Drunkorexia, giving up food in favor of alcoholic beverages, has become an increasingly worrying phenomenon, draw the attention of doctors. The reason? This new fashion, which we find especially among women, is extremely dangerous for health.
Binge eating disorder, a new eating disorder among women. Source: archive
Several specialist studies have recently warned of the alarming increase in alcohol consumption by young people. But, as we all know, this habit comes with very high health risks in the medium and long term. Alcohol is toxic to the liver, heart, brain, pancreas, stomach. And if we also take poor nutrition into account, we do nothing but bring our body to the brink of collapse.
What is drunkorexia?
Drunkorexia is a term invented by Americans 16 years ago and was created by sticking two words together: “drunk” and “anorexia”. The reason is easy to understand, because it makes you think of an eating disorder linked on the one hand to excessive alcohol consumption, and on the other hand to food.
Drunkorexia involves drastically reducing food consumption in favor of alcoholic beverages. Basically, the people in question refuse to eat before drinking alcohol. That, to increase the calorie intake, but without gaining weight. Although we all know that alcohol consumed frequently and in large quantities is fattening.
How the condition manifests itself
The state of satiety appears precisely because of this caloric intake induced by alcohol. Basically, you drink a beer, two and you’re not hungry anymore. Skip a meal, even more without any effort. Beer contains calories, but it’s true, they are much less than those provided by a hearty meal. But this is not the network of success when it comes to maintaining your body weight or dieting. On the contrary. This habit can send you straight to the hospital.
A 2018 study by two Italian researchers from La Sapienza University in Rome examined the association between drunkenness and various eating disorders. What did the specialists find? It appears that in some cases, especially among women, drunkenness was linked to the need to lose weight.
