02/27/2026
Anorexia nervosa is not simply a disorder of calories or behavior. It is a disorder of a starving brain. And a brain deprived of essential nutrients cannot think clearly, regulate mood, or sustain recovery — no matter how much food is prescribed or how many medications are added.
Eating disorders carry one of the highest mortality rates in all of psychiatry, including a profound risk for su***de. Yet micronutrient deficiencies — zinc, amino acids, essential fatty acids, B vitamins, and others fundamental to brain function — are rarely assessed and even more rarely corrected.
Additionally, very often, nutritional deficiencies are the long term result of a gut that does not absorb well nutrients, even if the person eats healthy. Why? Unhealthy nutrition, some medications, stress, environmental toxicity, and many times a hidden gluten sensitivity, have destroyed the gut lining over the years. A person with a leaky gut does not fully benefit of the nutrients present in food.
Approximately half of the world's population is gluten sensitive; and half of those do not show symptoms (bloating, lactose-intolerance, brittle nails, dry skin, thyroid problems, general inflammation, and more).
Keep in mind that doctors rarely put all these dots together to help their patients address the source of many illnesses, including eating disorders, auto-immune disorders, and mental health challenges. But a starving brain cannot allow balance and well-being to happen. I am so clear on that, that I cannot just address the emotional symptoms in my Counselling practice. There's a connection between the emotional and the physical. If you are going through emotional issues, please address both aspects of well-being; help your brain let the emotional healing to happen.
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