Is bulimia a healthier alternative for the Super Morbidly Obese?
FACTS:
1) A bulimic is one who throws up some/all of the food they eat (at least 2 times a week for six weeks to be classified as "bulimic").
2) Food is absorbed in the intestines, not in the stomach, so purging does result in less intake of calories.
3) Less calories in means less weight gained. If enough of the food is purged weight loss occurs.
4) Super obesity is almost always caused by over consumption of calories (for whatever reason).
5) Super morbidly obese people have failed at most if not all of the conventional weight loss techniques in the past.
6) Bulimia does have some negative side effects, almost entirely consisting of quite curable and preventable symptoms: worn tooth enamel, dehydration, low potassium and acid reflux.
7) Bulimia does not have a statistically relevant mortality factor unless one is underweight (You likely have never heard this, but if you look at the real research done by actual scientists this is the case).
Super morbid obesity has an extremely high mortality rate.
9) Gastric bypass is very dangerous in the super morbidly obese, and has a statistically high mortality rate.
10) Super morbid obesity is usually fatal and very seldom cured.
It seems to me that bulimia would be a much healthier alternative to super morbid obesity. I have very thoroughly researched the bulimia symptoms. Many websites confuse anorexia symptoms with bulimia symptoms, so please don’t post anorexia / underweight symptoms and say I forgot those. These people are NOT underweight.
I ask this because I have two people who are very obese and very close to me. One is super morbidly obese and is dying. She underwent gastric bypass, had serious complications, gained back all the weight and more and is unable to walk now. She’ll be dead in a matter of months. The other had a BMI of 45 (halfway between morbidly obese and super morbidly obese) became bulimic on purpose, and is now much lighter, healthier and more active. She is in extremely good health, and is happy.
Because of this, I am angry that the first person that is close to me was not advised to become bulimic. I watch TLC. I see these super morbidly obese people DIE from gastric bypass, and I see very pretty socially acceptable bulimics happily RUNNING around everywhere.
If bulimia can be used to cure super morbid obesity why isn’t it? It is working for one person I am very close to, so I know it can work.
Again, this is about bulimia for the obese, not for the underweight. Just like fasting or gastric bypass this would kill an underweight even normal sized person, but would save a fat one. So sorry if you know someone who starved themselves to death from bulimia, but I am only referring to the severely overweight.
Bulimics MAY binge eat. But when they purge (vomit) the calories the calories from the binge are not taken into the body.
Obese people (especially the super morbidly) often binge eat also. In fact, they often intake over 10,000 calories a day.
Modern science often uses one disease to cure another. Most medicines have side effects. You use them because the medicine is safer than the disease. In this case bulimia is safer than having a BMI over 50. What facts do I have messed up?
But they ARE NOT going to eat healthy and excercise. They are going to die. They wouldn’t have a massive BMI if they could do that. They can’t. Whatever the reason, they can’t. Is bulimia not a better option than certain death?
mcdbb - It would cause them to lose weight, which would let them live longer. The symptoms you mention are all caused by acid reflux. Antacids cure all of them. Super morbidly obesity more often causes depression and more extreme depression than bulimia.
mcdbb - also bulimia is "the act of purging food at least 2 times a week for at least 6 weeks". It isn’t a state of mental health, it is an act. It may be associated with mental health, but the word is defined as above. And I am referring to purging by vomiting. If you prefer, substitute purging by vomiting for every instance I use the word bulimia.
The symptoms of bulimia are still so much lighter than that of super morbid obesity. Swollen cheeks? Guess what, super morbid obesity causes that to! Oh, and it causes acid reflux. It also causes heart attacks, and the inability to breath, and diabetes.
I’m not saying bulimia is ideal, but if these people COULD use it to remove obesity from their lives, shouldn’t they?
Yes, it would be better if they ate right and exercised. But they don’t! They won’t! Ain’t a gonna happen. No way, no how. No point in wasting time on it. I believe it is because they are hungry all the time and they can’t. I have to eat when I’m starving too, so I don’t blame em. They feel extreme hunger all the time so they eat all the time. I don’t think that should have to be a death sentence.
Thanks Rockford. Do they use this on the super morbidly obese? Is is successful? Obesity is one of the quickest growing diseases in America today, and the Super morbidly obese category is the most dangerous and it is going up percentage wise the most quickly also.
I think you guys are missing that the super morbidly obese are in imminant danger. You are worried about people getting a rash from the life vests being handed out to people who are drowning.
Many of these people must lose weight in months or die. They have already tried for years and failed to diet and exercise.
I didn’t say prevent. I said people who are super morbidly obese. Already there. Dying. You don’t get super morbidly obese without trying some exercise and diets along the way.
Actually, shoving your face with junk food and not purging it would cure anorexia, and be much healthier, since anorexia has a high level of mortality. I don’t think doctors are out in force chastising recovering anorexics for making poor food choices. I think they are happy they are eating.
Once you get to be super morbidly obese, basically your weight is your health. Because your weight is crushing you like a beached whale. I listed bulimia’s affects, they are so much less than the effects of super morbid obesity.
I have 2 obese people close to me, only the bulimic is going to be alive next year. I have said nothing of this to either of them, and they don’t know each other. The one that is dying is family.
Filed under: Potassium and Being Sick
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Neither are good actually. You dont have to be bullemic to prevernt obesity. You seem really retarded. Bulemia is never a good thing and neither is morbid obesity.? If someone who is morbidly obese starts throwing up, I guarantee you they will not lose that much weight. In fact most bullemics dont result in any weight loss. They usually just stay the same?
Most morbidly obese people eat out their emotions. Seeing a therapist who sepcializes in this would be a much better fix than going bullemic?
Are you that stupid? Being at a lower weight does not make you healthy!! If a super morbidly obese person becomes bulemic and starts biging on Big Macs like they ate before and then throwing them up, guess what? Their arteries are going to be clogged! So maybe they lose some weight, but then have a heartattack from clogged arteries. A proper diet is the ONLY!!! way to cure obsity, period. There is no other "cure" There are temporary fixes, but in no way do these fixes make someone healthier. The fact remains that healthy is NOT defined by their weight. Dont you think that if so many people are against this, then maybe its YOUR thinking thats the wrong one??!?
Get help….
Also, I hate to be so brutal but of course they are going to die. That is a side effect od morbid obesity. They know this. they have the option to change their lifestyle. This is why we have free will. This person is choosing death, literally, and NOTHING can fix that unless this person wants to, not bulemia or anything else.
If these ladies turn to bulimia like you are suggesting they will lose the weight and then gain it back and more. My mother was 369 pounds and walked with 2 cains she should have been in a wheel chair but refused.
The best thing for them is to stop eating fast and processed food. Eat off a kids plate (the one with 3 sections) The large one is for veggies the two small ones for meat and carbs. No fried foods, no white bread. I know excersie is very difficult they need to start with streaching then walking even if it is around the house. Then outside and back then down the street a half block then a block and so on.
My mother weight now is 150 pounds. It took her 3 years because she was very sick with a number of medicel issues. My mother couldn’t streach so my stepdad and I would have to streach her at first until the muscles started working better and stronger. We started with 10 minutes then 20 then 30, know longer then 30 minutes. My mother was on deaths door a number of times. I knew the doctors by name when I walked in to the hospital.
As someone how loves them it is not an easy watching suffer with weight. So many things start to go wrong with there bodies but if you really want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem they will need a lot of guidence and consistency. Your friend that can’t walk has someone bring her food. She may not like it but start to cut the portions and more veggies less carbs and meat. Fish is also good but not fried. Broiled or poched.
Good luck it is an up hill battle but if they do it the right way life will be good and they will learn to eat the right way. We need to eat to live not live to eat.
I cannot even believe that someone would want to "prescribe" bulimia on anyone they love. I have been overweight for much of my life (at times probably even close to morbidly obese). I also have had some issues with bulimia because, at the time, I tried to "trick" myself to think that it would be ok for me so I could lose weight. The truth is, bulimia does have some health repercussions that are permanent, such as heart problems. Sometimes the unbalance of electrolytes in the body can cause a heart attack…in either obese or thin individuals. Also, someone who has bulimia can’t just use it to lose the weight and then stop doing it. It is a sickness and it becomes an obsession. Once someone is bulimic, they almost never recover completely and will struggle with symptoms for the rest of their life. The key is to understanding the eating disorders and changing your lifestyle.
Absolutely not. Although this person might lose weight, Bulimia does not only affect the person physically, but mentally as well. I see you did your research on Bulimia and you say that the side effects are curable. However, I don’t know if you heard that Bulimia can also cause:
* Chronic sore throat, hoarseness
* Broken blood vessels in the eyes
* Swollen cheeks and salivary glands
* Weakness and dizziness
* Acid reflux or ulcers
* Ruptured stomach or esophagus
A ruptured stomach and esophagus and acid reflux are not something easily curable, nor are they fun to live with. Also, like the person before me stated, Bulimia usually happens after gorging. So a person will go from consuming a ton a food, then throwing it up. This has a horrible impact on the body. Another point is the psychological impact of this disease. Even if this person does lose the weight, any time they gain the slightest bit of weight, they will return to purging instead of healthier options because it is what worked for them. I understand you have people close to you who are morbidly obese, and I’m sorry to hear that, but you aren’t helping them if you suggest Purging, this will wreck their insides and can affect them for the rest of their lives, whether they lose the weight or not. Bless you and your family and I wish you the best of luck.
Bulimia is a disease causing malnutrition, just like obesity, super morbid or otherwise. You are literally suggesting that people trade in one eating disorder for another. What’s wrong with eating properly? I was watching that documentary, too, and these people are constantly clamoring for more food and their family actually FEEDS IT TO THEM. It’s a case of no willpower on the part of the obese person, and a case of borderline abuse or neglect on the part of the family member who enables this behavior.
Your question is like asking, "If smoking is so dangerous to the lungs, why don’t they just start doing heroin or drinking a lot? Then they can deal with stress without risk of lung cancer!!"
All the cute little reasons you listed for why bulimia should be the obvious choice (because there’s something wrong with attempting to exercise with exercise bands and eating right apparently…?) leave one thing out: due to their extremely high caloric intake, reducing significant calories can actually kill them. I recall one of the fattest men to live who was sick and tired of being super morbidly obese, so he restricted his diet to under 500 calories a day. Guess what? He died of starvation.
I’m not sure why you’re trying to suggest that bulimia, an eating disorder, is a cure for super morbid obesity, an eating disorder. You can’t just interchange them, just like a cure for anorexia is not to stuff someone’s face with junk food. I agree that gastric bypass surgery is dangerous, but you don’t see anywhere that I advocate it (in fact, if you read my questions, you’ll see that I’m against it, no matter your weight). Super morbidly obese people need to eat better and do what little movement they can in an effort to exercise. That’s what the Brookhaven Clinic is all about ("Big Medicine" on Discovery Health).
So please, get this silly notion out of your head.
As for your friend who’s being "helped" by bulimia, remind your friend that it isn’t making her healthy. Healthy is not a weight, it’s a lifestyle that involves regular exercise and PROPER eating. Your body needs sound nutrition, not just to throw up after gorging yourself on fatty, salty, and sugary foods. I don’t know if you are clueless as to what "health" is, secretly hate your friend, or honestly don’t know about how the human body works when you say that it’s "working" for someone you are "very close to." If you were really concerned with their health, you’d be concerned with their HEALTH, not their waistline. Sorry, sugar.
EDIT: Yeah, Rockford…because "health" is found in a pill. No dice. Eat better, exercise.
I would try the drug topamax first. You would need titrate the medicine slowly up to 200 mg to be effective and the best results are at the maximum dose of 400mg. Its a very hard drug to get used to for the first month, but if you stick with it, the side effects go away. I had absolutely no appetite while on this medication and had to force myself to eat. I took it after foot surgery for nerve pain and lost 30 pounds just lying on the couch all day. I would also recommend taking a small dose of antideppressant with it as it can make a person more angry and even depressed. I would also drink lots of water with it as it can cause kidney stones if you don’t drink any water. I would also take the multivitamins that they give you for gastric bypass surgery available at Wallgreens.
Get the doctors opinion about this medication. It seems better than dying.
The second link is what people thought of the medication. They rate it on the left side on a scale of one to five.
No.
Of course not, bulimia is a disease too.
And a lot of bulimics don’t lose weight because they binge eat (part of the condition).
How unhealthy would it be to give someone who already has issues around food more issues around food!
No one will be advised to become bulimic, you have your facts seriously twisted.
Eat right and exercise is the only healthy way to lose weight.
Bulimia is bad for you because you are constantly getting stomach acid on the lining of your esophagus which is not good.
People who are morbidly obese have psychological issues leading to why they can’t stop eating. They need the will and support to change their habits, not just make it more complicated with another bad habit on top of it.
The reason why bulimia isn’t used as a "cure" for morbid obesity is because inducing bulimia (if this was even possible) would be causing harm, and healthcare professionals are sworn to do no harm (the huge malpractice suits also help).
Bulimia is NOT an acceptable solution to solve morbid obesity. You forgot to add GERD (heartburn), esophageal and gastric ulcers, and potential GI problems (yes, including cancers) to your list of "reversible" bulimia side effects. Not to mention it usually runs in hand with low self-esteem and depression.
Decreased caloric intake - to the point of starvation diets - will promote loss of lean tissue (muscle), rather than fat.
The people who get gastric bypass go into it expecting that it is somehow a magical fix. The problem is their eating behaviors to begin with - if people are binging, not responding to satiety OR hunger signals, the fact they have a smaller stomach isn’t going to stop them from eating, is it? The surgery has to be accompanied with a host of behavioral modification techniques (meetings with counselors, dietitians, etc.) in order to be truly effective. Your "solution" doesn’t fix the problem that these morbidly obese people are addicted to food. What is your "solution" going to do? Give them another eating disorder on top of the one they already have.