Anorexia Nervosa is a condition found most commonly in young women. It refers to the loss of appetite resulting from nervous anxiety and it is considered to be a self-induced psychological disorder which begins in an effort to keep the body slim, mainly because young women have been stimulated to belong in a structured society which establishes the meaning of beauty.
A person with this condition deliberately skips meals then evolves into occasional all-day fasting and eventually becomes compulsive fasting, better known as anorexia, until they get to a stage when they are eating almost nothing and become very thin.
Often they find how easily they can get rid of the food consumed during a pig-out by vomiting or taking diet pills or laxatives. The use of these purging methods can become more frequent as bulimia and addiction to diet pills and laxatives take over.
The patient is not able to realize that she herself is spoiling the appearance of her own body instead of enhancing it.
The first thing in the treatment of this condition is to help the patients understand their problems so that they can begin to help themselves on the road to normality again. This requires a great deal of support from family, friends and relatives.
Although alternative medicine hasn’t been well studied as a treatment for people with eating disorders, some alternative treatments can help reduce anxiety. And, such treatments may help people with eating disorders by increasing a sense of well-being and promoting relaxation. Alternative treatments that have been shown to reduce anxiety include:
• Acupuncture
• Massage
• Yoga
• Meditation
Certain home remedies have also been found beneficial in the treatment of anorexia nervosa. One such remedy is the use of oranges.
• Oranges supply nutrition to the whole body and give a rest to the digestive system, they also improve appetite and digestion by stimulating the flow of digestive juices and create suitable conditions for the development of friendly intestinal bacteria.
• Garlic possesses a special property to stimulate the digestive tone of the system and improve appetite.
• Apples stimulate the flow of pepsin in the stomach and thereby aid digestion.
