What causes Binge Eating?: Six Surprising Truths About Binge Eating

What causes Binge Eating?

We’ve all been there: a tough day ends with a pint of ice cream, or a celebration feels incomplete without a meal where we eat past subtle fullness- sometimes way past.

Emotional eating is where we feel bad (tough day) so want the ice cream. Normalized overeating is where we consistently eat beyond what feels comfy for us.

But what causes binge eating? What is it? Hi, I'm Joanna, and I'm a mental health dietitian. Let's take a look together.

First, let's look at what binge eating is and the criteria for it to be an eating disorder.

When we binge, we feel out of control. We sometimes disassociate or feel out of it during the experience. An objective binge is when we eat an amount of food that 9 out of 10 people would say is an amount in a time period (say, 2 hours) that is abnormally large. A subjective binge is a perceived "normal" amount (like a couple cookies), but it broke a rule about not having any cookies so you still feel guilty about it.

We might objectively binge eat sometimes, but not have Binge Eating Disorder (BED). Criteria for BED below have to be met to be formally diagnosed with a disorder, but if you don't meet these criteria, it doesn't mean you aren't struggling:

Criterion 1) Recurrent episodes of binge eating. An episode of binge eating is characterized by both of the following:

1. eating, in a discrete period of time (for example, within any 2-hour period), an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat in a similar period of time under similar circumstances

2. a sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (for example, a feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating)

Criterion 2) The binge-eating episodes are associated with three (or more) of the following:

1. eating much more rapidly than normal

2. eating until feeling uncomfortably full

3. eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry

4. eating alone because of feeling embarrassed by how much one is eating

5. feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or very guilty afterwards

6. Marked distress regarding binge eating is present.

7. The binge eating occurs, on average, at least once a week for three months.

8. Binge eating is not associated with the recurrent use of inappropriate compensatory behavior (for example, purging) and does not occur exclusively during the course of bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa.

Criterion 3) Marked distress regarding binge eating is present.

Criterion 4) The binge eating occurs, on average, at least a frequency of 1 day a week for a duration of 3 months

Criterion 5) The binge eating is not associated with the regular use of inappropriate compensatory behavior (e.g., purging, fasting, excessive exercise) and does not occur exclusively during the course of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.

Severity Grading: Applicable to DSM-5 only, BED severity is graded as follows: Mild: 1 to 3 episodes per week Moderate: 4 to 7 episodes per week Severe: 8 to 13 episodes per week Extreme: 14 or more episodes per week

Binge Eating Disorder is more common than anorexia and bulimia combined.

BED could be considered the hidden epidemic.

Despite the intense media and public focus on Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN), BED is, by a significant margin, the most prevalent eating disorder.

Statistics show that BED is three times more common than anorexia and bulimia combined. The lifetime prevalence for BED is estimated to be 35 per 1,000 women and 20 per 1,000 men. For comparison, the rates for anorexia are 9 per 1,000 women and 3 per 1,000 men, and for bulimia, they are 15 per 1,000 women and 5 per 1,000 men.

This fact is often shocking because BED has been left in the shadows of public discourse. While portrayals of eating disorders have historically centered on extreme weight loss, BED affects individuals across the entire spectrum, impacting people of all ages, genders, races, abilities, and ethnicities.

While BED impacts people in all body sizes, about two-thirds of those diagnosed are living in a larger body. This contributes to the profound misunderstanding of the disorder, as it is often mistakenly conflated with weight and size, leading to increased weight stigma and prescriptions for the very diets that can make the disorder worse.

Restriction leads to binge eating.

So, what causes binge eating? Hello, dieting.

The common-sense solution to feeling out of control with food seems simple: impose stricter rules and diet. For someone with BED, however, this is often the very behavior that ignites and perpetuates the problem. This is known as the Binge Eating Cycle.

It begins with a diet or some form of food restriction. This deprivation leaves the person feeling unsatisfied, which can then trigger a binge episode. The binge is followed by intense feelings of guilt and shame, which reinforces the need to "start over" with an even more restrictive diet, locking them into a damaging and painful cycle.

The roots of BED are often intertwined with factors like "Diet Culture," a history of "Weight Loss Attempts," and "Weight Cycling" (losing and regaining weight).

While the diet-binge cycle is a powerful engine for the disorder, it often operates within a broader context of genetic predispositions, a history of trauma or abuse, co-occurring mood disorders like depression and anxiety, and even food insecurity.

This creates a cruel paradox: the very solution society offers for weight concerns is often the primary driver of the disorder. Even more troublingly, this is often the exact environment where people are driven to seek help.

Why food is so soothing: Maladaptive coping can lead to binge eating

Early experiences of self-soothing impact how we cope today. If we didn’t experience adequate caregiver soothing or we experienced trauma, it can be difficult to find adaptive soothing mechanisms in adulthood. We teach ourselves how to self-soothe through a process of trial and error. When we learn that food “works” to provide our brain with the boost it needs in neurotransmitters, or the right amount of distraction from unpleasant emotions, then we are creating a neural network where we want to do this again and again to experience the same feeling.

Food can be a friend, a reprieve from boredom, a welcomed doe of arousal, a biological boost as from carbs or caffeine, a brain boost as noted above, a connection to a beloved memory, a rebellious choice that feels good (as with dieting), or a conditioned response created by our family or origin’s food environment. The family were brought up in also greatly impacts our food relationship. Food rules or a family meal can have positive or negative impacts on our core beliefs and drive to eat.

Is all emotional eating bad?

No! Eating for physical rather than emotional reasons is important most of the time, but sometimes we just want to eat to soothe, excite, or just because. This is normal and totally ok! It is important to have self-compassion and allow permission when soothing with food is the choice you want to make and that feels right in the moment.

The vast majority of people with BED are struggling in silence.

The statistics on the diagnosis and treatment of BED are stark. An estimated 70% of people with BED are not currently receiving treatment, and over half will never receive treatment at any point in their lives. This is a silent epidemic, with millions struggling without the proper support.

Compounding the problem is where people with BED tend to seek help. The most common place is not a therapist’s office, but weight-loss settings which is a HUGE problem because dieting increases the urge to binge.

It's estimated that around 30% of people participating in weight-loss programs have BED. This means that many individuals are seeking help in an environment that may inadvertently worsen their condition. By prescribing the very restrictive diets that fuel the binge-eating cycle, these well-intentioned programs can trap them further in the disorder they are desperate to escape.

We are all emotional eaters, but that's not the same as having Binge Eating Disorder.

Using food to cope, celebrate, or self-soothe is a fundamental part of the human experience. Reaching for ice cream after a breakup or having a special meal to mark an achievement is normal emotional eating. It can be a conscious choice and is just one of many potential coping skills a person might use. In short, we are all emotional eaters to some degree.

BED is a different phenomenon entirely. Where emotional eating can be a conscious choice that leads to pleasure or comfort, a binge episode is defined by a feeling of chaos and a terrifying loss of control. It’s often a dissociative experience—a way to 'numb out'—that is inevitably followed by intense shame and regret, not satisfaction.

Binge eating disorder is not simply “overeating” or a lack of willpower.

Recognizing this difference is crucial. It destigmatizes the normal act of eating for emotional reasons while validating the clinical severity of BED and the need for professional care.

The path to recovery often involves eating more consistently, not less.

Healing from BED requires turning conventional diet wisdom on its head. The goal is not more restriction, but more permission. One of the foundational first steps in recovery is to ensure the body is adequately and consistently fueled throughout the day. This often looks like a general guideline of three meals, spaced about three hours apart, with three snacks as needed.

This approach directly targets one of the primary triggers for a binge: deprivation.

When the body is in a state of restriction or extreme hunger, it becomes "deprivation-sensitive," sending powerful signals to eat that can easily spiral into a binge. By eating consistently, a person can break this cycle, stabilizing their body's cues and reducing the biological urge to binge.

Healing also involves learning from experiences and, paradoxically, allowing the choice to binge. This helps to strip the act of its power, reduces the shame that follows, and ultimately helps to dismantle the cycle of restriction and compulsion.

When to get support for binge eating or emotional eating

But if you feel like eating is compulsive, you disassociate while you eat, or you feel you have to use it as your main comping mechanism which is negatively impacting your life or health, it's time to get some support.

BED is a complex and serious condition, far removed from the simple caricatures of overeating or poor self-control. But it is also treatable. Understanding its true nature—as a common, diet-fueled, and often hidden disorder—is the first, most powerful step toward building a culture of compassion, reducing stigma, and creating pathways to effective, life-saving support.

What could change if we approached our collective relationship with food with more curiosity and less judgment?