There is a Solution (Big Book 73-74)

It is important to mention here that over time all of us in EDA, including those who are the most ill, discover that the source of our eating-disordered behavior is not our body, but rather our thoughts and the mental and emotional states they produce. Certainly, severe malnourishment and electrolyte imbalances can render us physically incapable of rational thought and action; such issues require immediate attention. Yet we need to be very clear about this point: In our experience the issue is never a physical allergy or ad- diction to any food. People can certainly treat food like an addiction, but food is not addictive in and of itself. If you believe that a diet or disciplined program of eating will cure you, you will find no support for this idea in EDA meetings or literature. Once we are nutritionally stable, food is completely beside the point—even if it does not feel that way at first.