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PHOENIX, Jan. 26 /Standard Newswire/ -- Remuda Ranch Programs for Eating Disorders, the nation's leading eating disorder treatment center, reports all Americans are at risk for emotional eating because we live in a culture that creates categories of "forbidden" foods, leading to chronic experiences of food deprivation.  The situation is worsened by the abundant availability and excessive quantities of these so-called "forbidden" foods—such as enormous desserts served by restaurants and super-sized fast food choices.

"The 25 to 30 percent of Americans with emotional eating issues are not being identified by healthcare professionals or seeking help for their emotional eating problems," said Edward Cumella, PhD, director of research and education at Remuda Ranch Programs for Eating Disorders. "Emotional eating problems are seriously distressing to many people."

When people eat for emotional reasons, they eat to manage and forget uncomfortable feelings, such as sadness, loneliness, grief, worthlessness, hopelessness, anger, anxiety, guilt and shame. But the very act of emotional eating leads to anguish about weight gain, social taboos, possible illnesses and lost control over food and one's life.

The most researched emotional eating problem is "binge eating."  When this occurs with regularity and without efforts to purge the calories consumed, the individual might have Binge Eating Disorder.  Other forms of emotional eating also exist, including: eating when not hungry, eating foods perceived as "forbidden", grazing, eating to soothe or forget feelings, and other emotional uses of food. 

Remuda Ranch recommends healthcare professionals screen potential emotional eating patients by asking the following five questions:

• Do you eat a lot of food in a short period of time?
• Do you sometimes feel out of control when you eat?
• Do you eat when you're not hungry?
• Do you eat to soothe your feelings or distract yourself from uncomfortable thoughts?
• Do you eat in secret?

If patients answer "yes" to one or more of these questions, a more detailed assessment is needed in order to differentiate emotional eating from other serious eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.

Remuda Ranch offers a specialized 30 to 60-day residential program that treats emotional eating patients with the following approaches: nutrition education and intelligent weight loss; psychopharmacology; exercise instruction; cognitive behavioral therapy; interpersonal therapy; dialectical behavioral therapy; marital/family therapy; support groups and spiritual care.

"It's important to remember that emotional eating disorders are very treatable," adds Cumella. "Public and professional awareness is crucial in order to properly treat emotional eating problems."

Remuda Ranch is a caring place for women and girls who are suffering from eating disorders and related issues. Remuda Treatment Programs offer Christian inpatient and residential treatment for women and girls of all faiths suffering from an eating disorder.  Each patient is treated by a multi-disciplinary team including a Psychiatric and a Primary Care Provider, Registered Dietitian, Masters Level therapist, Psychologist and Registered Nurse. The professional staff equips each patient with the right tools to live a healthy, productive life.  For more information, call 1-800-445-1900 or visit www.remudaranch.com.