Metabolism and endocrine secretion in response to a test meal in normal-weight bulimic women.

This study assessed metabolism and endocrine secretion in normal-weight bulimic women by monitoring several digestion-related measures in the fasting state and in response to two test meals that were isocaloric but varied in degree of forbiddenness. No consistent physiological disturbances were apparent in bulimics. Their fasting electrolytes, plasma glucose, insulin, and free fatty acids were normal. Furthermore, while the two test meals resulted in different profiles of postabsorptive glucose and postprandial secretion, the two groups did not differ in their profiles. The results suggest that physiological disturbances such as disturbed glucose homeostasis or insulin secretion generally attributed to populations with eating disorders may not be apparent in normal-weight bulimics. The relevance of these findings to the etiology and treatment of normal-weight bulimia is discussed.