Anorexia and Bulimia
"A healthy body is a guest-chamber for the soul; a sick body, a prison" Francis Bacon What is anorexia? Anorexia is a dangerous eating disorder that causes significant weight loss and, in extreme cases, even death. The name anorexia comes from Greek: "lack of appetite". Anorexia is usually suffered by young women who have developed […]
“A healthy body is a guest-chamber for the soul; a sick body, a prison”
What is anorexia?
Anorexia is a dangerous eating disorder that causes significant weight loss and, in extreme cases, even death.
The name anorexia comes from Greek: “lack of appetite“.
Anorexia is usually suffered by young women who have developed a fear of eating out of concern about gaining weight.
Since 1975 anorexia has been considered a mental illness, since it is fatal in five percent of cases.
Anorexia has psychological, biological and genetic causes.
Some doctors believe that anorexia may appear in adolescence due to a conscious aversion to the changes
taking place in the developing body, and sometimes the adolescent’s refusal to grow and develop toward adulthood.
Anorexia in Chinese medicine
Those suffering from this condition have a serious weakness in the digestive system, so the intestines and spleen need to be strengthened.
When the body goes without food for a long time, the digestive system suffers in the same way as a muscle
that isn’t used.
Chinese medicine is very often successful at restoring this function of the digestive system and helping
with the process of digesting food, absorbing it in the body, and working internally on the person’s mind.
When the treatment takes effect, the bloated feeling after eating, a sensation many anorexia sufferers complain about, eases, and the other symptoms are relieved as well.
Chinese herbal medicines prescribed to patients suffering from anorexia are intended to increase appetite, aid the digestive system and strengthen it.
Acupuncture points are selected in order to calm the patient, aid the body’s functions and strengthen it, helping the body heal itself.
Foods such as: rice sprouts, wheat sprouts and radish seeds or cherries ease and help.
Clarification: although Chinese herbal remedies and acupuncture can restore health, this is a long and structured process
and emotional support and therapy are also essential.
What is bulimia?
Bulimia is an eating disorder, a mental disorder similar to anorexia, characterized by binge-eating episodes followed by purging efforts, usually through intentional vomiting.
Those who suffer from bulimia, who are usually young women in their late teens or early
twenties, have extremely low self-esteem and experience great psychological distress.
In this condition there are binges – secret episodes of bingeing on all types of food, after which “purging” or “cleansing” actions are taken by consuming large doses of laxatives and/or inducing vomiting in order to stop and prevent weight gain. There is an addiction to these binges.
This condition is less dangerous than anorexia, since the weight loss here is not over as short a period as with anorexia, but the danger lies in disruption of the body’s potassium balance, damage to the teeth, sores in the esophagus and digestive tract, and the development of complications from this.
This may be accompanied by: mood swings, fatigue, low self-esteem, dizziness, shortness of breath, low blood pressure and more.
Bulimia in Chinese medicine
Chinese medicine views bulimia as caused by serious weakness of the spleen and stomach, in addition to a disturbance of the person’s spirit.
The bingeing and vomiting in bulimia damage and exhaust the digestive system and can also cause further damage to the liver.
We strengthen the digestive system, so that when the patient wants to eat, she doesn’t feel so uncomfortable and enjoys the food more.
In addition to an herbal remedy intended to encourage and strengthen the digestive system, Chinese nutritional counseling is provided along with selected acupuncture points in order to strengthen the system and breathe new, refreshed life into the patient.
Clarification: although Chinese herbal remedies and acupuncture can restore health, this is a long and structured process
and emotional support and therapy are also essential.
At “Machat Ruach”, the complementary medicine clinic, treatments are tailored individually to the various types of problems, including: fertility issues, issues surrounding the menstrual cycle, back pain, knee pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, sleep problems, hormonal issues, skin problems (psoriasis, seborrhea, eczema), ear infections, colds, coughing, asthma, breathing issues, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, menstrual pain, sinusitis, stress, excess weight and more.