body size acceptance isn't related to weight or actual body size, but to self-esteem & emotional health. The true indicator of a good body image is good self-esteem - not the ability to fit into size 2 jeans.
It's up to parents to insure that children grow up with all the emotional tools & resources they need to love & accept themselves & love their body.
In an effort to foster self- & body-love, parents should keep the following in mind.
to read the remainder of this article in its entirety, please click here to open a new browser window - this article is protected by copyright, i am seeking permission to include it in its entirety
here...
Other Compulsive Mental
Disorders compared w/Compulsions of Eating Disorders
This study was designed to
explore potential overlap of the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder & eating disorders.
The authors administered a
structured, self-rating scale, the Eating Disorder Inventory, to 59 outpatients at an obsessive-compulsive disorder clinic & to 60 sex-matched normal volunteers.
The scores of the patients
with obsessive-compulsive disorder & of the healthy comparison subjects were compared with those of 32 female inpatients with anorexia nervosa, 10 subjects, or bulimia nervosa, 22 subjects, who had also been given the inventory.
The patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder scored significantly higher than the healthy comparison subjects on all 8 subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory:
Relative to the healthy subjects,
male patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder had more symptoms than female patients w/ obsessive-compulsive disorder. The scores of the female patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder were midway between those of the 32 female patients with eating disorders & those of the 35 female normal subjects.
In conclusion, these results
suggest that patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder display significantly more disturbed eating attitudes & behavior than healthy comparison subjects & that they share some of the psychopathological
eating attitudes & behavior that are common to patients with eating disorders.
Symptoms of eating disorders in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Pigott TA,
Altemus M, Rubenstein CS, Hill JL, Bihari K, L'Heureux F, Bernstein S,Murphy DL. Am J Psychiatry 1991 Nov;148(11):1552-1557
for your added convenience you can click here to visit the source site of this article!



o·bese
adj.
- Extremely fat; grossly overweight.
See Synonyms - fat
o·be·si·ty noun
- The condition of being obese; increased
body weight caused by excessive accumulation of fat.
What is Obesity?
Obesity is an excess of body
fat frequently resulting in a significant impairment of health.
Obesity
occurs when the size or number of fat cells in a person's body increases.
An average size
person has 30 to 35 billion fat cells & when he or she gains weight, these fat cells increase first in size & then
in number. (One pound of body fat represents about 3500 calories.)

Obesity is a chronic & complex disease. Comprised
of genetic, environmental, metabolic, cultural, psychological & behavioral elements, it's inappropriate to assume that
obese individuals are simply weak-willed, overindulgent & inactive.
Morbid
Obesity Obesity becomes "morbid" when it reaches the point of significantly
increasing the risk of one or more obesity-related health conditions or serious diseases (also
known as co-morbidities) that result either in significant physical disability or even death.
Morbid obesity is defined
as being 100 lbs. or more over your ideal body weight or having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 or higher.
According to the National
Institutes of Health Consensus Report, morbid obesity is a serious, chronic disease, because the symptoms build slowly over
an extended period of time.
click here to visit the source site for this information.

Health Concerns
Obesity is associated w/life-threatening
health conditions such as:
- hypertension
- dyslipidemia
- insulin resistance
- cardiovascular disease
- non-insulin dependant diabetes
- gall bladder disease
- respiratory dysfunction
- certain types of cancer
Obesity-related health conditions
whether alone or in combination, can significantly reduce your life expectancy. A partial list of common conditions follows,
contact your doctor for more detailed information.
Health Concerns
Type 2 Diabetes: Diabetes
occurs when obese individuals develop a resistance to insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels. Over time, the resulting
high blood sugar can seriously damage the body.
High blood pressure / Heart disease: Excess body
weight strains the ability of the heart to function properly. The resulting hypertension (high
blood pressure) can result in strokes, as well as causing significant heart & kidney damage.
Osteoarthritis of weight-bearing joints: Additional weight placed on joints, particularly knees & hips, results in rapid wear & tear, along w/pain caused
by inflammation. Backbones & muscles are constantly strained, causing disk problems, pain & decreased mobility.

Sleep apnea: Fat deposits in the tongue & neck can cause intermittent obstruction of the air passage.
This usually occurs when you sleep on your back. When you frequently wake to reposition yourself the resulting loss of sleep
can cause daytime drowsiness & headaches.
Gastroesophageal reflux
/ Heartburn: Acid belongs in the stomach & rarely causes problems
when it stays there. When acid escapes into the esophagus thru a weak or overloaded valve at the top of the stomach, it results
in gastroesophageal reflux; heartburn & acid indigestion are common symptoms.
About
10 - 15% of people with even mild sporadic symptoms of heartburn develop a condition called Barrett's esophagus, which
is a pre-malignant change in the lining membrane of the esophagus, a cause of esophageal cancer.
Gallbladder
disease: Gallbladder disease occurs more frequently when you're
obese, partly due to repeated efforts at dieting, which predisposes you to gallbladder problems. When stones form in the gallbladder
& cause abdominal pain or jaundice, the gallbladder must be removed.
Depression: If you're seriously overweight your emotions are challenged from dealing with repeated failure with dieting, disapproval from family & friends, sneers & remarks from strangers. You may experience discrimination at work. You
may not fit comfortably in theatre seats, or find difficulty riding in a bus or a plane.
Infertility: The inability or diminished ability
to produce offspring.
Urinary stress incontinence: A large, heavy abdomen & relaxation of the pelvic muscles, especially associated with the effects
of childbirth, may cause the valve on the urinary bladder to weaken, leading to leakage of urine with coughing, sneezing,
or laughing.
Menstrual irregularities: Morbidly obese individuals often experience disruptions of the menstrual cycle:
• Interruption of the menstrual cycle • Abnormal
menstrual flow • Increased pain

Stress Induced Eating Disorders Can Lead to Obesity
People with eating disorders are often very sensitive to stress. Over 50% of people diagnosed with binge eating disorders report previous episodes of depression and low self-esteem: conditions often associated with high stress levels.
Eating favorite foods makes us feel better, so it's no wonder that everyone overeats occasionally when stressed. But when food is used consistently as a stress-reliever, or if food-consumption seems out of control, then an eating disorder may be to blame.
Binge Eating Disorders, Diabetes and Obesity
Binge eating disorders are the most
common eating disorders in the US, affecting as many as 2 million Americans. Binge eating disorders are characterized
by frequently eating large amounts regardless of hunger, eating quickly and feeling out of control while eating.
Stress often triggers binge eating. The binge eater obtains comfort from food while eating, only to feel guilty and ashamed for overeating afterwards. The cycle leads to low self-esteem, which makes it harder to cope with future stressors and more likely for the binge eating to continue.
Without treatment, binge eating disorders can lead to obesity. Obesity places great strain on the body, as well as contributing to low self-esteem and depression. Over time, obesity can result in serious complications, including diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.
click here to visit the source site for the above information.

More information concerning cortisol - the
stress hormone - and how to deal with keeping levels low at night!


Cortisol & Stress: How to Stay Healthy
from About.com click here for the source page -
by Elizabeth Scott, M. S.
Cortisol and Your Body
Cortisol
is an important hormone in the body, secreted by the adrenal glands and involved in the following functions and more:
- Proper glucose metabolism
- Regulation of blood pressure
- Insulin release for blood sugar maintanence
- Immune function
- Inflammatory response
Normally, it’s present
in the body at higher levels in the morning, and at its lowest at night. Although stress isn’t the only reason that
cortisol is secreted into the bloodstream, it has been termed “the stress hormone”
because it’s also secreted in higher levels during the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response to stress, and is responsible for several stress-related
changes in the body.
Small increases of cortisol have some positive effects:
- A quick burst of energy for survival reasons
- Heightened memory functions
- A burst of increased immunity
- Lower sensitivity to pain
- Helps maintain homeostasis in the body
While cortisol
is an important and helpful part of the body’s response to stress, it’s important that the body’s relaxation response to be activated so the body’s functions can return to normal
following a stressful event. Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the body’s stress response is activated
so often that the body doesn’t always have a chance to return to normal, resulting in a state of chronic stress.
Higher and more prolonged levels
of cortisol in the bloodstream (like those associated
with chronic stress) have been shown to have negative effects, such as:
- Impaired cognitive performance
- Suppressed thyroid function
- Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
- Decreased bone density
- Decrease in muscle tissue
- Higher blood pressure
- Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing,
and other health consequences
- Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater
amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased
stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of , higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower
levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!
To keep cortisol
levels healthy and under control, the body’s relaxation response should be activated after the fight or flight
response occurs. You can learn to relax your body with various stress management techniques, and you can make lifestyle changes
in order to keep your body from reacting to stress in the first place.
The following have been found
by many to be very helpful in relaxing the body and mind, aiding the body in maintaining healthy cortisol
levels:
Cortisol
secretion varies among individuals. People are biologically ‘wired’ to react differently to stress. One
person may secrete higher levels of cortisol than another in the same situation. Studies
have also shown that people who secrete higher levels of cortisol in response to stress
also tend to eat more food, and food that is higher in carbohydrates than people who secrete less cortisol.
If you’re more sensitive to stress, it’s especially important for you to learn stress management techniques and maintain a low-stress lifestyle.



4/16/08
night eating 101 Group Notes!
In the night eating 101 group
at yahoo, (mentioned at the top of this and every page within this site)
- one of the members tried taking 2 tablespoons of honey before going to bed for the night.
This member was successful with sleeping through the night without waking up. This progress continued for a number of weeks. I've sent an e-mail out
and posted at the group to see if this has continued.
I found this article today in searching for additional information
as to why honey would work for this!
Can diet affect your brain? You bet it can. Cortisol is the
key hormone of depression and cortisone is released during the night fast if you go to bed with a depleted liver as countless
millions do.
Also cortisol attacks the
hippocampus the memory center of the brain - big time. Chronic overproduction of cortisol must therefore be a potent risk
factor for development of Alzheimer's.
The principles of The Hibernation
Diet deal with all these questions.
The Honey, Insulin, Melatonin Cycle
- (HYMN) and its Influence on Recovery (fat
burning) Biology
If you were to stand
up in a biology seminar and announce that honey activates sleep, you would risk being laughed at. If you then further
stated that, not only does honey activate sleep, but by optimally refueling the liver prior to bed, honey promotes fat
burning during sleep, you would be dismissed as confused at best, and deranged at worst.
However the veracity of both
of these statements is easy to demonstrate, in spite of both being counter-intuitive. Scientific principles are sometimes
in tune with intuition (if you jump from a building you will fall down, not up),
but not always.
The principles informing the
Hibernation Diet are all derived from the scientific literature, some of these principles going back many decades. Two of
these key principles are both deeply counter-intuitive.
1. Fat is the fuel used for exercise.
This is correct, (we do burn fat during exercise), but only 20% correct
and with respect to body fat only 10% true. Fat is the fuel used preferentially by the human body for rest and recovery.
2. That we should not eat late in the evening. This is a myth. Failure to refuel the liver prior
to bed, after an early evening meal, results in activation of the adrenal glands and the release of stress hormones, cortisol
and epinephrine. These hormones inhibit recovery and recovery biology is (exclusively)
fat burning biology.
In the west people are told not to eat late or they will lay
down fat. This is the direct opposite of what actually occurs. From an early evening meal the liver depletes rapidly and by
bedtime will be dangerously low. This puts brain metabolism at risk and the brain activates the adrenal hormones.
These hormones degrade muscle
and bone, not fat. If the liver is refueled prior to bed and blood glucose is stable during the night fast, the brain activates
the pituitary gland and recovery hormones are released. These hormones burn fat.
In the cultures where they eat late
(Mediterranean), they go to bed with a fueled liver and activate recovery (fat burning)
biology. This means that, not only are they recovering and burning body fat, they suffer less from the adrenal stress driven
diseases than do we:
- Hypertension
- Heart disease - epinephrine
Osteoporosis, diabetes type
2, infertility, gastric ulcers, poor immune function, obesity, depression and memory loss - all cortisol driven.
What are the key principles of fueling the liver with honey for the night fast, prior to bed?
1. The liver is optimally
replenished via fructose uptake and conversion into glucose and liver glycogen (stored
glucose). Fructose allows the uptake of glucose into the liver by activating the glucose enzyme, glucokinase
(The Fructose Paradox).
2. Sleep is activated via
insulin, serotonin and melatonin (HYMN Cycle - explained in the 95 Theses).
3. With good liver plenitude
and stable blood glucose the brain activates the pituitary gland to release a suite of recovery hormones.
4. Recovery biology is exclusively
fat burning biology.
5. Release of adrenal stress
hormones is prevented.
This is a new approach to
weight control, weight loss and overall health. It looks at human biology from the perspective of the liver/brain axis and
recognizes that the brain is at risk during the 8 hours of the night fast, if the liver is depleted prior to bed.
The brain (which has no storage capacity) demand for fuel is colossal and must be supplied with 6-6.5
grams of glucose every hour simply to survive. To put this in perspective, the brain is 2% of the body by weight but consumes
around 30% of the energy at rest.
Assuming an average calorie consumption
of 2400 calories, the brain consumes around 720 calories. If the body overall consumed the same amount of fuel on a percent
basis we would have to consume some 36,000 calories per day or 36 loaves of bread.
This provides us with an indication,
not only of the critical demand for fuel of this organ, but of the necessity of optimizing its fuel supply during the 8 hours
of the night fast, by optimizing the liver glycogen store.
Honey is perfect for this
purpose.
Honey
optimizes liver glycogen plenitude, prior to bed, via fructose and glucose uptake, honey activates sleep via insulin
and melatonin, honey promotes optimal recovery (fat burning ) biology during the night fast, via stable blood glucose and
activation of the pituitary gland, and honey promotes good health via prevention of overproduction of the adrenal stress hormones
(HYMN).
Many people, including health
professionals equate honey with the refined sucrose and high fructose corn syrup, which activate hyper-insulinism, fat synthesis,
obesity, diabetes type 2, and cardiovascular disease. This is profoundly mistaken. See Below:
Journal
of Medicinal Food: Natural Honey Lowers Plasma Glucose, C-Reactive Protein, Homocysteine, and Blood Lipids in Healthy,
Diabetic, and Hyperlipidemic Subjects: Comparison with Dextrose and Sucrose - Apr 2004, Vol. 7, No. 1: 100-107 - Noori S.
Al-Waili
The benefits of honey
are many, but if it can be demonstrated that honey may be shown to optimize recovery biology, that recovery biology
is fat burning biology, and it can, we are on the verge of a new era in the long history of this amazing and natural product,
produced by bees from the sub-artic to the tropics. (c) Mike McInnes Sept 24th 006.
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Now We Finally Know Why Some
People Can't Lose Weight
About 1.5% of the population,
or as many as 4 million Americans, may suffer from nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder (NSRED),
a rare condition marked by binge-eating during certain phases of sleep.
Patients
may complain of fatigue or recent illnesses but have no recollection of their nighttime forays into the kitchen, where they
may wolf down high-calorie foods such as milkshakes and butter.
Some individuals report eating cat food and cleaning
products. Not surprisingly, the condition is more common among obese people. The scope of the problem of nocturnal
sleep-related eating is only beginning to be understood.
While the cause of the rare disorder is
unknown stress, low levels of the hormones melatonin and cortisol, as well as the condition sleep apnea may play a role.
The researchers concede that there's no cure for the problem but recommend behavioral steps that may minimize the
problem, including:
Some patients have been known to put locks
on the refrigerator door and limit the amount of food at home.
RN April 2002;65:41-42
personal note from kathleen:
these facts led me to believe that it would be helpful to incorporate healthy eating habits, thus eliminating the daytime negative eating habits associated w/ those who eat at night & to incorporate a sleep
ritual into your lifestyle to help begin healthy sleep habits as well.... see the diet & sleep pages in this site to see what it's all about!
It only takes 3,500 excess calories to create 1 pound of new fat on
your body. If you're taking in just 500 extra calories per day, then you're gaining a pound of fat per week (500
calories x 7 days in a week = 3,500 calories/week).
Since it's easy to get 500 calories from just one ice cream cone or a few cookies, you can see that weight
gain is a huge problem for a night eater...

personal note:
Since i started my "night eating" habits as a child, no one ever told me to "watch what i was
eating," or that "i would get fat if i continued to eat so much!" if the cookies were gone,
my mother would make more! no one questioned me, so i have no idea why i felt so guilty about eating so many of them.... on 2nd thought....
it was probably the negative screamings of my siblings who insisted upon knowing who the "pig" was that ate all the cookies!!!
it's strange how they were so much more perceptive than my mother was. right along w/the guilt, there were also feelings of shame for this.
besides,
i was always walking, running & bicycling when
i was a kid & a teenager, but midway thru my teens, i added alcohol to my calorie consumption &
i began to exercise a bit less...
thus, my nickname in school, although i wasn't fat... was,
"bumpy" - another negative subliminal thought that i was ingesting constantly....
Night-Eating Syndrome:
Much More Than Midnight Snacks
People w/the condition eat compulsively & don't remember it
By Jennifer Thomas HealthDay News Reporter
TUESDAY, July 2 (HealthDayNews) If you wake up & find crumbs in your bed or the remains
of a food fest in the kitchen, you could have Night-Eating Syndrome.
Also called Nocturnal Sleep-Related
Eating Disorder, it's a real but little understood condition in which people wake from sleep &
compulsively binge on large quantities of food.
Often, people w/the disorder eat while in a state of altered consciousness,
similar to sleep-walking & don't remember eating, says Lea Montgomery, who wrote an article about sleep-eating & how
to diagnose it in a recent issue of RN.
"There is so much shame involved with this," says Montgomery, an instructor in nursing at Texas Christian University's Harris School of Nursing in
Fort Worth. "We need to educate doctors & the public that this is a real phenomenon, that it's dangerous & serious."
Doctors aren't quite sure why people sleep-eat, or even whether to
classify it as a sleep disorder or an eating disorder, says Edward Abramson, author of several books on "emotional eating" & a professor of psychology
at California State University in Chico.
An estimated 1.5% of Americans have experienced night-eating. The rate is higher in obese people.
About 10% of people seeking help at obesity
clinics are night eaters, one study found.
About 25% of those getting surgical treatment for obesity are night eaters, says Abramson, who has a private practice in Lafayette,
Calif.
Night-Eating Syndrome was first diagnosed in 1955, but there have
been only a few studies on it since, Abramson says. One study linked night-eating to disturbances
in sleep patterns caused by conditions such as Restless Legs Syndrome or Sleep Apnea. It's possible these conditions cause partial awakenings that could trigger night-eating,
Abramson says.
Another study linked night-eating
to abnormal levels of melatonin & cortisol, hormones involved in regulating sleep & stress. Many night-eaters have trouble falling asleep. Also, many awaken several
times during the night to eat, research has found.
One study revealed that night-eaters
have little appetite during the day, but scarfed down food at night. Another study found obese
people without Night-Eating Syndrome consumed 74% of their food intake by 6 p.m. Obese people who were night-eaters consumed only 37% of food intake by 6 p.m.
While some patients remember eating, others are surprised to find
the remnants of food in their kitchens & bedrooms in the morning.
Sleep-eating can be dangerous, Montgomery warns. People can walk
into walls, cut themselves on can openers & burn themselves with hot food. Sleep-eaters
primarily consume foods high in sugar or fat, such as peanut butter or snack foods. However, there are even reports of people
eating non-food items such as cigarettes, nail polish, cat food or still-frozen dinners.
Montgomery first became aware of sleep-eating a few years ago. She had a patient, a woman in her 40's, who would wake up in the middle
of the night, go to the kitchen & gorge herself. She'd eat butter straight from the butter dish or a whole tray of brownies.
"She tried to get help, but doctors & therapists weren't taking
her seriously," recalls Montgomery, who eventually helped the woman learn more about the disorder. "She was dismissed as being
neurotic."
Some people with Night-Eating Syndrome
install motion detectors in the kitchen & lock the refrigerator door, Montgomery says. While this might stop them from
eating, it doesn't deal with the underlying causes.
Many with Night-Eating Syndrome
are helped by establishing a routine for bedtime, exercising regularly, staying away from caffeine after lunch, avoiding sedatives
& alcohol 3 to 4 hours before bedtime & losing weight.
Some drugs can also be effective, including L-dopa, a drug used to
control levels of dopamine in the brain & anti-seizure medications.
What To Do
To read more about Night-Eating Syndrome, visit Stanford University or read this editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
SOURCES:
Lea Montgomery, R.N., instructor, nursing, Texas Christian University's Harris School of Nursing, Fort Worth, Texas; Edward
Abramson, Ph.D., professor, psychology, California State University, Chico, Calif.

are you so tense, irritable, agitated, upset & anxious
that you can't read anymore now because it's difficult to concentrate & sit still? click here!
or just click here to read more information concerning night eating syndrome!
some common denominators within the night eating group
offered here at night eating!
restless legs syndrome
sleep apnea
tendency towards type 2 diabetes
coffee
family history of night eating
personal history of abuse of some kind
peanut butter attraction
cereal attraction
come join the group & see for yourself!
click on the link above to join the group!
Midnight at the oasis: Night eating syndrome is dark little secret of many
Linda Stahl
The Louisville, Ky. Courier-Journal May. 27, 2005
Imagine a
scenario where you get up in the morning with absolutely no hunger. You don't eat.
As
the day wears on, you drink a lot of coffee. You eat a light lunch or snack.
Come
dinnertime you're ravenous. You eat dinner.
But then you snack after dinner almost continuously right up to the time you
go to bed. Your choices might include candy, cookies, potato chips or ice cream.
After falling asleep, you wake up & are convinced you can't get back to
sleep unless you eat something. You feel frantic. That's when you steal into the kitchen & eat peanut butter right out
of the jar.
This is the pattern day after day for people with night
eating syndrome.
Albert Stunkard, a psychiatrist and director emeritus of the Weight &
Eating Disorders Program in the Dept. of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, first described night eating syndrome with 2 colleagues in 1955.
Today the syndrome,
which had remained a lesser-known disorder for years, is getting new attention because of its link to obesity & the current focus on overweight Americans, says Kelly Allison, a psychologist who is director of the night eating syndrome study at the University of Pennsylvania.
Night eating
syndrome affects about 1% to 2% of the general population.
While you don't have to
be obese to have night eating syndrome, about 25% of people who are overweight by at least 100 pounds
are thought to have night eating syndrome, according to several studies.
Both men & women are affected, with women representing about 60% of sufferers
& men about 40%.
Research published last year
in the International Journal of Eating Disorders indicated the syndrome might be a pathway to obesity.
An obese group & non-obese group with almost identical night eating behaviors were studied. The only difference that emerged
was age. The non-obese were about 10 years younger, which led researchers to speculate that the night
eating disorder would make them obese in time.
Those with night eating syndrome consume more than
half of their daily food intake during & after dinner.
The foods of night eaters tend to be sugary &
starchy.
"They're eating chips & cookies," says Cheryl Ades,
a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in a center that treats eating disorders in Louisville, Ky. "They're grabbing a pack of Reese's."
She says research shows night eaters are
trying to relieve stress. The brain triggers a heavy preference for carbohydrates
so the anxious mood of the person can be quieted.
Norwegian researchers found evidence the midnight
raid on the refrigerator has more to do with the failure of the body to respond appropriately to stress than to a person's appetite. The hypothalamus, pituitary & adrenal glands may be chronically overstimulated in people with night eating syndrome.
Allison says that in her night eating syndrome study group the usual age of onset is about 30 & for about 3/4, there was a trigger
event for the behavior.
"There was a stressful event - the loss of a job, difficult pregnancy, getting off drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. They calmed their stress or anxiety by eating."
The University
of Pennsylvania research has shown that the circadian cycle,
24-hour biological rhythm, for eating becomes disturbed in those with night eating syndrome,
while their circadian cycle for sleeping does not.
Imagine that your body's 24-hour
cycle for eating & 24-hour cycle for sleeping were at odds with each other. This is the first disorder to be discovered
in which the two biological rhythms have been dissociated, the researchers report.
With
the biological rhythm for food intake shifting to about 6 hours later than normal, sleep becomes more & more troubled
by episodes of waking up hungry & stress builds.
If you have started eating a majority of your calories at night to deal
with sleep problems, to distract you from depression or to quell anxiety, it could become habitual & you could be headed
for night eating syndrome, Allison warns. If you
occasionally go to the kitchen for a midnight snack, then you probably aren't in danger.
Studies of night eating syndrome are continuing.
Some findings by the University of Pennsylvania indicate night eating syndrome runs in families.
University researchers have
found some success in treating night eating syndrome by prescribing an SSRI sertraline, the antidepressant Zoloft, for stress.
Researchers saw reductions in nighttime eating, nighttime awakenings & nighttime
calorie consumption among those prescribed Zoloft in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
The hope of experts studying night eating syndrome is that it will become
more widely recognized as an eating disorder & that strategies of treatment & prevention can be developed.
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"during my first pregnancy, i was extremely miserable in my marriage... i gained somewhere between 75 - 80 pounds...."
"i'd given up drinking & smoking.... i was lonely, miserable & waking up to eat in the night as well as binging in the daytime.... sometimes i would eat a can of beef vegetable soup,
w/several pieces of buttered toast to dip, a two liter bottle of pepsi & several glasses of milk to finish..."
then i would wake up at night & eat ice cream, more buttered toast & a box of cookies...."
i was depressed, isolated after moving to florida from my home & family & friends in new hampshire, i had many unresolved feelings & emotions due to a previous forced abortion, i had extreme anger issues with my father after he had told me that girls don't go to college, they get married & have kids....

As you read thru the descriptions, bear in mind.... there
are few who really understand & treat night eating syndrome.
Nocturnal Eating Syndrome (Sleep-Related Eating) is considered a parasomnia
& is a rare type of sleepwalking, a disorder of arousal.
People w/this disorder experience
recurrent episodes of eating during sleep, w/out being aware of what they are doing. Sleep-related eating might occur
often enough to result in significant weight gain. Although it can affect all ages & both sexes, it's
more common in young women.
What are Parasomnias?
The Parasomnias are disorders that intrude into the sleep process & create disruptive sleep-related
events. These behaviors & experiences occur usually while sleeping, & are most often infrequent & mild. They may
happen often enough or become so bothersome that medical attention is required.
The parasomnias are divided into 4 groups:
- sleep-wake transition disorders
- parasomnias usually associated w/REM sleep
Nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder
When I woke up
this morning, there were candy bar wrappers all over the kitchen & I had a stomachache. I had chocolate on my face &
hands. My husband says I was up eating last night, but I have no memories of doing so. Could he be playing a joke on me?
Maybe not. You might have nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder, a relatively unknown condition that's just
beginning to be investigated.
What is nocturnal sleep-related eating
disorder (NS-RED)?
In spite of its name, NS-RED isn't, strictly speaking, an eating disorder. It's thought to be a type of sleep disorder in which people eat while seeming to be sound asleep. They may eat in bed or roam thru the house
& prowl the kitchen.
These people aren't conscious during episodes
of NS-RED, which may be related to sleep-walking. They're not
aware they're eating. They have no memories of having done so when then wake, or
they have only fragmentary memories. Episodes probably occur in a state somewhere between wakefulness & sleep.
When people w/NS-RED
awake & discover the evidence of their nighttime forays, they're
embarrassed, ashamed & afraid they may be losing their minds.
Some, when confronted w/the evidence by family
members, deny that they were the perpetrators. They truly don't believe they could've done
such a thing & can't admit to such dramatic loss of control.
Food consumed during NS-RED episodes tends to be high-fat, high-sugar comfort food that people restrain themselves from eating while awake.
Sometimes these folks eat bizarre combinations
of food (hotdogs dipped in peanut butter, raw bacon smeared w/mayonaise, etc.) or non-food items like soap they have sliced like they would slice cheese.
Who gets NS-RED?
1 to 3% of the general population seems to be subject to this disorder
& 10 to 15% of people with eating disorders are affected.
The problem may be chronic or appear once or twice & then disappear.
Many of these people are severely stressed, anxious individuals who're dismayed & angry at themselves for their nocturnal loss of control.
Many of these individuals diet during the day,
which may leave them hungry & vulnerable to binge eating at night when their control is weakened by sleep.
People w/NS-RED
sometimes have histories of alcoholism, drug abuse & sleep disorders other than NS-RED,
problems such as sleep walking, restless legs & sleep apnea. Their sleep is fragmented & they're often tired when
they wake.
Sleep disorders, including NS-RED, seem to run in families. They may have a genetic component.
How can people eat & not remember doing so? Are they lying?
No, they're not lying. It seems that parts of their brains are truly
asleep & at the same time, other parts are awake. The parts that regulate waking consciousness are asleep, so the next
day there are no memories of eating the night before.
Is there any treatment for NS-RED? If there is, what is it?
Yes, there's treatment. It begins w/a clinical interview & a
night or 2 at a sleep-disorders center where brain activity is monitored.
Sometimes medication is helpful, but sleeping pills should be avoided.
They can make matters worse by increasing confusion & clumsiness that can lead to injury. Regular use of sleeping pills
can also lead to dependency & rebound wakefulness on withdrawal.
Also helpful are interventions that reduce stress & anxiety; for example, stress management classes, assertiveness training, counseling & reducing intake of alcohol, street drugs & caffeine.
If you think you may have NS-RED, talk to your physician & ask for a referral to a sleep-disorders
treatment center. Help is available. Take advantage of it.
Sleep/Eating Disorder Tough
to Fix Shannon Samson
Healthwatch:
When you think of a sleep walker, you think of someone who walks around confused in the middle of the night.
Now imagine someone getting up, cooking mashed
potatoes & pouring maple syrup on them & then denying it ever happened in the morning. That person is still sleepwalking, but when the dominant behavior is eating,
the disorder has its own name & its own set of problems that go with it.
Cathy Stone used to wake up to a mystery.
"I'd usually find at least the milk all drank up & whatever fruit I had was missing." Slices of cheese would just disappear.
And there would be cracker wrappers laying around. "I thought at first somebody was trying to break into my apartment, was
coming in my apartment & eating my food. Well of course, that wasn't the case."
Turns out, the food bandit was Cathy. A sleep
study revealed she has nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder.
Cathy was awake enough to get out of bed & make her way into the kitchen, but she wasn't fully conscious, according to
sleep specialist Dr. Mark Goetting.
"So a person
is only partly responsive to their environment, only partly aware in the crudest way, but
are able to navigate & perform some complicated activities. So it is a state
truly between sleep & wakefulness."
Many sleep eaters will eat stranger combinations than Cathy did.
Some will pour ketchup into milk or put sugar on hot dogs. Some will even take soap & slice it up like cheese & eat
it. Needless to say this disorder can be dangerous. Dr. Goetting says, "One of my patients who is 19 years old drank bleach
while he was sleeping & that woke him up immediately."
Not only did Cathy eat, but she smoked too. She wouldn't always hit
the ashtray as cigarette burns on her carpeting show, but she'd empty it in her sleep. Cathy quit smoking & she quit filling
her prescription of Ambien. Dr. Goetting figured out that her sleep eating was a side effect of the drug she'd been taking
for insomnia.
Ironically, since she's been off the sleeping pills, she's been getting more sleep
at night & waking up to a kitchen that looks exactly how she left it.
Let me point out that the sleeping pill Ambien works well for many
people, but the company does list strange behavior on its web site as a possible side effect.
Sleep eating
can also be caused by conditions that interrupt sleep such as sleep apnea or restless legs syndrome. It's usually treated w/a combination of antidepressants & anti-seizure medications.
Nocturnal Eating Disorder
Possible cures: Jun 18 2003
"Although at first glance, sleep eating
syndrome may seem harmless although irritating, it does have its own dangers. With the extra calories, most of them empty calories from junk food, obesity
must be considered. With the victim asleep, he or she isn't aware of what is happening, the throat is more relaxed & therefore there's a danger of choking.
Also, some victims of night eating
disorder not only eat. They cook a meal & not being in an alert state, are in danger from fire & sharp utensils."
The above paragraph was taken from an article I published in April,
2000, about nocturnal eating syndrome. This disorder may be more prevalent than first thought.
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