Eating Disorders - fieldi

Recovery Through Nutritional Counseling 27
feels she is gaining fat because refeeding causes the anorexic and
bulimic to gain water weight, which causes bloating. Since the
anorexic patient is usually dehydrated, a gain of 2–7 pounds over
only a weekend is common (Huse and Lucas 1983). The same experience
will shock the bulimic when she decides to stop purging (Reiff
and Reiff 1992). This seems like a punishment when she is trying so
hard to resume normal eating habits. Water retention, the result of
low potassium levels because of purging, will remain with the patient
for a few weeks until the potassium level, aided by healthier eating,
returns to normal.
Rehydration can also occur when someone has been restricting
carbohydrate intake, which causes the patient to feel extremely hungry.
Then when she eats, she feels guilty.
To help patients respond to this ravenous hunger without feeling
as if they are bingeing, it is helpful for them to learn about carbohydrates.
Why a lesson to motivate patients to eat carbohydrates?
Because, from 1960 to 1980, dieting frequently meant carbohydrate
restriction. And it worked. The question was, how? Carbohydrates
are stored with water, so by restricting carbohydrates the water
weight would drop in big numbers, a loss of 10–15 pounds in two to
three weeks. The dieter experienced success, of course, until the former
eating habits returned and, with that, an increase in carbohydrates
and thus water until all the weight was all gained back, plus 1
extra pound. But the message remained: a diet low in carbohydrates
meant lower weight. These dieters would avoid carbohydrates such
as bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes, calling them fattening.
With this in mind, it is important to get the facts straight. More
than 60 percent of our calories should come from carbohydrates—
not only bread, pasta, and rice but also fruits and vegetables (in 1980
the figure had fallen to 43 percent) (Burros 1991). This is our source
of energy, and we need it to keep the body systems going. If we do
not get enough, which frequently happens with dieters, we experience
low blood sugar that results in hunger, headache, and dizziness,
sometimes to the point of nausea.
If we wait too long to eat, the body will crave carbohydrates
immediately in the form of plain sugar, since that will raise the low
blood sugar much more quickly than complex carbohydrates. This
is frequently referred to as a craving for sweets. If instead we respond