Do you binge eat? If you find that you have great difficulty controlling the amount of food you consume, you may have a problem with binge eating. But you are not alone. According to Healthline, almost three million people in the United States deal with binge-eating disorder.[1] Binge eating ruins your relationship with food and negatively affects your livelihood. Having a healthy relationship with food is important not only for your physical well-being, but also for your spiritual health.
What Is Binge Eating?
There is a difference between the habit of binge eating and a binge-eating disorder (BED). The National Center for Health Research defines binge eating as “consuming an excess amount of food in a limited period of time.”[2] However, BED is a diagnosed eating disorder “classified by having at least one episode of binge eating a week for three consecutive months.”[3] If you notice that your binge eating is becoming more frequent, you may want to see a doctor for an official diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
But even if you think your binge eating isn’t bad enough to be an eating disorder, you should still be concerned about your eating habits. Consider stopping your binging behavior before it presents serious side effects in your life.
What’s Causing You to Binge Eat?
Many factors may influence your binge eating episodes. One such factor is stress. Have you heard of stress eating? Stress eating is a form of binge eating. You may notice that you consume more food than normal when you are under a lot of stress. To avoid stress, people often try to distract themselves by eating. In an article from the National Health Center for Research, Sunny Cui and Evangeline DiMichele state, “this [stress-eating] may provide temporary distraction and comfort, but it doesn’t solve the underlying stress-causing problems. Studies have shown that stress levels do not decrease after overeating, and binging on junk food can actually cause more anxiety.”[4] The larger the amount of stress you’re under, the bigger your binge-eating episodes will be. And you are only adding to your stress by binging on food. Find the cause of your stress instead of using food as a temporary solution.
Another factor that may influence binge-eating is dieting. People diet for many reasons, some to be healthier, others to look skinnier. While there is nothing wrong with dieting, extreme diets require you to practically starve yourself. In their book Overcoming Your Eating Disorder, W. Stewart Agras and Robin Apple explain that “if you restrict your food intake for too long, your body will take over and basically ‘force’ you to binge to make up for the calorie deficit you created by dieting.”[5] If your diets are harming you in this way, consider finding less severe diets. It’s okay to eat. God designed your body to experience hunger and desire sustenance. Food is essential for your survival. You just need to be careful of what and how much you put into your body.
How Does Binge Eating Affect You?
First, binge eating affects you physically. The most obvious and prominent effect of binge eating is weight gain. Weight gain and binge eating go hand in hand since they can both be a result of each other. In her article “Serious Health Problems Caused by Binge Eating Disorder,” Stephanie Watson says, “two-thirds of those with the disorder are overweight.”[6] Multiple issues arise from weight gain. High cholesterol, blood pressure problems, and heart disease are just a few health problems connected with weight gain and, ultimately, binge eating. You will also lose energy quicker and find it harder to move about and enjoy your day. Protect and respect your body by eating only when necessary. Don’t allow binge eating to ruin your health.
Binge eating also affects your mental state. Your eating habits directly influence and are influenced by your emotions. Those who binge-eat may experience a rise in depression and anxiety. Agras and Apple note that “although binge eating. . . may lead to a temporary feeling of relief, [it] also quickly lead[s] to self-blame, with feelings of guilt and depression. These negative feelings lower self-esteem even further, aggravating weight and shape concerns and causing the whole cycle to begin again.”[7] Eating disorders like BED are as much mental battles as they are physical ones. If you never stop the vicious cycle of binge eating, severe mental problems may arise later.
Lastly, and most importantly, binge eating affects your spiritual life. By giving in to the temptation to binge eat, you are choosing food over God. You are finding temporary satisfaction and contentment in food instead of seeking the Lord for help. Binge eating weakens your relationship with God. You will start to believe lies about yourself and about the Lord. You will begin to ask yourself if you are enough. You will lose confidence in yourself and in your appearance. And in questioning yourself, you will begin to question God. His goodness, His power, His faithfulness, His sovereignty—you will question it all. Remember who your God is. He can meet all your needs, both physical and spiritual.
So, What Can You Do About it?
Here are a few practical and spiritual suggestions to help you break away from your binge-eating tendencies.
Practical Suggestions
Reject extreme diets and eat at regular intervals. While dieting can be good for you, if you are starving yourself until your body forces you to binge eat, you are just being counterproductive. You aren’t losing any weight this way. Maintaining a regular eating schedule with a diet full of fiber and protein will exponentially improve your binge-eating habits.
Replace what you’re eating with healthier options. Prepare healthy snacks you can grab quickly or buy premade ones. You could also cook your own food. By making your own food, you can keep yourself busy, and you can limit yourself by controlling both the amount you make and the types of food you include in your meals.
Replace eating with other hobbies. Whenever you feel the urge to grab food from your pantry, especially when you aren’t hungry, force yourself to pick up a book or find an art project. Try implementing physically and mentally challenging hobbies into your life. This way, you will be keeping both your hands and mind busy.
Maintain a regular sleep schedule. In her article “14 Tips to Overcome Binge Eating,” Rachel Ajmera says, “Sleep affects your hunger levels and appetite.”[8] You can’t binge late at night if you are already sleeping. Force yourself to sleep for at least eight hours every night.
Spiritual Suggestions
Pray. Pray that the Lord will give you strength to say no to food when you don’t need it. And pray for strength to say yes to food when you do need it. Pray that you will choose to rely on the Lord instead of food when you’re struggling with circumstances and complicated emotions.
Meditate on Scripture. Look at what the Bible has to say about food and God. Remind yourself what is true and biblical. The Bible says in Matthew 4:4 (KJV), “man shall not live by bread alone by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Scripture holds the answer to every problem in your life. Don’t let the things of this world control you. You are a precious child of God. He is bigger than any of the problems you’re dealing with.
How Will You Benefit from Fixing Your Relationship with Food?
By healing your relationship with food, you attain multiple benefits though maybe not immediately. Physically, you will feel better overall. You will be more active and have more energy to accomplish your goals. Mentally, you will feel secure and confident in your body. Your outlook will be more joyful and positive. Spiritually, you will find a renewed relationship with Christ. By choosing to rely on Him for satisfaction and not food, you are proving that food is no longer your idol. When you find spiritual contentment, you will also experience contentment in your physical well-being. Eat right and glorify the Lord by taking care of His holy temple, your body.
Author Bio
Abby Conrad is a professional writing major graduating in May 2025. She hopes to use her writing to shed light in this dark world. In her free time, she loves to binge TV shows and would never pass up a movie marathon with a bowl of buttery popcorn. As she finishes her studies in Florida, Abby looks forward to how God will use her heart and mind in the field of writing and editing.
[1] Juliann Schaeffer, “Binge Eating Disorder Statistics: Know the Facts,” Healthline, December 19, 2016, https://www.healthline.com/health/eating-disorders/binge-eating-disorder-statistics.
[2] Sunny Cui and Evangeline DiMichele, “Stress and Binge Eating: Why We Do It and How to Avoid It,” National Center for Health Research, August 31, 2024, www.center4research.org/stress-binge-eating-avoid/.
[3] Cui and DiMichele, “Stress and Binge Eating,” National Center for Health Research.
[4] Cui and DiMichele, “Stress and Binge Eating,” National Center for Health Research.
[5] W. Stewart Agras and Robin Apple, Overcoming Your Eating Disorder: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Approach for Bulimia Nervosa and Binge-Eating Disorder, Guided Self Help Workbook (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 7. EBSCO Host.
[6] Stephanie Watson, “Serious Health Problems Caused by Binge Eating Disorder,” WebMD, February 26, 2024, www.webmd.com/mental-health/eating-disorders/binge-eating-disorder/health-problems-binge-eating
[7] Agras and Apple, Overcoming Your Eating Disorder, 7.
[8] Racheal Ajmera, “14 Helpful Tips to Overcome Binge Eating,” Healthline, May 18, 2024, www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-to-overcome-binge-eating.