Home Remedies for Anorexia

Anorexia nervosa, more popularly known as Anorexia, is an eating disorder that is usually associated with women. Although, in today’s world, men are no exception to this disorder, it is more profoundly seen in women or girls. The disorder usually starts in the teenage years. An eating disorder, it is characterized by low body weight and body image distortion. The person suffering from it has an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Anorexia nervosa is a psychological problem that may be caused due to cultural pressure, family environment, genetic factor, etc. However, if detected on time, it can be treated using some home remedies. Know more about the natural ways of treating anorexia, all of which mainly involve stimulating the appetite.

• Refusal to eat
• Insomnia
• Distortion of body image
• Excessive importance placed on body composition or shape
• Denial of seriousness of low weight
• Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even if the person is considered underweight
• Confused thinking
• Ritualistic eating (including cutting food into a planned number of bites)
• Spitting out food before swallowing
• Paying great attention to nutrition labels
• Major increase in exercise output, even when exhausted
• Hatred of foods that used to be favorites
• Increased or unnecessary use of laxatives
• Vomiting after eating (for the binge eating/purging subtype of anorexia)
• Weight loss
• Amenorrhea or interruption of the menstrual cycle
• Bone loss (osteoporosis or osteopenia)
• Extra sensitivity to cold
• Bloated stomach after eating (since the stomach loses its ability to deal with a normal quantity of food at one sitting)
• Yellowed and dry skin
• Thinning hair
• Irregular heart rhythms

• If you are a victim of anorexia, the best way to cure it would be to take the ginger and rock salt treatment. Take a small piece of ginger and peel of its outer layer. Grin it and add a few drops of lemon, pinch of asafetida and one black pepper, to form a paste. Have this paste in the morning, on an empty stomach, for about 15 days. It would work as an appetizer.
• A simple remedy for treating anorexia comprises of consuming about 2 to 3 oranges per day. Oranges help increase the appetite in a person.
• Apples also work as efficient appetizers. Apart from providing iron to the body, they also stimulate the appetite.
• Yet another simple method would be to boil water and add 2 to 3 cloves in it. Also add ½ tsp lime juice. Cool it down a bit and drink. Continuous drinking of this decoction, at least for a week, is likely to boost the craving to eat.
• Garlic proves effective in curing Anorexia nervosa. You can consume it in salads, soups or other preparations. Garlic stimulates digestive powers and is great for increasing appetite as well.
• Soups increase the appetite of a person. Vegetable soup, with pinch of rock salt and black pepper, would act as an efficient appetizer. For non vegetarians, chicken soup would be beneficial.
• Eat salad 10 minutes before having your food. This may comprise of cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, beets and capsicums. Sprinkle a little rock salt and squeeze half of the lemon on it, along with a pinch of black pepper.
• Prepare dough with flour and sour grape juice, adding a pinch of rock salt. Make chapattis out of this dough. They will enhance the appetite of person, thereby helping cure anorexia.
• It is also believed that spicy food increase one’s appetite. Have spicy food twice or thrice a week. It would help improve your appetite.
• Consume tomatoes, preferably raw. You can also use them, as an ingredient, in various preparations.