Although an eating disorder can be a cry for help or a mental disorder, some people think developing one is a ‘quick and easy way’ to shed their excess pounds. Anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders are mainly associated with teenage girls and young women, but they can affect any age and gender.

Some people start to restrict their calories to such a degree the weight does simply seem to melt off, and this spurs them on to continue with the dangerous behavior. While an anorexic will starve herself, eating little if anything, a bulimic might stuff herself with food before inducing vomiting before the body can digest the food.

There are many other forms of eating disorders too, but all of them are to do with a very unhealthy relationship with food. Although any of these patterns can lead to weight loss, they both come with some horrifying risks and dangers.

The problem with eating disorders is that the body is not getting the nutrients it needs to be healthy. Whether you are starving yourself or eating excessive food and then inducing vomiting or abusing laxatives, the end result is that you are harming yourself. The right nutrients are required to keep the skin, hair and nails looking good, and to keep up your energy levels. It is all too easy to become ‘addicted’ to this form of extreme dieting.

Anorexics and bulimics will sometimes never feel ‘thin’ enough despite being little more than skin and bone, and they can even end up killing themselves with malnutrition. Sometimes their heart will simply just stop because it has no energy to keep beating.

Although most people suffering from an eating disorder did not ‘choose’ for it to happen, and have other mental issues as the root of the problem, some people considering weight loss do toy with the idea of starving themselves or adopting another unhealthy food relationship. That is something that should be avoided at all costs.