Weight, Worth, and Why We’re Still Talking About BMI with Dr. Erin Knopf
Forget everything you think you know about eating disorders.
This episode goes way beyond the old myths about "willpower" and "control." Today, we're digging into the real, science-backed roots of eating disorders with Dr. Erin Knopf: pediatrician, psychiatrist, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist, and co-founder and chief medical officer of Very, a virtual outpatient treatment center delivering high-level care straight to your laptop.
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In this episode, we dig into the messy, misunderstood world of eating disorders—the biology, the psychology, and all the medical myths that keep getting passed around like bad advice on the internet. Ever wondered why meds don’t seem to "work" for some people with anorexia? Or why the heck BMI is still a thing? Yeah, we go there.
We’re busting medical myths, demystifying medication (spoiler: SSRIs aren’t magic if you’re starving), and talking about the fascinating overlap between biology, psychology, and that sneaky little thing we call diet culture.
Dr. Erin Knopf is a board-certified pediatrician, adult psychiatrist, and child/adolescent psychiatrist as well as an IAEDP Certified Eating Disorder Specialist. Dr. Knopf completed residency training at the University of Kentucky in a combined residency program, the Triple Board program. She previously worked at The Eating Recovery Center and ACUTE Center for Eating Disorders. She is co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of VERY | Virtual Eating Recovery for You, an outpatient virtual treatment option dedicated to individualized care and grounded in weight-inclusive, trauma-informed, and gender-affirming principles.
Whether you're deep in the trenches of recovery, supporting a loved one, or just tired of hearing that BMI = health, this episode is for you. It’s informative and it’s real.
In this episode, we're talking about:
How binge eating is often rooted in restriction, not a lack of discipline or impulse control.
The biological and psychological complexity of eating disorders.
The role of medications in eating disorder treatment.
The use of neuroleptics like Olanzapine (Zyprexa) in eating disorder treatment.
A deep dive into medication myths, including why SSRIs might not work in undernourished individuals and why concerns about medication-induced weight gain are often misunderstood.
How malnutrition can interfere with the effectiveness of medications like SSRIs due to a lack of nutritional building blocks.
A critique of the medical field’s reliance on BMI, and how it was never meant to be a health metric.
The importance of monitoring trends in weight and health over time, rather than fixating on isolated numbers or scales.
Encouragement for more interdisciplinary understanding of eating disorders, as they impact and are impacted by every major organ system and medical specialty.
Dr. Erin's personal journey, from wanting to be a physician at age 6, to working in high-level care, to founding a flexible outpatient model that integrates medical and psychiatric care for eating disorders.
Tweetable Quotes
“Binge eating is not just about being undisciplined or impulse control issues. It is actually based in restriction.” - Dr. Erin Knopf
“You have to be intentional and really look for ways to create balance.” - Dr. Erin Knopf
“It's[SSRIs] not necessarily causing any damage or harm, but it’s certainly not going to give them the benefit that they are waiting for.” - Dr. Erin Knopf
“There is no medication I can give to make the “nutritional restoration process”, weight gain happen with just a pill. There's no such thing.” - Dr. Erin Knopf
“Health biometrics are so much better looked at from a vitals perspective, lab perspective, functionality perspective, quality of life too.” - Dr. Erin Knopf
“ There's so many questions when it comes to medications and eating disorders, especially because there isn't a clear cut answer. It’s just not that simple.” - Rachelle Heinemann
Resources
Connect with Dr. Erin Knopf here!
Connect with Dr. Erin Knopf on Instagram here!
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Related Episodes
Episode 149. Why Your Doctor Doesn't Need to Weigh You with Dr. Mara Gordon
Episode 111. How To Eat When You Don’t Feel Like It
Episode 105. The Root of Your Emotional Eating
Episode 88. Did We Take Intuitive Eating Too Far?
Episode 84. Binge-y Eating Disorder
Episode 81. What Do I Do About My Emotional Eating?
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Hey there! I’m Rachelle, the host of the Understanding Disordered Eating Podcast. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, I work with clients to make sense of life’s messy emotional experiences.
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