How to prevent binge eating on a vegan diet
I was asked this question by a beautiful follower the other day so I thought I would make a blog post about it!
Disclaimer: I want to preface this by saying that if you are suffering with a binge eating disorder it is always best to seek appropriate mental health support with a psychologist or contact the Butterfly Foundation for further resources.
Binge eating affects many different people but in this post, we will be going through why you may be binge eating now that you are eating a vegan diet and how we can switch up your diet to reduce the feelings of needing to binge.
There are many reasons why you may be binge eating and the causes are going to be different for everyone. Binge eating can be a sign of anxiety, overwhelm or depression and used as a way to feel comfort and to release tension. If you are having feelings like this and using binge eating as a coping mechanism, I highly recommend getting support from someone trained in this area.
If, however, you have recently gone vegan and noticed that you are always hungry and not feeling satiated, causing you to binge, here’s what may be going on for you.
You feel restricted
Going vegan or reducing your meat/dairy/egg intake can be daunting when you are unsure of what to replace these foods with. This can make you feel restricted and cause you to intentionally or unintentionally reduce your overall calorie intake. If you are not meeting your daily needs your body will increase these hunger triggers often leading to a binge (hello blood sugar rollercoaster!).
You are not eating regularly enough/you skip meals
Speaking of blood sugar rollercoaster, if you are skipping meals or not eating regularly throughout the day, this can cause your blood sugar levels to plummet causing your body to seek food from energy-dense sources aka. sugar! This often leads to a binge which often spikes your blood sugar levels and the rollercoaster continues.
You are not eating enough protein or healthy fats
So how do we get off this blood sugar rollercoaster? We need to balance our meals with adequate amounts of protein and healthy fats. Oftentimes when we first go vegan we often swap meat and dairy (high protein & fat sources) for fruit, vegetables and whole grains (high carbohydrate sources). It is important to make sure that we are adding lots of vegan protein and healthy fat sources into all of our meals to keep our blood sugar levels stable throughout the day. Think tofu, beans, lentils and, if needed, a good quality vegan protein powder (I like this one) as well as nuts, seeds and avocados for some good healthy fats.
If you are wanting some more information on stabilising your blood sugar levels to reduce binge eating on a vegan diet I have written a whole book on this! You can check out The Balanced Vegan Diet ebook here.