The positive aspect of the zinc link to eating disorders is that a majority of individuals with these disorders respond to a simple solution— the addition of liquid zinc to the diet. Prominent eating disorders researcher Dr. Alexander Schauss, of Tacoma, Washington, is part of a research team that has carefully studied the zinc-eating-disorder connection for years. In the following case history, Schauss illustrates why he is convinced of the value of this nutrient in the treatment of bulimia:”We were doing blinded studies, which means that neither I nor the patient were aware of whether they were receiving a placebo or liquid zinc. [One of our subjects] was a forty-seven-year-old psychotherapist with a doctoral degree in psychology who had been treating patients with eating disorders for the past fifteen years and who herself had bulimia—about five binge-purge episodes per day for the past thirty-four years. She could hardly recount a single day in the last thirty-four years when she did not engage in bulimic activity. She was referred to us by a local hospital because of a particular risk factor for chronic bulimia— the esophageal flap can tear and result in a person choking to death.”We give a small amount (about 5 or 10 milliliters [ml], which is less than a tablespoon) of liquid zinc to a person, ask them to swirl it around the mouth for a few seconds and tell us what they taste. The inability to detect any taste is evidence of a systemic zinc deficiency. [This woman] couldn’t taste anything. The protocol consisted of giving her 120 ml of the solution spaced throughout the day in 30- to 40-ml doses on an empty stomach.”A few days later the woman called back to say that she had no desire to binge or purge that day. It was the first time she could recall feeling that way in thirty-four years. This was very interesting to us. When you’ve engaged in an obsessive/compulsive behavior for thirty-four years, you have to wonder how it would be possible for it to disappear in a few days.”It has been five years now, and she has never gone back to bingeing and purging. More important, she was provided no therapy. This is very similar to the experience of hundreds of bulimics that we’ve studied. We’re quite convinced that it was the liquid zinc that was effective.”*62\233\8*
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