Laxative abuse occurs when a person attempts to get rid of unwanted calories, lose weight, “feel thin”, or “feel empty” through the repeated, frequent misuse of laxatives. Often, laxatives are misused following eating binges, when the individual mistakenly believes that the laxatives will work to rush food and calories through the gut and bowels before they can be absorbed. But that doesn’t really happen. Unfortunately, laxative abuse is serious and dangerous - often resulting in a variety of health complications and sometimes causing life-threatening risks.
The belief that laxatives are effective for weight control is a myth. In fact, by the time laxatives act on the large intestine, most foods and calories have already been absorbed by the small intestine. Although laxatives artificially stimulate the large intestine to empty, the “weight loss” caused by a laxative-induced bowel movement contains little actual food, fat, or calories. Instead, laxative abuse causes the loss of water, minerals, electrolytes and indigestible fiber and wastes from the colon. This “ water weight” returns as soon as the individual drinks any fluids and the body re-hydrates. If the chronic laxative abuser refuses to re-hydrate, she risks dehydration, which further taxes the organs and which may ultimately cause death.
source /www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/
Answered by
deepthi
, an ibibo Master,
at
7:13 PM on August 14, 2008
