Bulimia Nervosa is a binge eating disorder in which you have no control over food. You eat a lot of food in a short time and purge afterward in fear of gaining weight. This eating disorder gives you either obesity or malnutrition. It impacts your physical and psychological condition at the same time.
Actually, Bulimia Nervosa is not a disease. It is a disorder that affects your whole lifestyle. The treatment of this disorder depends upon the severity of your condition. With following some certain home remedies you can get recovery from Bulimia Nervosa along with the therapies of behavioral management.
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Do Home Remedies Cure Bulimia?
The main aim of using home remedies in Bulimia is to stop binge eating and to increase your disturbed psychological condition. Home remedies are always free from any side effects. But you need to follow the advice of your doctor before jumping into any treatment.
You can go with home treatments with other therapies and medication to recover from Bulimia simultaneously. As per studies, there are some possible home remedies help to recover from Bulimia are as follows:
- A healthy change of the lifestyle
- Body awareness therapy. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/14038190903220362?journalCode=iejp19
- Alternative Traditional Remedies
Let’s explore all the remedies in brief.
Home Remedies For Bulimia Nervosa
In the ancient period, people were depending on natural remedies to get rid of any disease. Bulimia Nervosa was one of them also. Though there is no proof of 100% recovery from Bulimia by using these natural remedies, they cure the eating disorder quite well.
Natural remedies are not at all harmful to your body. Rather they strengthen your immunity system with some useful properties they contain. Let’s try some natural remedies for Bulimia.
1- A Healthy Lifestyle Change
Social and psychological causes are the main factors of Bulimia Nervosa. It affects your self-esteem which ends in the loss of self-confidence and lack of judgment. As a result, you start to avoid social gatherings or to go out with friends. Your lifestyle changes drastically and you get trapped with negative thoughts also. With some healthy lifestyle habits, you can overcome this condition of Bulimia are included:
- Keep yourself engage in friend circle, family, and social activities.
- Stick to the diet plan given by your dietician.
- Don’t skip your exercise even for a day when you are in treatment or afterward.
- Take 8 hours of stress-free sleep every 16 hours.
- Find and read some self-help books to maintain the better overall health of yours.
- Never be alone in any way. Try to spend time in gatherings.
- Don’t scale your body in a mirror. Leave your body to accept the remedies in its own way.
- Love yourself and give enough time to understand the aim and goal of life but binge eating.
2- Body Awareness Therapy
Actually, body awareness therapy is a therapeutic tool that helps you to get rid of Bulimia Nervosa as a home remedy. It is a program of therapies which focuses on the development of your mental awareness about your body and reduces your eating disorder as well.
3.Yoga
Since ages, practicing yoga cures lots of diseases whether it is a physical or mental illness. Only 15 minutes to half an hour of yoga in every day gives your body miraculous benefits.
- Yoga calms your mind by relieving stress and emotional anguish.
- It controls your body and mind from all types of disorders dealt with Bulimia.
- Yoga improves your self-image by controlling your thoughts. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X09003346
- According to a study on women, Yoga brings spectacle physical changes in body and mind after regular practice.
- It reported improvements in their binge eating disorder and in body satisfaction as well. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10640260902991111?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dpubmed
To Perform Yoga:
- Take a mat and sit straight on it.
- Rest your palm on your knees and close your eyes.
- Now try to focus between your eyes.
- Take a deep breath and hold for 2-4 seconds.
- Exhale the breathe and hold for 2-4 seconds.
- Practice this every day in the morning and repeat this performance 10 times.
4.Meditate
According to a study, the regular practice of meditation decreases binge eating disorder in weeks. Since ages, meditation is used as a remedy to achieve inner peace. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/135910539900400305
- The efficacy of meditation is it lets you understand yourself better by eliminating frustration, stress, and negative thoughts from your mind.
- It induces a positive sense of consciousness within you.
- Meditation increases your mindfulness towards everything you do in your daily life.
- In the case of an eating disorder in Bulimia, meditation concentrates your mind while taking food. As a result, you became aware of the quantity of your eating which is very important to treat Bulimia.
- You begin to regulate your actions and gain control over them accordingly through meditation.
- Meditation improves your self-image and regulates your impulsive behavior in Bulimia. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1471015314000191
5.Acupuncture
According to research, Acupuncture can cure the eating disorder of Bulimia along with the anxiety and depression related to it. It is a Chinese medicine treated with the help of needles pointed into the specific parts of your body related to Bulimia. After several sessions conducted by a registered acupuncturist, you can get 100% positive results in Bulimia. https://www.pacificcollege.edu/news/press-releases/2015/05/06/fight-eating-disorders-chinese-medicine
- Acupuncture improves your physical and mental health simultaneously.
- It decreases the negative symptoms of depression and anxiety within you.
- Acupuncture eliminates your eating disorder perfectly.
- It motivates you to be social and familiar with your friends and relatives with confidence.
6.A Massage
- A good massage by a perfect trainer gives you a stress-free mind and body.
- It is a relaxation therapy that increases the level of serotonin and dopamine in your body.
- It improves your personal outlook and gives moral support to be more social.
According to a study on women suffering from Anorexia Nervosa which is quite similar to Bulimia, get spectacular results from massage therapy. They were given 2 massage therapies twice a week for 5 weeks. They beat the eating disorder with body satisfaction very well. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16864390
7- Citrus Fruits
Citrus fruits like oranges and lemons are famous as appetite regulators. These fruits are rich in vitamin C which boosts your immune system affected by Bulimia.
Orange stimulates your appetite and works as a staple in Bulimia. It helps in the correction of your eating disorder to get you back on track. http://www.homeremedycentral.com/en/home-remedies/natural-cure/bulimia.html
Take some slices of orange to keep you free from the dry mouth and absence of adequate saliva because of Bulimia. These orange slices keep you abstain from binge eating to some extent. You have to take them between your meal and snack.
A small slice of lemon can suppress your urge to vomit in Bulimia. It is recommended by the researchers not to take these citrus fruits more than twice a day. They can increase the level of dental erosion in Bulimics to the next level. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2045572/
8- Spinach
According to a study, the intake of green leaves keep sharp and increase your mental abilities. As we know Bulimics go through a cognitive problem, so it is useful to take green leaves as an oral remedy. [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150330112227.htm]
Spinach is one of the most powerful green leaves that contain folic acid. The work of folic acid is to keep your brain active and alert towards your activities all the time. The folic acid present in spinach helps to ease your depression and anxiety caused by Bulimia.
Taking of spinach in your diet gives you dual benefits by affecting both mental and dietary afflictions of the eating disorder. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1559827607299725
9- Green Tea
Green tea contains caffeine which enhances your mental alertness. It is recommended to take green tea twice a day. Because too much caffeine can make you shaky and can interfere in your sleep. https://nccih.nih.gov/health/greentea
In Bulimia, you experience a lack of concentration and alertness towards your daily activities. Green tea can help to keep you alert to some extent.
10- Omega-3
In Bulimia, the decrease and increase of your body weight relate to depression and anxiety completely. Omega-3 keeps your mental balance stable and keeps you free from anxiety and depression to some extent. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1559827607299725
You can take seafood like Salmon and other fishes in your diet which are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids and other minerals. It wards off the chronic stress in your body which can lead your compulsive behavior in Bulimia Nervosa.
11- Ginseng
Ginseng acts as an overall treatment for Bulimia. It boosts your immune system. Ginseng helps to treat yourself psychologically. It improves your mood and reduces depression and anxiety. https://www.webmd.com/diet/supplement-guide-ginseng#1
You can take 1 inch of ginseng with a glass of warm water twice a day. It will suppress your hunger for some time and boost your bowel system as well.
Bottom Line
Nothing is more effective than the traditional alternative treatments for eating disorder in Bulimia. Each therapy is quite effective to treat from your body to mind. The traditional herbal treatments with ginseng or fruits will give you good results but any harm.
It is always recommendable to consult with your doctor before adopting any new therapy or treatment. Your doctor knows your condition in Bulimia Nervosa. So it is always best to take his advice in any of the treatment.