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This week's video covers a topic that I have received many questions about, and that is chewing and spitting out food. The questions usually focused on what type of damage could be done from this behavior, and to be honest I had to do some research to ensure that what I thought was actually supported by data. I found that there are many things that could be damaged by chewing and spitting out food. The first is the most obvious; because your body is not getting the nutrients it needs through food it becomes malnourished. The other issues that can arise from this behavior are erosion of the enamel on your teeth and ulcers and/or acid reflux. These problems can all occur for the same reasons. When we put food in our mouths, our body sends a signal to alert our mouth to increase salivation to break down the food and our stomach increases its acids to prepare for the food that is to come. The problem is that no food actually gets to our stomachs, nor do we allow our mouths to completely chew and swallow the food. The increases in acid in our stomach can wear away at the lining and even increase our risks of acid reflux, which I know many people struggle with already. My main concern about this behavior is simply that it is our ED's way of hanging around. It has changed shape a bit, but it is still there. When we chew and spit food it is almost like a binge and we can even get the same release and emotional response from it. That is why I think that we should treat this just like we would a binge. We need to use our tools to distract us and find another way to soothe ourselves that is healthy and does not leave us feeling worse. I hope that this is helpful and can shed some light on another sneaky way that our ED tries to use to hang around. So let's keep fighting as we keep working towards a healthy mind and a healthy body.