EDMONDS, WA--(Marketwire -01/25/12)- More and more young people who want to be thin without passing up the party lifestyle are engaging in a dangerously unhealthy combination of binge drinking and anorexic or bulimic eating behavior popularly known as "drunkorexia," according to the website Caring Online.
Drunkorexia is seen most frequently among college-age women, who often face dual pressures to be thin and to participate in the alcohol-centered social life prevalent at many schools. According to Caring Online, an information and resource site for eating disorders, about 90 percent of eating disorder sufferers are women, a majority of them in the 14-to-25 age range.
Drunkorexics often forgo food to offset calories from alcoholic beverages, or they may eat but subsequently purge both the food and the alcohol they've ingested. Getting intoxicated may also be a way of coping with severe anxiety, another psychological condition that often accompanies eating disorders.
A drunkorexic may take in more calories from drinking alcohol than from eating. An episode of binge drinking -- defined as four drinks within a short period for a woman, or five for a man -- can easily pack in 600 calories or more.
The problem for the drunkorexic or fad dieter is that alcohol doesn't supply vital nutrients, while it does do harm to the body, according to Dr. Gregory Jantz, who operates Caring Online and is an internationally known eating disorders specialist.
"Anorexia and bulimia take a serious health toll all by themselves," explains Dr. Jantz. "The body is deprived of necessary minerals, often throwing body chemistry dangerously out of balance and affecting the heart, muscles, kidneys and bones. Large amounts of alcohol just make a bad situation even worse, especially endangering the health of the brain and liver."
Dr. Jantz wrote the bestselling book "Hope, Help and Healing for Eating Disorders" and is founder and head of The Center for Counseling and Health Resources, a residential facility that specializes in "whole-person" care for those suffering from eating disorders. Visit Caring Online for information and resources on eating disorders, including links to Dr. Jantz' eating disorder self-assessment evaluation.
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