https://www.maximizemarketresearch.com/market-report/bulimia-nervosa-market/188570/

Bulimia Nervosa is a type of eating disorder characterized by eating a large amount of food in a short period of time. The bulimia nervosa again differentiated into two types: purging and non-purging based on the eating behavior. The lack of control over eating, the secrecy surrounding eating, eating unusually large amounts of food and the Disappearance of food are some of the symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa Disorder.

ADHD-
What Role Does ADHD Play in Eating Disorder Treatment?
Eating disorder recovery takes attention, self-regulation, and intention.
Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

KEY POINTS-
Studies show that people with ADHD are more than three times as likely as the general population to develop an eating disorder.
Understanding ADHD symptoms that may be associated with the onset and maintenance of an eating disorder can be key to recovery.
A thorough assessment provides valuable information that can clarify a personal path to recovery by taking any comorbidities into account.

The statistics are startling. It turns out that people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more than three times as likely as the general population to develop an eating disorder (ED). Some studies place this number even higher.

In addition, more than one-third of adult female patients being treated in a clinic for eating disorders who were given an adult ADHD self-test qualified for the diagnosis of ADHD.

When we treat ADHD, we can't ignore the impact it has on our relationship with food and our body, and when we treat eating disorders, we can't ignore the impact they have on our ability to focus, plan and regulate our emotions. —Dr. Roberto Olivardia, Ph.D.

So, ADHD and eating disorders often seem to come together, with significant shared genetic causality. This is true in children, across the lifespan, and in both men and women.

What Eating Disorders Correlate With ADHD
ADHD doesn’t predict the development of just any kind of eating disorder.

Eating disorders in the presence of ADHD can lead to significant reductions in quality of life, social isolation and devastating health consequences. —Dr. Kali Cyrus, MD

Specifically, the significant increase in risk is related to disorders involving loss of control with food, rather than specific obsessions about bodily appearance or weight management. In children with ADHD, this manifests as a 12-fold increase in the likelihood of developing the behaviors related to what is called “loss-of-control eating.” In adults, this manifests as an increased risk of developing one of three eating disorders: bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa (binge/purge subtype), or binge eating disorder.

Shared Mechanisms in ADHD and Eating Disorders
ADHD doesn't cause eating disorders, but it can contribute to disordered eating behaviors…. —Dr. Kimberly Dennis, MD

When it comes to disordered eating behaviors and ADHD, these three symptoms emerge most frequently: hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. At a broader level, ADHD has been related to difficulties in executive function, emotion regulation, and conduct.

Let’s look at some of the most common shared mechanisms:

Reward system: The dopamine neurotransmitter is responsible for experiencing pleasure, controlling attention, and processing information, reward, learning, and motivation. Dopamine function is altered in both people with a loss-of-control ED and in people with ADHD. If your reward and learning system is not working fully, self-regulating may be more difficult and the reinforcement of attuned eating behaviors can be weakened, and, thus, unhelpful habits may stick around.

Inattention: Inattention to cues both inside and outside of the body can lead to disordered eating behaviors. For example, if you’re not paying proper attention to your body’s hunger and satiety signals, you may continue to eat even when you are full.

Impulsivity: Impulsivity can lead to sudden, unplanned behavioral choices typically made in response to strong or evocative cues. In the impulsive state, individuals typically value smaller-sooner rewards that will provide instant dopamine (such as consuming only ice cream for dinner after seeing an ad for it) than larger-later rewards that lead to better overall health (such as consuming a balanced meal along with ice cream).

Considerations for Eating Disorder Recovery
While ADHD symptomatology can be associated with the development of an eating disorder, it may also maintain unwanted eating behaviors. It is important to identify which ADHD symptoms might play a contributing role and figure out how to work with or mitigate these issues.

In particular, addressing attentional issues and impulse-control behaviors will have flow-on benefits to recovering from the eating disorder.

Attentional Issues
There are two helpful strategies for working with inattention:

Improve your inner attention: To help with inner appetite signals, it is good to learn practices that develop interoceptive awareness, such as mindfulness, yoga, meditative body scans, and so forth.

Add extra external cues: Use a gentle structure for meals and snacks. Then, add modern technology. Set alarms to alert you to mealtimes—with backup alarms in case you get distracted by an interesting project that interferes with eating when you are comfortably hungry. Not surprisingly, getting overly hungry can lead to feeling out-of-control hunger when you finally take a break or being tempted to skip eating in an attempt to diet.

Impulsivity
To manage the interference of impulsive behaviors, accept this part of yourself, set barriers, plan ahead, and draw your attention to the larger-later rewards you desire over those shorter-sooner immediate rewards. These can be done using the techniques mentioned above.

For example, you could use visual reminders or notes placed on your fridge that remind you that diets don’t work and why your long-term health goals matter to you. Losing a few pounds quickly will not sound as tempting if you keep in mind how often diets fail. Or you might keep a few easy-to-heat, frozen meals, fruit, yogurt, nuts, and cut veggies available for times when you might want to grab an unplanned snack.

Comorbidities
Having two or more mental health conditions at the same time, also known as comorbidity, can have a significant impact on the treatment of both—such as having an eating disorder and ADHD. Studies have shown that comorbidity may be associated with increased severity of symptoms, greater social impairment, lower quality of life, and higher risk of relapse. Thus, it is important to have a thorough assessment that offers a complete picture to pave a realistic path to recovery.

Though all health treatment should be tailored to address the individual needs of each person, that does not always happen. Treatments for ADHD and eating disorders should also be integrated, holistic, and focused on treating each individual as a whole. Be an advocate for yourself. If you are concerned you have ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, depression, trauma, or any other mental health problem that is not being addressed and worry that it may be getting in the way of recovering from an ED, speak up.

Medications
If you are taking medication to manage ADHD,​​ know that there is promising research that suggests this medication may be beneficial for some types of eating disorder behaviors, so don’t fear your medication. Stimulants can, however, be associated with changes in appetite and interfere with interoceptive awareness. Thus, pay attention to satiety and do not skip meal times so that your eating does not, inadvertently, become restrictive.

The Upsides of ADHD Can Be Helpful
There are many options for developing skills that boost executive function, enhance emotion regulation, and create actions that align with your values. Some strategies that may be helpful include mindfulness practices, emotion-awareness skills, structured eating plans, apps that encourage goal setting and establishing priorities, understanding effective communication habits, adding pauses before taking action, applying time-management tools, and learning cognitive behavior therapy strategies.

Beyond interventions for change, there are numerous upsides to having ADHD. In one recent study (2022), Schippers et al. concluded that knowing the positive benefits of ADHD may significantly enhance coping. Five themes emerged as life-enhancing to participants:
Creativity
Being dynamic
Flexibility
Socio-affective skills
Higher-order cognitive skills
How can you leverage the positive aspects of ADHD to recover from an ED and build a meaningful life?

EATING DISORDERS-
9 Tips for Improving the Gut–Brain Connection.
What you eat can improve your digestion and mood—and reduce disordered eating.
Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

KEY POINTS-
The gut–brain axis is a vital modulator to whole-body health, regulating emotions, cognitive functioning, digestion, and more.
The gut–brain axis is bidirectional, meaning that nutrition interventions may support recovery from mental health conditions.
Psychological interventions may help reduce symptoms in gastrointestinal and other health conditions.

With new findings regarding the gut–brain axis, we’re closer to understanding just how connected we truly are on the insides. The gut and brain communicate through the vagus nerve, which is part of the parasympathetic nervous system. This connection is known as the gut–brain axis, and it enables the two organs to receive and send signals to each other. This communication helps regulate emotions, cognitive functioning, digestion, and other bodily functions.

While the gut–brain connection means that proper nutrition may result in substantial improvements to mental as well as physical health, disturbances to either side of the axis may contribute to problems. Both eating disorders and anxiety produce physiological imbalances that alter the amount and composition of gut microbiota, the microorganisms that live in the gut.

There are many ways to positively modulate this relationship. Here are nine tips to improve your gut–brain connection and support a healthier way of living.

1. Eat a variety of foods.
Eating a wide variety of plant-based foods (such as vegetables, whole grains, fruits, legumes, and nuts), along with regular consumption of fish, poultry, and dairy products, increases microbial diversity in the gut while providing a range of nutrients (such as omega fatty acids and antioxidants) that improve overall brain health. Research shows that foods typically consumed by those living in the Mediterranean region are especially beneficial to the gut microbiota and the brain. In particular, fruits and vegetables contain a group of compounds called polyphenols, which may decrease inflammation and offer neuroprotective benefits. When it comes to protein, studies demonstrate that adequate protein consumption promotes an abundance of good bacteria in the gut while reducing pathogen numbers. Amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein, play an important role in the production of neurotransmitters such as GABA, serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, all of which are essential for brain function.

2. Take probiotics.
Recent studies indicate that patients with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, or anxiety show an imbalance in gut microbiota, which help with immune and metabolic functioning and weight regulation. When they become imbalanced, our immune system response isn’t as strong and we experience inflammation, which can be a precursor to disease. Fortunately, probiotics can help. These live microorganisms are comparable to the good bacteria found naturally in the stomach. Probiotics may help with better digestion, vitamin generation, improved motility and cognitive function, and reduced inflammation. Ask a licensed dietitian for specific recommendations.

3. Improve your mental health.
Research suggests that the gut–brain axis is bidirectional. This means that nutrition interventions may support recovery from mental health conditions, and psychological interventions may help reduce symptoms in gastrointestinal and other health conditions. Neurons and neurotransmitters are found in both the brain and gut, so feelings of happiness or anxiety, for example, could be triggered through the gut.

4. Treat IBS.
There’s a high correlation between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and anxiety. In some studies, participants with anxiety showed lower microbial richness. The thinking, then, is by improving the health of the gut, we also improve mental health (and lessen IBS symptoms). Interestingly, antidepressants may also help reduce some of the symptoms of IBS; a study of adolescents with newly diagnosed IBS found that the antidepressant amitriptyline significantly reduced symptoms and increased overall quality of life.

5. Reconnect and experience a sense of safety.
Stress impacts the gut barrier and gut microbiota, while trauma can have a negative impact on eating habits and the gut itself. For example, there is good evidence that individuals who have experienced trauma are more vulnerable to binge-eating disorder. Additionally, research shows that an individual who experienced early traumatic experiences may be more vulnerable to changes in the composition of their microbiome and the nervous system:

Long-lasting immune consequences and [an] increase [in] the risk of developing stress-related disorders later in life. –Leclercq, et al.

6. Meditate.
Meditation is often used as part of treatment for eating disorders, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. But new research shows added promise for meditation’s potential positive impact on the gut–brain axis, by altering the composition of the gut microbiome. A study of 37 male Tibetan monks and control subjects concluded that

The specific microbiota enriched in monks was associated with a reduced risk of anxiety, depression and cardiovascular disease and could enhance immune function. Overall, these results suggest that meditation plays a positive role in psychosomatic conditions and well-being. –Sun et al.

7. Rule out viral and bacterial infection.
Viral or bacterial infections may precede the onset of stomach problems, including the onset of eating disorders. The infections and response from your immune system can lead to associated changes such as intestinal inflammation, intestinal permeability, appetite dysregulation, and decreased richness of gut microbiota. It is possible that adaptations in the gut may be physiologically helpful when healing from infection. However, when intestinal gut microbiota responses persist after the pathogen is no longer present, there may be an elevated risk of developing an eating disorder.

8. Get educated.
Being educated about the science of good bacteria in the gut may enhance your motivation to eat more intentionally and help you to apply changes that will be effective. When you are equipped with the truth, misleading advertisements and fad diets may be less able to convince you that dieting, restricting your food intake, avoiding certain foods, or purging has no impact on your health. Knowledge can empower you to turn what you learn into practice.

9. Stay hopeful.
By making your eating more intentional, you can impact your gut biome. And, with bidirectional influences, you can improve your gut with emotional well-being and improve how you feel by increasing the richness of your gut microbiota. To make a concerted effort in improving your gut health and mood, reach out to professionals—dietitians, therapists, meditation instructors, and medical doctors—who are familiar with the gut–brain research.

The significant connection between feeling good and the well-being of your gut microbiota offers new paths for health, healthy eating, and eating disorder recovery. Being intentional about what you take into your body and your mind can have powerful whole-body effects, so nourish both with care.