Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia Nervosa is often the first eating disorder that comes to mind. No doubt, you know or knew someone whom you suspected suffered from this disease or whom seem dangerously thin. Anorexia is a disorder of self-starvation, either by calorie restriction or excessive exercise, where the individual has a distorted body image. As mentioned before eating disorders are psychological disorders, where the individual believes that they are fat or is afraid of becoming fat, no matter how thin they appear or how low the number on the scale is.

A person with anorexia exhibits the criteria (taken from the DSM-IV):

• Refusal to maintain body weight at or above minimal normal weight for their age and height
• Intense fear of being fat or gaining weight
• A distorted body image
• In females, the loss of three consecutive menstrual cycles (amenorrhea)

What happens to you physically if you suffer from anorexia?

• Metabolic rate slows
• Loss of lean tissue hurts physical performance
• Increased risk of stress fractures (overuse injury)
• Dehydration
• The heart pumps inefficiently and becomes weak and thin
• Blood pressure falls
• The brain’s activity becomes abnormal
• Insomnia is common
• The digestive tract fails to digest food as needed
• Inadequate immune response
• Anemia
• Dry skin
• Low body temperature
• High level of fatigue

What happens psychologically?

• Anxiety
• Restlessness
• Irritability
• Tiredness
• Avoidance of eating and meals
• Claims of being fat
• Unusual weighing behavior
• Excessive training beyond what is need for the sport
• Obsession about body image
• Social withdrawal
• Depression

How is it treated?

The type and amount of treatment needed depends on the severity of the disease. Some clients have to be fed with feeding tubes, while others are responsive to feeding themselves. Obvious treatment addresses the diet and works to stop weight loss and then begin weight gain. There is also a need to work through the psychological and social issues the individual has towards food. They also have to work on the patient’s relationships with themselves and their body.

The affects of anorexia will cause diminished athletic performance as well as life threatening complications. Most often, people with anorexia do not believe they have a problem. As a coach, trainer, teammate and friend, you need to watch out for some of the above changes and encourage someone who needs help to get it. Below are some resources related to eating disorders.

Academy for Eating Disorders
National Eating Disorders Foundation
NIMH Eating Disorders
Eating Disorders and Athletes
http://helpguide.org/mental/eating_disorder_treatment.htm

Eating Disorders and Athletes: Know Your Risks

Eating disorders affect people of all ages, backgrounds, and gender. Approximately 5 million Americans, both men and women, suffer from the eating disorders Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. Americans are obsessed with the way we look, always striving to be thinner with more tone and bigger muscles. Eating disorders have very serious effects on athletic performance, overall and lifelong health, and mental state.

Studies have shown that athletes are at a higher risk of developing eating disorders. Some of these risk factors include:
-Participation in sports where weight is emphasized such as gymnastics and wrestling.
-Participation in sports focusing on the individual versus the team.
-Involvment in endurance sports.
-Holding the inaccurate belief that a lower body weight will lead to better performance.
-Having coaches who focus on the success and performance rather than on the athlete as a person.

Females are at risk of developing the Female Athlete Triad, which includes disordered eating, loss of menstrual periods, and osteoporosis. The loss of calcium and bone can increase the risk of stress fractures and other injuries. The triad affects all aspects of the individual’s health and can lead to life-threatening situations.

To perform at a high level, your body needs fuel (food). If you deprive your body of food and nutrients, as happens when an individual has an eating disorder, your body can’t handle the demands you are placing on it. You will feel fatigued, weak, and tired more often than not. A lower body weight does not guarantee better performance, especially in cases where your body is not getting enough fuel to carry out its daily processes, let alone the extra training demands you place on it.

Disordered eating comes in many forms; eating too few calories, over-exercising, taking diet pills or laxatives, etc. Full blown eating disorders are diagnosed mental disorders, many of which have symptoms that crossover between the different diagnosed diseases. It is important to be aware of your own attitude towards your body and towards food so that you can monitor your individual risk of developing one of these diseases. This month we will take a look at a few different eating disorders, their signs and symptoms, and the effects they can have on the body. Be educated, not only to protect yourself, but to recognize when someone else may be struggling and need help.

Energy Drinks: America, Land of the Caffeinated

I stopped by 7-Eleven the other morning to grab a cup of coffee/ hot chocolate to aid in my alertness, after spending a night of intermittent sleep with my almost 1 month old daughter. I noticed that of the 8 people in line with me, only 2 opted for non-caffeinated sources of energy. Three of the patrons held coffee, while the other three opted for very large cans of Red Bull, Rock Star and Full Throttle respectable. Hey, I get it, caffeine is an integral ingredient in the American diet, but more and more folks are turning to “energy drinks” today and not just to aid in their alertness, but also to boost libido, athletic performance, and ability to “party.” Energy drinks are frequently marketed to individuals interested in athletics and an active lifestyle. From 2001 to 2008, estimates of energy drink use in adolescent to middle-aged populations ranged from 24% to 56%. Most energy drinks feature caffeine (100 - 400mg) and a combination of other components, including taurine, sucrose, guarana, ginseng, niacin, pyridoxine, and cyanocobalamin.

Energy Drinks are not Sports drinks

If you get anything from this blog, please understand the difference between energy drinks and sports drinks.
Sports Drink – Help to replace lost electrolytes, sodium, and potassium. Many also replace carbohydrates (Body’s main source of true energy) to help maintain energy before, during and after exercise/competition. They do not contain stimulants.
Energy Drink – Aide in stimulating and individual by the use of stimulants. These products usually lack carbohydrates, thus do not provide energy. They do not help to hydrate an individual or provide additional energy. They do contain more concentrated sugar, and herbal ingredients. Many are regulated under DHSEA, which means contamination is a possibility.

Alcohol and Energy Drinks

Caffeine has been combined with alcohol for a very long time (i.e. rum and coke), but the caffeine content has traditionally been much lower than what is found in a number of the leading energy drinks today. Why do club and bar goers chose to mix drinks with energy drinks? Many believe they will increase their enjoyment while reducing the symptomatic lethargy and physical impairment associated with drunkenness. Many don’t know that combining the stimulant effect of caffeine and the depressant effect of alcohol may lead drinkers to underestimate their level of intoxication, with potentially lethal consequences. A study done at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, found that students who mixed caffeine and alcohol thought they were capable of driving more often than those who drank non-caffeinated alcoholic drinks 1. November 17, 2010 the FDA issued warning letters to a number of alcoholic energy drink manufactures, and informed them that their products are a public concern. The concerns included a rise in college campuses across the nation experiencing injuries and blackouts due to ingestion of these drinks. The 6-12 % alcohol by volume may have contributed to this…

Tips to staying alert without caffeine:

• Eat for performance pre and post exercise (this includes, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between)
• Hydrate
• Schedule time to eat, hydrate, practice, socialize, and most importantly, REST.
• Remember - No supplement is harmless and free from consequences.
• “All natural,” does not constitute safe for human consumption, even “all natural” products may have short-term or long-term negative health risks.
• Food first is always your best bet.


Additional information:

 9 of 10 Americans consume caffeine
 200-300 mg. day usually not harmful
 500-600 mg. day = harmful
 Amount depends on body mass, med history, stress
 Interferes with antibiotics, bronchodilators, ephedrine
 Acts as diuretic - dehydrates


1. Event-level analyses of energy drink consumption and alcohol intoxication in bar patrons
Gatorade Sports Science Institute, http://www.gssiweb.com