I can't eat that...I'm still a size 0!

There is an incredible wealth of information available to the public regarding the treatment of nutritional disorders.  For example, the Eating Disorder Referral and Information (2007) website has links to university and hospital affiliations, they publish recommended nutritional advice, and alternate treatments are available to the public.  They suggest that there are biochemical predispositions and psychological situations that may be responsible for binging, purging, or starvation that are, in fact, a way that a person copes with issues and that after psychological care a dietitian should be an integral part of the recovery process (Eating Disorder Referral and Information, 2007). An additional psychological recommendation comes from the Ai Pono Women’s Program which is a treatment facility in Hawaii that focuses on eating disorders.  They have an in-service treatment program that has four phases and during phase 2 and 3 nutritional education is introduced to patient suffering from eating disorders.  In this process Ai Pono states that the patients discover the differences between emotional hunger and natural hunger, they assess how cognitive experiences with associated food experiences, and they work to help patients understand the relationship between food and interpersonal relationships (AiPono, 2007).

Werbach (1999) has detailed the importance of having a diet rich in complex carbohydrates and minimizing sugar for those who suffer from eating disorders; however there are more specific recommendations available from Alpha Nutrition Health Education (2007) which suggests that there are trigger foods that act like narcotics and cause eating disorder behaviors to escalate.  One example is the consumption of wheat or milk as these products can act like an endorphin to the body.  Specifically wheat gluten and milk have been shown to act as exorphins that can contribute to mental disturbances in the same manner that narcotics do.  This may be associated with the addictive patterns of bulimia.
AiPono. (2007). Women’s program: Components. AiPono Hawaii.  Retrieved July 28, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://www.aipono.com/Services/AiPonoWomensProgram/Components/tabid/70/Default.aspx
Alpha Nutrition Health Education (2007). Trigger foods and opioids. Nutritional Rescue.  Retrieved July 28, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://www.nutramed.com/eatingdisorders/addictivefoods.htm

Eating Disorder Referral and Information Center (2007). Getting help: Treatment options. Treatment – There is Hope! Retrieved July 28, 2007 from the Eating Disorder Referral and Information Center: http://www.nationaleatingdisorder.org/

Werbach, Melvyn R. (1999). Nutritional Influences on Mental Illness, (2nd ed.). Tarzana, CA: Third Line Press.