A woman who wants to get pregnant has to take better care of herself. If you want to start raising a healthy family, you’ll have to improve certain habits. When some behavior suggests that you are binge-eating quite often, it’s time to consider the possibility of a disorder. Are you interested in knowing more?
What is an eating disorder?
There are different types of eating disorders, and binge eating is only one of them. Binge eating disorder (BED) involves regular episodes of eating frenzy, which may lead to weight increase and even obesity. Unlike bulimia nervosa or anorexia, BED does not involve compensatory behavior. It is not characterized by vomiting and similar behavior as overexercising to remove the effects of eating too much.
Nevertheless, the feeling of guilt and loss of control persists. BED is seen as often in men as in women. Anyone can have it. Oftentimes, the one who has it is unaware of their atypical approach to eating, but sooner or later, symptoms can manifest. For people who are aware, there may be feelings of embarrassment, which lead to covering up of their eating behavior.
Threats to health
A binge eating disorder recovery plan can be very helpful to people who are obese or overweight. For women who want to get pregnant, the main threats are on the endocrine system. Specifically, hormone production becomes compromised due to a lack of fat and calories. Sex hormones require specific fats for production by the reproductive organs. Lowered levels of sex hormones may lead to irregular menstrual cycles. In some women, menstruation may fail completely. Other threats to the reproductive system can involve problems with bone metabolism. In women with low secretions of sex hormones, there could be accelerated bone loss or osteopenia.
The endocrine system could be put to its knees as a consequence of abnormal eating habits. Aside from the reproductive system, hormones governing metabolic processes in the body may be affected as well. A good example is the development of insulin resistance in some people with advanced eating disorders.
On trying to get pregnant
A healthy pregnancy is possible for women who have recovered from BED. After regaining a healthy weight, women with previous eating issues can expect to have a healthy menstrual cycle. Your chance of getting pregnant increases when your body is recovered from its struggles. You and your partner should be vocal about any problems with your eating behavior with your doctor. Your doctor can help you more adequately when you provide relevant medical information.
BED and other eating disorders may cause a number of serious health problems. In women, they can affect the endocrine system and the ability to conceive. With an irregular menstrual cycle, the process of ovulation may be arrested, which could make getting pregnant quite difficult. Yet, there is growing evidence that specific therapies are helpful and can reverse atypical eating behavior.
Recovery is possible given the right kind of intervention. If you or a loved one exhibits binge eating behavior, get some help now.
