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Keep Healthy Foods Around
Binge eating usually involves high-calorie foods, such as candy, cookies, cake, ice cream, and chips. Reduce the amounts of those foods you buy while increasing your supply of fresh fruits and veggies. Bulimics are less likely to binge on apples than they are on apple pie.
Have her take a multivitamin.
If she is bingeing on junk foods, a daily multivitamin will offset nutrient shortfalls. Also, consider giving her a zinc supplement (12 mg. is the RDA for adolescent girls).
Research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry and in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition reports that zinc deficiency is common in bulimics. This may be due to impaired zinc absorption, vomiting, or bingeing on low-zinc foods.
Don’t expect your daughter to overcome bulimia quickly. But with loving support from you, along with a treatment plan from a team of professionals, she can do it.
Next: Beating Bulimia with a Doctor’s Help
A version of this article appears in the Summer 2009 issue of ADDitude.
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