ADHD can be a risk factor for the development of binge-eating disorders. Various studies have shown that people with ADHD have a higher risk of being affected by binge-eating. The severity of the ADHD symptoms is related to the severity of the binge-eating symptoms. I would like to get into detail about possible reasons for this in today's blog post.
Biological and genetic factors
Both ADHD and binge-eating are associated with a dysfunction of the reward system in the brain, especially in the dopamine system. An ADHD brain has little dopamine and GABA (the most important inhibitory neutrotransmitter) at its disposal. Eating a lot triggers the brain to release dopamine. By eating, dopamine levels are increased and a sense of lack is satisfied. These pleasurable feelings can turn food into a euphoric and addictive form of stimulation to increase dopamine levels. Sugary foods and simple carbohydrates in particular quickly deliver dopamine to the brain, which explains why these are often the foods of choice during binges. Restrictive behaviors, such as dieting or banning certain foods, can further increase reward sensitivity, so that eating can become even more rewarding after periods of restriction. The brains of people with ADHD also need more time to absorb glucose, which can lead to a higher consumption of sugar and simple carbohydrates.
Cognitive factors
Another factor that can lead to binge-eating is poor interoception. What does interoception mean? Interoception is the generic term for the perception of information not from the external world, but from the inside world. This includes feelings of hunger and satiety, which can often be negatively affected in people with ADHD and binge-eating.
Impulsivity is a key characteristic of both ADHD and binge-eating. Impulsivity makes it more difficult to control and consider the consequences of one's actions. Eating always makes you feel good for a short time. However, the consequences of a certain behavior are often not fully thought through, so that individuals usually feel worse after binge-eating than before.
Planning food and making decisions around eating are also often a challenge, which can lead to either impulsive or restrictive behaviors. Similarly, people with ADHD often have problems with self-regulation, which makes not eating certain foods and following diets even more difficult and can in turn lead to overeating or binging.
ADHD can make executive function skills such as organizing, planning and making decisions more difficult. This is known as executive dysfunction. As a result, completing certain tasks can be seen as very difficult. People with ADHD and binge-eating often have problems with sustained attention, organization, goal-directed action, control of emotions and cognitive flexibility.
A hyperfocus can also be associated with eating. This manifests itself, for example, when a person does not eat certain food groups or obsessively monitors certain numbers, such as their body weight, macronutrients or calories consumed. Hyperfocus in general can lead to people simply forgetting to eat regularly, which can also encourage binge-eating.
Behavioral factors
People with ADHD often have problems sleeping and poor sleeping habits can in turn dysregulate the metabolism. In addition, poor impulse control and irregular eating can contribute to overeating. Difficulties with self-regulation can also make it more difficult for the person affected to determine what they have already eaten. It is also interesting to note that people with predominantly inattentive ADHD traits report worse binge-eating symptoms than people with predominantly hyperactive/impulsive traits.
All-or-nothing mentality can also be a problem: situations are often perceived in extremes both by people affected by binge-eating and by people with ADHD. Applying flexibility and moderation in everyday life can lead to problems. If something supposedly bad or unhealthy is consumed, the whole day can be ruined and it appears as if nothing matters anymore because the day is already lost.
Emotional factors and lack of self-confidence
Emotional eating is also an important factor. Eating can serve as an outlet for sadness, anger, overwhelm, nervousness and other negative emotions. By eating, you can cope with these negative emotions and still feel like you have everything under control. Boredom can also lead to increased eating.
An unhealthy relationship with food can also be caused by poor self-esteem and negative self-talk and beliefs. Disordered eating behaviors are often intrinsically linked to feelings about one's place in social structures and whether or not people feel accepted by their environment. People who binge and have ADHD often struggle with feelings of loneliness, shame and guilt, which can contribute to low self-esteem. In turn, low self-esteem can lead to perpetuating and exacerbating symptoms of binge-eating and ADHD.
All of these factors can lead to individuals with ADHD and binge-eating problems often being stuck in a binge-restriction cycle.
ADHD binge-restriction cycle
What do I mean by this unwieldy name? Imagine this: You wake up in the morning, take your ADHD medication and only eat a small snack, e.g. an apple. Then you go to work and at lunchtime you're still so absorbed in your work that you forget to eat or it's simply not a priority. You then take your ADHD medication again, which also suppresses your appetite. In the afternoon, when the workload has decreased, you remember to eat again and have a snack, such as a protein or chocolate bar. By the time you get home from work, you are completely famished. As you no longer have the energy to cook (or maybe there's not even any food in the house) and you can no longer concentrate on it - you're just too ravenous - you order fast food or eat a quick meal. You eat so much of it that you get an unpleasant full feeling. However, it doesn't fill you up for long, so you reach for chocolate again 1-2 hours later and feel guilty.
This is roughly what a binge-restriction cycle looks like. Of course, it can manifest itself differently in different people, but people with ADHD in particular are often stuck in this cycle.
Reasons for this include:
ADHD medication suppresses your appetite
Eating is simply forgotten due to hyperfocus
Deciding what to eat or preparing food seems overwhelming
You feel like you don't have enough time
Executive tasks, such as cooking or preparing food, are avoided
Hunger and satiety signals are not perceived correctly due to poor interoception
Diets or a restriciton on the consumption of certain foods
You can only escape this cycle if you eat regularly in sufficient quantities throughout the day. If you eat nothing or too little throughout the day, it is much more likely that you will experience cravings in the evening. This is because your body will then seek to finally get the energy it didn't get during the day. It is also important that you address why these binges occur. Because they have nothing to do with a lack of self-control or willpower. Perhaps you are using food as an outlet to cope with your negative emotions. Maybe you simply need stimulation and have gotten into the habit of eating for stimulation instead of doing other things. Or, as described above, you simply eat too little and too irregularly throughout the day.
But how should you react after a binge?
After a binge
Instead of skipping meals, eat something. Even if you don't feel hungry, your body still needs food. Eating regularly can also help you interrupt the binge-restriction cycle.
Instead of demonizing foods, don't restrict your food intake. When you demonize certain foods as bad, it gives you a false sense of control over your eating behavior and also keeps you stuck in the binge-restriction cycle.
Instead of repeatedly going on restrictive diets for a short period of time, change your lifestyle. Diets are always associated with deprivation and will sooner or later lead to binges. Your body doesn't know the difference between real starvation and consciously restricting your calorie intake. With a binge after a restrictive phase, your body craves the food it has not received in sufficient amounts. Trusting your body and changing your lifestyle instead of subjecting your body to restrictive diets will help you to stop dieting and also improve your self-confidence.
Instead of punishing yourself with working out, have fun while exercising. You don't have to “burn off” everything you've eaten or exercise to punish yourself for binge-eating or to earn food. Exercise because it's fun, energizes you, reduces stress, and helps your ADHD brain to focus better. Find the type of exercise that you enjoy and don't force yourself to do things that make you feel tortured rather than happy.
Conclusion
Many people with ADHD also struggle with binge-eating. Reasons for this include biological and genetic factors (such as neurotransmitter disorders in the brain), cognitive factors (such as impulsivity or poor interoception), behavioral factors (including all-or-nothing thinking) or emotional factors (such as anger, sadness, resentment) and a lack of self-confidence. Many people with ADHD are caught in a binge-restriction cycle in which overeating alternates with not eating. There are many reasons for this, such as suppressing the feeling of hunger by taking ADHD medication, dieting or restrictive diets. Instead of skipping meals after a binge-eating episode, eat something. Instead of demonizing foods, eat all the foods you want to eat. Instead of restrictively dieting again and again, change your lifestyle. And instead of punishing yourself with exercise, enjoy exercise.
If you want to tackle problems with your eating behavior, I'm here for you as a fitness and nutrition coach. I will teach you ADHD-friendly ways to improve your eating behavior and your relationship with food so that binge-eating will soon be a thing of the past.
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