Breaking Free from Binge Eating: It’s Not About Willpower—It’s About Hormones

I know what it’s like to feel completely trapped by binge eating. I know what it’s like to spray cleaning solution into the trash can to keep myself from digging food back out. I know what it’s like to avoid social situations to escape the urge to binge, only to stay home and do it anyway. I used to rate locations based on whether I had binged there—whether it was a “clean” place or one I had already “ruined.”

Binge eating stole the years between 14 and 25—probably longer. My youth. What was supposed to be the best time of my life is a cloud. I don’t even remember most of those years because I’ve suppressed the memories. It wasn’t just that I was overweight—though at 5’4” and 167 pounds, I definitely was. It was the complete and utter lack of control over the beast inside me.

I never threw up—it wasn’t physically possible for me. Instead, I spent hours at the gym every day trying to work off my binges. But it was futile. No amount of exercise could undo the damage. Every single waking moment and every cry-myself-to-sleep night was consumed by food.

If you’re stuck in that cycle, I promise you—there is a way out. But it’s not about willpower. It’s about understanding what’s really driving those binge urges, and the reality is this: binge eating is not just psychological—it’s hormonal.

The mainstream approach to treating binge eating tells people to stop dieting and reject restrictive eating patterns. While the intention is understandable—because yes, extreme dieting can fuel binge behavior—it completely ignores the real issue for most binge eaters: hormonal imbalances.

The Hormonal Recipe for Binge Eating

Binge eating isn’t just a matter of emotional stress or lack of self-control. It’s often driven by powerful biological forces—specifically insulin, appetite hormones, and testosterone.

1. High Insulin Keeps You Trapped in the Cycle

When insulin is high, your blood sugar fluctuates wildly. You eat carbs, insulin spikes, blood sugar crashes, and suddenly you’re craving more sugar and carbs. This cycle repeats over and over, keeping you locked in food obsession, hunger, and cravings.

But insulin doesn’t just affect blood sugar—it disrupts all of your appetite hormones.

• It keeps ghrelin (your hunger hormone) elevated, so you feel like you’re starving—even when you’ve eaten plenty.
• It blocks leptin (your fullness hormone), so your brain never gets the signal to stop eating.
• It blunts GLP-1, a hormone that naturally suppresses appetite, making you more prone to overeating.
• It messes with dopamine, so high-carb foods feel more rewarding, driving addiction-like behavior around food.

When insulin is dysregulated, you are biologically wired to binge. No amount of therapy, intuitive eating, or mindfulness will override a system that is literally pushing you to keep eating.

2. High Testosterone Impairs Appetite and Impulse Control

Many binge eaters—especially those with PCOS or insulin resistance—have elevated testosterone levels.

Testosterone affects:

• Appetite regulation: High testosterone can increase hunger and cravings, just like insulin does.
• Impulse control: It can weaken your ability to resist urges, making it harder to stop once a binge starts.
• Dopamine response: High testosterone can amplify the reward signals from food, making binge episodes feel even more compulsive.

This is why so many people with PCOS or insulin resistance struggle with binge eating. The combination of high insulin and high testosterone creates the perfect storm—hunger that won’t shut off and impulse control that won’t step in to stop it.

Why Traditional Binge Eating Treatments Fail

Most binge eating treatment programs focus on ending the “diet mentality” and removing food restrictions. While this can help people who have true restrictive eating disorders, it completely fails to address the hormonal root of binge eating for most people.

Plenty of studies show that binge eaters and bulimics have higher insulin levels and higher androgens (testosterone). Yet mainstream treatment never addresses this. Instead, people are told:

• “Stop restricting food. Allow yourself to eat whatever you want.”
• “All foods fit. If you stop labeling foods as ‘bad,’ you won’t feel the urge to binge.”
• “Learn to eat intuitively and trust your hunger signals.”

But what if your hunger signals are broken because insulin is keeping ghrelin sky-high? What if your cravings are out of control because insulin and testosterone are pushing you to overeat? What if eating whatever you want just keeps you in the blood sugar rollercoaster that triggers more binges?

For many binge eaters (though not all), the reality is that certain foods are driving the problem. No amount of therapy will undo the biological reaction that happens when a binge eater eats a high-carb meal and insulin surges. If you don’t treat the hormonal problem, you will never get rid of the beast.

The Only Way Out: Fix the Hormonal Imbalance

If you’re stuck in binge eating, you don’t need more willpower. You need to lower insulin and stabilize your hormones.

That means:

• Avoiding foods that spike insulin. This doesn’t mean cutting all carbs, but it does mean eliminating the ones that keep you trapped—sugars, starches, and insulin-spiking dairy like whey protein.
• Eating foods that keep hunger signals in check. Protein, healthy fats, and fiber from non-starchy vegetables and fruits help regulate ghrelin, leptin, and GLP-1 so your hunger levels normalize.
• Breaking the dopamine cycle. High-insulin foods hijack your brain’s reward system. Removing them lets your brain return to normal hunger and satisfaction cues.
• Balancing testosterone. Lowering insulin naturally lowers testosterone, improving appetite regulation and impulse control.

I Know What It Feels Like in My Bones

I never imagined that food could feel normal. That hunger could feel manageable. That I could walk past a trigger food and not feel the magnetic pull to binge. I never thought I would know what it was like to not think about food 24/7.

And yet, here I am.

Binge eating stole my youth. It stole years I can never get back. But I got my life back, and so can you.

If you’re in the middle of that storm, I need you to hear this: there is a way out. The key isn’t fighting your body harder—it’s working with it. If you heal the hormonal root of binge eating, the urges disappear. The cravings go silent. The obsession fades.

It might sound impossible now, but trust me—if I can do it, so can you.