Natural Herbal Prescription Drug Alternative Treatments for Anorexia

Anorexia

Natural Herbal Alternative Remedies for Anorexia

MindSoothe : MindSoothe can help with Disturbed appetite (either loss of appetite or binge eating, depressed mood, anxiety and panic attacks, obsessive thoughts and other symptoms of OCD.

PureCalm: Helps with anxiety and nervousness, stress, tension, panic attacks, restlessness, irritability.

Anorexia nervosa is a serious medical disorder that is statistically most prevalent in the adolescent teenage years of young women. It is estimated that 7% of the population suffers from eating disorders and if left untreated over 20% of them will die from it. Anorexia takes the lives of children everyday in this world and there are things you can do as a parent to identify anorexic behaviors and intervene to protect your children.

Anorexia nervosa is a condition where one becomes obsessed with losing weight and practices self-starvation in an attempt to achieve significant weight loss or to maintain extremely unhealthy level of body weight. Anorexics are terrified of gaining weight, and often believe they are very fat even though they are already very thin.

Anorexia is not just a condition related to food and eating, but takes its roots from a deeper psychological level. Food and eating becomes a destructive tool that one uses to deal and cope with other emotional problems. Anorexics will often reach out to other anorexics on the internet in “pro-ana” sites whereby they encourage each other to continue their weight loss journey. Pro-ana sites argue that anorexia is a lifestyle choice and not an actual disorder, and offer dysfunctional support to other victims of the disease. The risk to our youth from eating disorders is significant and there are things you can do as a parent to intervene:

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WATCH FOR WARNING SIGNS

Excessive weight loss: A person suffering from anorexia is skinny and may end up losing more that 15% of their ideal body.

Diet restrictions: a person with anorexia continues to restrict foods and diet even when they are not overweight.

Food Obsession: an excessive preoccupation with food, calories, nutrition, or cooking methods is also a sign of anorexic behavior.

Distorted body image: complaints of feeling bloated, nauseated, or fat even when the person is thin or underweight, and also denying feelings of hunger.

Excessive exercising: Anorexia may cause a person to complain about feeling bloated or nauseated even when she eats normal—or less than normal—amounts of food.

Cold Sensitivity: A person suffering from anorexia may feel cold even though the temperature is normal or only slightly cool.

Fatigue: a person suffering with anorexia will often show signs of fatigue and inability to concentrate on most tasks (except food and related weight topics).

Lack of social interaction: living with anorexia nervosa can become complicated when trying to hide it in social settings involving food and eating. Avoidance of social activities that include food is a common sign.

Depressed immunity: a person suffering with anorexia may have a weakened immune system and have frequent colds, illnesses and a general feeling of not feeling well.

Depression: anorexics will often exhibit signs of depression, anxiety, guilt and sadness while struggling with their disorder.

Physical changes: a person with anorexia over time may exhibit tell-tall physical characteristics such as; downy hair growth on the face, loss of menstruation cycles, dry nails, dry hair, constipation, headaches and possible hair loss.

Internet behaviors: a person with anorexia may be visiting pro-anorexic sites on the internet that offers encouragement and support of this disorder. Check your computers browser cache to review the history of websites it has visited.

If you suspect that one of your family members is suffering from anorexia nervosa it is important to take action now to arm yourself with information about the disorder and steps you can work towards to provide help and assistance.

For more information on the types of treatment methods available you can visit: http://www.anorexiabulimiahelp.com/eating-disorders-treatment.htm

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S.A. Smith is a freelance writer, correspondent, and contributing editor of the Anorexia Bulimia Help resource site and can be reached at http://www.anorexiabulimiahelp.com

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How Yoga Can Help With Eating Disorders

It was not so long ago that eating disorders, such as bulimia and anorexia, were thought to be purely the result of mental conditions. More recently, though, some physical factors have been attributed to these conditions. It is now thought that eating disorders can be triggered by a multitude of factors, in combination, including those of a psychological, behavioral, social, or biological nature.

As with many conditions, eating orders can better be dealt with through a calm and focused mind. Depression and low self esteem are problems often associated with eating disorders, and Yoga can help with both.

It has been proven that Yoga can reduce depression, restoring a state of balance and well being in the individual. Also, there are different yoga practices which encourage heightened levels of self esteem, and promote a positive view of your own body. These are crucial factors with eating disorders, and it has been shown that the application of yoga can significantly increase recuperation and healing. Through the elimination of self judgment, yoga establishes a strong connection between mind and body. This, of course, is the natural state of wellness. By re-establishing this strong connection, mind and body will work in harmony to repair the damage.

Regular yoga practice will increase the overall fitness level of the human body, improving the immune system and giving it a good chance of fighting illnesses. This is helpful with Anorexia, for example, because the sufferer's body will experience lower energy levels, and the condition reduces bone density.

In dealing with eating disorders, the yogic system identifies them as a problem related to the first chakra. There are different yoga poses that can be used to balance it: eg. staff, crab, full wind, and pigeon. By using grounding postures (eg mountain, goddess, standing squat and prayer squat) strength and courage can be increased. What these postures do is to re-establish the strong mind-body connections, and through that connection help overcome many physical obstacles. For anorexia sufferers, most of the yoga back bending poses help reduce depression, while forward bends can calm the spirit and reduce anorexia's effects.

Because the mental state has an important role in eating disorders, meditation can be used successfully to reduce negative and harmful thoughts and feelings. An active, well targeted, meditation practice should prove to be very effective. The yoga poses work best when external factors are shut out, and concentration is allowed to focus on your inner self. Giving special attention to breathing, and also to inner sensations, will transport you to a state of greater awareness and calmness. This new state will allow you to go on further to explore new concepts, and hopefully pursue new goals that may have been impossible before.

As with many medical conditions, being aware of the bulimia or anorexia problem, and showing a constant and strong desire to defeat it, is a great method to reduce their effect. It is likely that an early adoption of yoga practices would make the patient more aware of the problem, thus making a positive contribution to an early cure. However, these yoga techniques are more usually used in the recuperative stages of the illness. That is a pity because, as with all illnesses in which it can be beneficial, yoga works best in the prevention stage, when the negative effects are still low and easier to over come.

About the Author

Roy Thomsitt is the owner and part author of http://www.routes-to-self-improvement.com

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