‘Bulk and cut’ diet associated with symptoms of eating disorders and muscle dysmorphia

Studies on anorexia, bulimia and obesity have found that nearly half of men and one in five women, transgender and gender non-conforming participants, engaged in a “bulk and cut” cycle in the past 12 months.

“Bulking and cutting”—a dietary technique characterized by alternating periods of consuming excess calories (bulking) and restricting calorie consumption (cutting) to optimize the growth of lean muscle mass and reduce body fat—is a practice consistent with current body ideals. It is especially prevalent among teenagers and young adults, especially those in the fitness community and those striving to achieve a more muscular and toned body.

Analyzing data from over 2,700 Canadian teenagers and young adults, the researchers found that engagement in bulking and cutting was associated with a greater desire to become more muscular among all groups of participants, underscoring the link between this dietary approach and desires to change one’s body.

“Bulking and cutting is a common practice in the fitness community and popularized by social media,” says lead author Kyle T. Ganson, Ph.D., MSW, assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. “Given body ideals that focus on bulk, musculature and thinness in boys and men, it is not surprising that this dietary approach was very common in our sample, but it should also be noted that girls, women, transgender and gender non- affirming participants , also face unique pressures to adhere to specific body types. For girls and women, this ideal is moving away from the thin ideal to a toned and fit ideal.”

However, few studies have investigated and characterized engagement in bulking and cutting cycles, or whether this dietary approach is associated with the operation of muscularity and eating disorders and muscle dysmorphia psychopathology.

“Our findings also showed that engagement in bulking and cutting was associated with symptoms of eating disorders as well as muscle dysmorphia, which is characterized as the pathological exercise of muscularity, for men and women in the study,” says Ganson. “These findings are particularly salient given the documented increased prevalence of eating disorders and related behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The study highlights the importance of greater awareness of this unique dietary method, which may go unnoticed by health and healthcare professionals.

“It is important that health professionals screen for a wide range of dietary practices that may be harmful to young people, not just clinical eating disorder behaviors such as food restriction,” says Ganson. “We need to continue to research these types of muscle-oriented behaviors to better understand them and implement effective strategies to protect the health and well-being of Canadian youth.”

The research was published in Eating and weight disorders – studies on anorexia, bulimia and obesity.

More information:
Kyle T. Ganson et al, “Bulking and cutting” among a national sample of Canadian teenagers and young adults, Eating and weight disorders – studies on anorexia, bulimia and obesity (2022). DOI: 10.1007/s40519-022-01470-y