A dietary approach to bulimia treatment

To determine the effect of diet on bulimia, a treatment group of 10 bulimic women were placed for 6 weeks on a nutrient-dense diet containing no fewer than 1400 calories and free of suspected blood sugar-insulin level destabilizers. Simultaneously, a control group of 10 bulimic women were placed on a Sham Food Plan which allowed unknowing duplications of their pre-study food patterns. After three weeks they were switched to the nutrient-dense diet for the remainder of the study. No subject received psychiatric counseling. The treatment group assigned to the nutrient-dense diet ceased to binge (p = (1/2)9 less than 0.002, sign test). The control group on the sham diet binged steadily until switched to the nutrient-dense diet, after which, all binging ceased. Subjects lost weight effortlessly (or maintained weight by choice) and have remained binge free for over 2 1/2 years. Evidence suggests that malnutrition and blood sugar-insulin level destabilizers may play a role in precipitating the bulimic condition.