[eskielover]

We were discussing my "lack of weight' the other day & she said she had talked to a nurse about people who are too thin. The nurse had told her that people who are losing weight & have a very low body weight have an enzyme or chemical that is found in their body that causes them a kind of high.....or the kind of feeling that people who drink get when they are drinking. She suggested that is was kind of an addiction to the feeling that we are feeling when we are losing weight.....and that maybe the same treatment might be used for us as for the people who are addicted to alcohol.

I haven't done any research of what she said....didn't have enough facts to search on & wasn't anything I had seen in my searches of the causes for weight loss. This works for even people who don't have a body image issue.....like me who knows I look like a walking skeleton.

Don't know how much there is to the theory or if anyone else has ever heard this. Even in my month treatment in an eating disorders center...no one talked about this, not did anyone when I was so sick at the beginning of this year.....

Just throwing out a question,
Debbie

[Rapunzel]

It makes sense to me. Other ways to look at it could be that we can be addicted to behaviors, not just to substances, so maybe restricting eating can become addictive all by itself. Also, you could be addicted to the feeling of having an empty stomach, or the light feeling that comes from not eating heavier foods (there is a feeling of lightness associated with raw foods vegetarianism, which raw foodists promote, just saying that they feel better than they ever have before).

[FreedomeSeeker02]

I definitely agree. I became addicted to the feeling of an empty stomach. Something about the "light" feeling just kept me going. I believed in "No Pain, No Pride." It was part of my upbringing so I felt like I was becoming stronger by restricting, when in actuality my muscles were slowly breaking down.

[Gemstone]

I have never heard this before, but it seems to make sense.

Thanks for sharing.