Disordered eating has become normalized due to the constant positive messages about dieting, smaller body sizes, and the plethora of unproven nutrition advice. With all the pressure to be thin and achieve a perfect body, it is no wonder that people struggle to have a healthy relationship with food and their bodies. It is a complex situation.

That is why treating disordered eating and eating disorders requires help from trained medical professionals, specifically Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDN) with advanced training in eating disorders.

This article discusses disordered eating, how they differ from eating disorders, and why working with an RDN can help people overcome disordered eating.

What Is Disordered Eating?

Disordered eating includes eating behaviors that are similar to but do not meet the full criteria for an eating disorder. Often, these behaviors seem normal – like dieting – but are unhealthy and do not create a positive relationship with food.

What Is the Difference Between Disordered Eating and an Eating Disorder?

While there is an overlap between disordered eating and eating disorders, they are different.

To be diagnosed with an eating disorder, the person must exhibit specific disordered eating behaviors and meet a narrow set of criteria that specify the frequency of the behaviors as defined in the most current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5-TR). 

For example, to be diagnosed with bulimia nervosa, the person must engage in binging and compensatory behaviors at least an average of once a week over three months. The diagnosis of anorexia nervosa also requires specific signs and symptoms. A doctor or mental health professional makes an eating disorder diagnosis.

Disordered eating has many of the same symptoms as eating disorders but does not meet the criteria to receive an eating disorder diagnosis.

What Are Some Disordered Eating Habits?

Disordered eating behaviors have become the norm in society. However, these behaviors are not considered normal and do not promote health or a healthy body image. Disordered eating behaviors include:

• Dieting frequently
• Skipping meals with the aim of reducing calories eaten
• Obsessing about calorie counting
• Having rigid rules around eating and exercising
• Experiencing anxiety around foods and eating
• Feeling shame about eating and eating certain foods
• Constant weight fluctuations

Dieting

Although dieting is standard for many people, when done with the desire to lose weight, it is a form of disordered eating. Types of dieting that are disordered eating include calorie restriction, cutting out food groups like carbohydrates, paleo, intermittent fasting, or very low-fat diets.

Compulsive Eating

Compulsive eating is when someone eats to deal with emotions, including stress. The eating may happen in a trance-like state or with a loss of control. Binge eating is a form of compulsive eating.

Exercise and Compensatory Behaviors

Exercise is considered disordered eating when used to compensate for calories eaten. For example, running to offset the calories from eating cookies.

Compensatory behaviors are other methods used to offset calories eaten. Laxative use and purging are compensatory behaviors.

Body Dissatisfaction

Body dissatisfaction, like dieting, has been normalized in our society. However, it is still a form of disordered eating. Body dissatisfaction includes having negative thoughts and speech about one’s body and desiring to change the body’s appearance.

Food Preoccupation

Constantly focusing on food and calorie intake and obsessively planning meals can be disordered eating behaviors. Moralizing foods – calling them “good” or “bad” as well as someone calling themselves “good” or “bad” based on their eating is another form of disordered eating.

How Does a Nutritionist Help With Disordered Eating Recovery?

Disordered eating is not normal, and involving a professional with specialized training in disordered eating and eating disorder recovery can help prevent disordered eating from becoming an eating disorder.

Keep reading to learn about nutritionists and their role in disordered eating and eating disorder recovery.

What Is a Nutritionist?

A nutritionist, specifically a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), has received specialized education on food, how eating affects the body and its metabolism, and how proper nutrition promotes long-term health. Many RDNs have received specific training for working with those who have disordered eating and eating disorders.

Counseling by an RDN encompasses more than just food. Registered Dietitians will also provide nutrition education, counseling around food and eating behaviors, assistance in developing meal plans, accountability and cheerleading, and guidance about body image concerns.

Why Is a Nutritionist Key to Disordered Eating Treatment?

Nutritionists are critical in treating disordered eating because nutrition professionals can help separate fact from fiction, particularly given untrained influencers’ diet and body advice that abounds on social media.

A nutritionist takes a holistic approach when working with those with disordered eating because they understand that disordered eating is not just about food. They work with their clients to understand their concerns and motivations about eating and changing body size or shape. During counseling sessions, they help clients understand how the body works and how food improves the body’s functioning and mood.

Counseling sessions are safe spaces where clients can discuss their fears and concerns without concern of being judged. Nutritionists provide support focused on helping clients change their disordered eating behaviors and establish healthy relationships with food and their bodies.

Benefits of Working with a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

Before becoming an RDN, the following must be achieved:

• Obtain an undergraduate degree in nutrition
• Acquire a master’s degree
• Complete an internship in supervised practice,
• Pass a national certification exam.

A “nutritionist,” by contrast, can be anyone regardless of whether or not they have any specialized nutrition education.

When you work with an RDN, you’re working with a professional with a deep understanding of food and how it affects the body, as well as having the tools to help make behavior changes.

If someone has a team for their disordered eating or eating disorder treatment, which usually includes a doctor and a mental health professional, the RDN becomes part of the treatment team.

Helps You Work Through Tough Obstacles

The RDN’s counseling process includes helping people overcome obstacles that keep them from making their desired changes. An RDN will help identify obstacles and work with the client to develop plans to overcome them.

Accountability

An RDN helps hold their clients accountable for achieving the goals they set. This helps increase the likelihood of clients reaching and surpassing their goals.

Emotional Support

Making changes is hard. Working with an RDN means clients are working with a professional who can provide the emotional support needed when making tough changes in their lives.

What to Expect When Working With an Eating Disorder Nutritionist

When someone begins seeing a nutritionist with a disordered eating or eating disorder, the first few nutrition therapy sessions focus on assessing where the client is and the changes they want to make. Topics that will be covered include:

• Reviewing current eating patterns
• Thoughts and feelings about food
• Dissatisfaction and satisfaction with the client’s body image
• Reviewing any medical concerns
• Assessing the client’s readiness for change

What Is Nutrition Counseling?

Nutrition counseling focuses on improving a client’s nutrition status, health outcomes, eating behaviors, food choices, and body image and addressing concerns about food and eating.

What Are the Benefits of Nutrition Counseling?

Participating in nutrition therapy helps clients improve their health and relationship with food and their body in many ways, including:

Prevents and Manages Chronic Conditions

Providing guidance on choosing, preparing, and eating foods to prevent and manage chronic conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, and gastrointestinal diseases like IBS.

Helps You Feel Better Overall

Healthy eating impacts every area of your life – not just managing and preventing disease. Eating in a manner that supports health also improves how people feel and their mood.

Helps You Develop Long-Term Healthy Eating Habits

An RDN nutrition expert helps people cut through all the nutrition noise and develop long-term, evidence-based eating habits that lead to long-term health. Working with an RDN means getting guidance on fitting healthy eating into busy schedules that will work over time.

While disordered eating behaviors have been normalized in society, in reality, they are abnormal eating behaviors that may lead to developing an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia. Nutrition therapy with an RDN who specializes in eating disorder recovery provides a safe space to discuss concerns and fears about eating, food, and body image.