Tracey Gold, the American actress known for playing Carol Seaver in the TV show "Growing Pains" in the 1980s, hosted a documentary series called "Starving Secrets with Tracey Gold" in 2011. The show, which aired on Lifetime, aimed to shed light on eating disorders and the dangerous ways people try to lose weight.
Each episode of "Starving Secrets with Tracey Gold" focused on a few individuals struggling with an eating disorder or understanding their relationship with food. The show covered a range of disorders, from anorexia nervosa to bulimia and binge eating disorder. Some of the individuals shared their stories with Tracey Gold, while others kept a journal that was revealed on camera.
The show also featured interviews with healthcare professionals, including doctors, nutritionists, and therapists, who explained the reasons behind eating disorders and offered advice on how to treat them. The experts talked about the emotional and psychological aspects of eating disorders and how they are often linked to body image and self-esteem issues.
"Starving Secrets with Tracey Gold" didn't shy away from showing the physical toll that eating disorders can take on the body. In fact, some of the most shocking moments came when the show exposed the extreme measures some people took to lose weight, such as purging, excessive exercise, or even starvation.
The show also explored the impact of eating disorders on families and friends. Some of the participants were teenage girls whose parents were worried sick about them. One episode followed a woman who was in her 50s and still struggling with an eating disorder that had started when she was a teenager. Her daughter was also anorexic, and they both had to attend therapy together to try and heal their relationship.
Throughout the series, Tracey Gold shared her own story of overcoming anorexia. She talked about how her disorder started and how she eventually sought treatment to regain her health. She also offered words of encouragement to the participants, telling them that recovery is possible and urging them to seek professional help.
One of the strengths of "Starving Secrets with Tracey Gold" was its focus on education. The show wasn't just a voyeuristic look at people with eating disorders; it offered valuable insights into the causes and consequences of these conditions. The experts who appeared on the show provided reliable and informative advice on how to recognize the signs of an eating disorder and how to get help.
Overall, "Starving Secrets with Tracey Gold" was a powerful and insightful documentary series that tackled a sensitive and complex topic with compassion and intelligence. It shed light on a subject that is often misunderstood and stigmatized, and it offered hope and support to those who are struggling with eating disorders.
Starving Secrets with Tracey Gold is a series that ran for 1 seasons (6 episodes) between December 2, 2011 and on Lifetime