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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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19.09.2010 |
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Bulimia programmes body for obesity
Stuffing your face – usually with junk food – and then puking it all up. The full name is bulimia nervosa, and, like anorexia, it’s a common complaint among regular visitors to fitness centres. According to a study from the Italian Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, this condition prompts your body to become thriftier with fat.
In an experiment the researchers compared 8 normal women with 8 women suffering from bulimia. The researchers chose bulimic women with a normal body composition. In fact, most women with bulimia have a normal body composition. It was done here so that the effects of the study could not be attributed to a low bodyweight.
The women induced vomiting about 4 times a day. They usually did this after having stuffed themselves with sweet and fatty junk food. The meals that were not vomited back up consisted mainly of fibre and protein.
When the researchers examined the women’s metabolism and endocrine system, they discovered that bulimia inhibited the women’s fat burning and stimulated their sugar burning.
GOX = glucose burning; LOX = fat burning.
When the researchers gave the women 75 g glucose orally, they noticed that the healthy women started burning more energy. Their energy expenditure [EE] rose. This effect was less in the bulimic women.
But although the glucose burning rose more in the bulimic women than in the healthy women, the other side of the coin was that the fat burning in the bulimic women decreased by more.
The researchers suspect that the bulimic eating pattern encourages the body to be thrifty with energy, and therefore to store more fat. That’s why you see little difference in body composition between young women with bulimia and healthy young women. You would expect, however, that in the long run bulimia does have an effect on body composition.
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