Tryptophan, Serotonin, Compulsive Overeating, and Bulimia

For reasons we don't totally comprehend, a few dieters who serotonin levels drop lose self-regard and become obsessed with weight loss, but don't lose their appetites. Contrarily, their appetites flourish. In the late afternoon and evening, particularly in winter and during PMS (low serotonin times for all of us), they may become ravenous and binge on desserts and starches.

In one study, bulimics were bereft of the single protein tryptophan. In response, their serotonin levels flattened and they binged more violently, ingesting and purging an average of 900 calories more every day. Chronic depletion of plasma tryptophan might be one of the mechanisms whereby persistent dieting may lead to the development of eating disorders in vulnerable people.

Note that most compulsive eaters don't vomit. They keep it all down. But dieting may lower their serotonin levels, too, causing the same wild cravings and self-hate that bulimics endure.

You may see how easily a dieter may develop an eating disorder. If you think about how many other critical brain and body chemicals are wiped out through dieting, you have a sounder appreciation of the dangers you're risking on low-calorie diets.