---
title: Gut Understanding
description: Eating disorder recovery discussed bi-weekly and sometimes more on our blog, check our latest active comments about eating disorders that often serve as a discu
canonical_url: https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/blog/gut-understanding
language: en-GB
date: 2024-01-11T01:20:48Z
notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/blog/gut-understanding. Schema.org structured data included at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
markdown-tokens: 1034
---

> **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/blog/gut-understanding. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content.
> **Structured data** as JSON-LD may be found at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
> **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above.


In developing the layers of my eating disorder recovery book I rediscovered the term "gut understanding."

My own gut feeling that led to my gut understanding in response to the term was, "oh, my gosh. What a telling expression!"

What came to my mind immediately was this:

If your gut is starving or burning from acidic juices (anorexic people understand this) or stretched beyond its normal capacity from overeating or binging, gut feelings are obliterated. Understanding based on gut feelings, i.e. gut understanding, is not possible.

A visceral knowing that is essential to intuition, to signals of danger and signals of opportunity is lost.

In book writing, planning, exploring mode my mind goes in what might seem surprising directions. The thought occurs to me that you might be getting a tiny gut feeling that could lead to gut understanding just prior to an eating disorder behavior surge.

If that whisper of a gut feeling seem intolerable the feeling acts as a trigger for you to get protection by acting out your eating disorder. If you are bulimic you will binge and purge. If you are anorexic you will obsess about getting smaller. If you are a compulsive overeater you will steadily graze, perhaps with increased dedication.

I wonder how you think or, especially, feel about gut feelings and gut understanding. Where did they help you? Where are you sorry you didn't listen to them. Do you think it's possible to trust them? What happens if you hold off on acting out? What are those feelings that come in?

What they are will be different for every person. But the system of blocking them with eating disorder behaviors is what we need to change. And that means we need to know what those feelings are about. Agree?

<!-- AI:SCHEMA: Schema.org description of canonical page in JSON-LD format -->
<!-- AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN format=jsonld scope=page -->

```json
{
    "@context": "http:\/\/schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Article",
            "author": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#joanna_poppink_da79445421"
            },
            "dateModified": "2024-01-11T01:20:48Z",
            "datePublished": "2009-08-17T23:27:44Z",
            "description": "Eating disorder recovery discussed bi-weekly and sometimes more on our blog, check our latest active comments about eating disorders that often serve as a discu",
            "headline": "Gut Understanding",
            "image": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#defaultLogo"
            },
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "mainEntityOfPage": {
                "@type": "WebPage",
                "url": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/blog\/gut-understanding"
            },
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#defaultPublisher"
            },
            "url": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/blog\/gut-understanding"
        },
        {
            "@type": "Person",
            "name": "Joanna Poppink",
            "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#joanna_poppink_da79445421"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#defaultLogo",
            "@type": "ImageObject",
            "url": "",
            "width": "",
            "height": ""
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#defaultPublisher",
            "@type": "Organization",
            "url": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/",
            "logo": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#defaultLogo"
            },
            "name": "Eating Disorder Recovery and Woman's Power"
        }
    ]
}
```

<!-- AI:SCHEMA:END -->