Alcohorexia: stop eating to drink alcohol

Alcohorexia: stop eating to drink alcohol
Alcoholism consists of an eating disorder in which the person stops eating to drink alcohol. Discover what it is and why it is so dangerous.

Alcohorexia is an eating disorder where the person stops eating to drink alcohol. As a consequence, it causes a series of symptoms that make it possible to identify the problem. Your treatment must be interdisciplinary.

To date, there is a consensus to indicate as eating disorders mainly both bulimia and anorexia nervosa. However, specialists agree in pointing out the existence of certain disorders of unspecified eating behavior (TCANE).

Among these unspecified eating disorders we find vigorexia, orthorexia and diabulimia. And also with a new eating disorder that has received the name of alcohorexia.

What is alcohorexia?
It consists of an eating disorder in which the person eats little by day to be able to drink alcohol at night. The objective of the person, as we see, is to achieve a generalized thinning through a low consumption of food, so as not to increase the caloric intake and thus be able to drink alcohol abusively at night.

It may be usual for the person to unconsciously suffer from alcoholism and for this it is not necessary that the person suffer from an eating disorder as such due to wanting to lose weight or be obese. It is enough to follow an unbalanced and unhealthy diet, and drink alcohol at night.

It is a common practice in many young adolescents, who become the most vulnerable group, since they are known for all the bottle parties that are practiced every weekend in our country.

The United States is a good example: specialists estimate that 35% of young people between 18 and 24 years old skip meals and then drink alcohol at night.

What are your causes?
Many medical experts agree that alcoholism is closely related to anorexia, since the person suffering from this eating disorder is often afraid to gain weight, so that they tend to perceive themselves as fat when they can actually even be very thin.

Symptoms of alcohorexia
There are some symptoms that allow to identify if a person is suffering or not this eating disorder. The most common are the following:

Malnutrition.
The person tends to follow irregular eating habits.
Fear of weight gain, despite being thin.
The person avoids eating to drink alcohol.
Loss of proteins, vitamins and minerals.
Abdominal obesity due to excessive alcohol consumption.
Risk of liver diseases, such as fatty liver, hepatomegaly (inflammation and enlarged liver) and cirrhosis.
In addition, it is usual to produce an evident hair loss (as a result of poor health), as well as changes in the way of being.

The dangerous consequences of suffering from alcohorexia
We must bear in mind that what is known as alcohorexia what it does is merge two serious problems, because while the person suffering from it stops eating correctly (so that you do not get all those nutrients necessary for your body), we must add to this the consumption of alcoholic beverages, not only too often, but also fasting.

Therefore, when alcohorexia is maintained over time and is not properly treated, many serious health problems can arise, such as:

Malnutrition.
Heart disease.
Alterations of memory.
Liver damage
Kidney damage
Excessive fatigue and fatigue.
Treatment of alcohorexia
Like any eating disorder, the treatment to be followed must be interdisciplinary. In severe cases it is recommended to work in psychoeducational groups, which teach the patient to modulate their emotions.

Therefore, a clinical and toxicological control is required, combined with psychological therapies and also in nutritionist counseling.