Thandie Newton Reveals Past Battle With Eating Disorder

Zambian-born actress Thandie Newton graces the September cover of UK's Easy Living Magazine, and reveals in an interview with the magazine that she suffered from bulimia. "I had terrible bulimia for about a year ... I ate nothing but cottage cheese. It didn't seem so strange. My mum was a health visitor, so we never had butter in our house, we had Flora. I had a very healthy, nutrition-conscious upbringing," she said.

Newton's disorder turned into an obsession when she started going out with an older man, explained the actress. "We used to go out to dinner all the time, and he'd get so excited about eating ... and it must have been my way of separating myself from him—by becoming bulimic. I would go back to the flat that we were sharing at the time, and I'd throw up," she said. Explaining that she suffered from "horrible bulimia for about a year", she said: "I've still got the scars on my knuckles from where I put my fingers down my throat."

Eventually Newton sought help while in Los Angeles to shoot a film. "I saw a therapist for the first time," she says. "After that first session, I never threw up again. I had made the connection between shame and self abuse."

There are a number of resources available online regarding the eating disorder, including an outline from the US Department of Health & Human Services has more information about the eating disorder: www.4women.gov/faq/Easyread/bulnervosa-etr.htm

(Photo Credits: Warner Bros / Channel 4 Television)