About Joanne Expertise I am a medical student and have suffered from anorexia and bulimia myself, I am willing to answer questions based on my own experiences. My advice, however, should not be used as a substitute for that of a qualified medical professional.
Experience I suffered from anorexia from the age of about 10. By the age of 13 I was suffering from bulimia. Now after 10 years of suffering from an eating disorder, I feel that I can say that I'm well on my way with recovery and would just like to be able to share what I have learned with those in similar situations!
Question QUESTION: Thanks for replying to my earlier msg regarding chewing and spitting. My weight is 35kg and i am 150cm. I have been taking laxatives for awhile but stopped and last week i saw a 3kg gain after only 5 days!!! And i have not increased or changed any of my eating habits! After that incident i'm frightened to step on a scale. Could it be that my body is retaining water due to laxative withdrawal? Also you mentioned that chewing and spitting won't cause weight gain unless you accidently swallow some of the saliva. I just want to reconfirm that if you chew and spit out sweet foods like chocs, ice cream and biscuits, will it cause weight gain and are you only absorbing a negligible amount of calories? And how many calories do i require to maintain my current weight?
ANSWER: That's very hard to answer. It is unlikey that you will be able to eat any more calories without gaining weight. But eating around the 2000 calorie mark is meant to allow you to maintain a weight, but if you have been eating quite a bit less than this, your metabolism will have slowed and you will need to build up stores of fats and rebuild muscle in your body that your body needs to function normally, so there will be initial weight gain until your body's sorted itself out!
The amount of calories that you will be taken will be very small! I'd imagine that it would take a very long time for you to put on weight just as a result of doing that!
Taking laxatives doesn't really make you lose proper weight! Laxatives just speed up the removal of waste from your intestines! Laxatives just stop you reabsorbing a lot of the water from wastes in order to make stools less dry and easier to pass. A lot of what your body needs from food will have been absorbed by the time this take effect! You really just lose a lot of water weight, and it is most likely that you are just retaining water now. Your body is most likely just rehydrating itself!
Holly
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QUESTION: I really appreciate that you are taking the time to reply to me. I know its fustrating dealing with ED patients. Yeah, so i've stopped taking laxatives completely and have been experiencing bloatedness in the abdomen and flatulence. Is my body retaining water? And i would like to reconfirm whether chewing and spitting cause weight gain? Are you absorbing a negligible amount of calories? I often chew and respit sometimes but i try really hard not to swallow and rinse my mouth afterwards. Is my one or two meals a day sufficient to put on weight? One meal is around 300-400 calories.
ANSWER: Unless you have slowed your metabolism down a lot, and were eating even less than that before, 300-400 calories should not cause you to gain weight.
Don't state this as fact, but I do not believe that you can gain weight from chewing and spitting if you are not swallowing, and even then you would have to swallow a lot of it!
I do believe that you will be retaining water, and the bloatedness is most likely to be a mixture of the water and by not using laxatives, you may be experiencing slight constipation as your bosy tries to adjust to going without laxatives. You may also not be eating enough in order to move your bowels properly.
As for my time, do not worry about it. I enjoy being able to help people, and if this is all I can do until I'm a fully qualified Dr, then this is what I will spend my time doing. As for ED patients, I was/am probably the most frustrating person you will meet, so please do not worry about that! lol
Holly
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QUESTION: Does that mean even if i binge but not swallow any of the food this won't contribute to weight gain? Coz i do it almost every day with tons of food like chocs, biscuits and pastries etc etc. If i don't consume anything for the entire day but just chew and spit will i lose weight?
Also if were to eat 800-900 calories a day and exercise 4-5imes a week will i gain weight? Or can you just give me an estimate of the amount of calories i need just for normal daily activities? Oh and how long will this bloatedness and water retention last? Thanks.
ANSWER: I did a lot more research on this last night, and the binging you are talking about, provding you are spitting shouldn't cause weight gain!
However, when you are are chewing food, there will insulin released in the blood stream with the aim of any sugar you did swallow being picked up by that (if you are not aware, insulin is responsible for controlling your blood sugar level after eating by making sure that it doesn't get too high). This insulin is produced and will circulate. This means that it is there, so when you do eat, it will take the sugar and store it. Excess insulin makes it harder for you to lose weight.
In the longer term, this constant excess of insulin can also lead to insulin resistance, and eventually diabetes.
I seriously recommend going and speaking to a professional about these habits before it ever gets to that stage!!!!
Holly
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QUESTION: Hey, i hope you can recall me. I have not weighed myself for about a month and i have stopped taking laxatives. My period just came back today ( i have not had it for the past 6 months) and now i am terrified that i have gained weight. Does it mean that once my period returns it means that i have gained weight? Also i have been chewing and spitting out tons of food espcially chocs, biscuits, chips etc. Could the chewing and spitting contribute to weight gain?
Answer I really recommend that you go and talk to your Dr about this. I can not say for sure whether or not you have gained weight!
I have also stated before that I don't believe that you should be gaining weight from chewing and spitting, but it does have an effect on insulin levels, which may cause you to gain weight from the meals that you are actually eating!
But again, I don't know enough of this condition to be able to comment further!
