So an Italian pharmaceutical chemist has developed a pill that makes people feel full all day. The technology is kind of neat – it’s one of those “just add water” hydrogels that expands in your stomach, and it makes me think of gastric bypass without the staples.
What I question is the approach to diet. There seems to be this presumption that eating imbalances are from physical hunger, and that just controlling/ignoring the hunger will make the disordered behavior go away.
But looking at it from the point of view as a person who has had an eating/binging disorder for most of my life (childhood and adulthood) I don’t think that yet another hunger suppressant will really help solve the problem. Sure, it will make some money, and it might keep some uber-thin model from needing to rip off a coworkers head because she’s so hungry she can’t see straight, but as far as helping the truly obese?
As in most things of a delicate nature, suppression does nothing to solve the problem and can do plenty of make it work. I do know why I eat, and why I overeat. Boredom is my big trigger. I seek entertaining highs by eating something tasty. It’s why I always gain weight at jobs I don’t enjoy – I wind up going off to seek food to relieve the boredom. It’s also one of those things where if I’m happy and want to celebrate, I eat. It’s a cultural behavior, one I learned when I was a child. A pill won’t fix that, a therapist might get me on the right path, but ultimately my job is to do whatever I can to keep myself engaged and as not-bored as possible. I do not count the times I am on Prednisone – then, I really am hungry, and would gladly take an appetite suppressant to combat its effects.
Twitter Comment
No related posts.