Can you explain why nutritionists say that if you starve yourself, you will go into starvation mode?

[LilKim]

... and not lose weight? That your body will hold on to What you have, but anorexics are so skinny. Make sense?

[HandsomeRaj]

Of what I've read and been told by doctors and nutritionists I understand this:

1. When you don't eat in proper intervals, your body begins preparing for the loss of nutrition by accumulating fat

2. Even protein if ingested w/o exercise converts to fat

3. However, the fat is being stored (such as in a camel storing water and fat) to cater for the oncoming starvation to fuel the body will at some point run out with nothing to feed the body even fat

5. Hence, the anorexics

6. Again it depends on the body structure, genetics, climatic conditions, the type of food even when consumed at very sparse rate and in low count

7. The body again once it gets used to a particular diet or mode (even in work outs) stops responding to it which is why both diets and exercises are changed from time to time to ensure that the body responds.

[MyNameIsJonas]

Anorexics are skinny because some starve themselves to the point of extreme catabolism. This is the process of the body breaking down to maintain life/little energy needed. IF you are not starving yourself to this point (which is difficult) you will probably just have fits of eating... then store that one meal... Its a very unhealthy cycle.

IF the body is not getting the right amount of food for a period of time it will go into a storing process. The metabolism will slow down and store instead of burn.

In order to have a healthy body it is important to have a balance of food that supports your energy but not too much so that you are storing excess. Exercise can really help keep the balance and metabolism anabolic.

It is important to keep a healthy balance of catabolic and anabolic response. That is the best way to lose weight.

[iluvchewbucca]

They say that because it's true. Your body will first try to survive by holding on to whatever fat you have and live off of that... (so anything that you do eat while you starve, as small as it is, the body will hold on to that also, which slows down your metabolism) After your body has eaten up all that you've left it with, then your body starts to lose weight because it has nothing left to eat.. but not just that... at this point your whole body is in such a bad condition it's very hard and dangerous to repair itself...

And that's why they say that.

You will first gain weight, and then you will loose it... but you will be very very weak and your immune system will be almost at point break. (dying)

[PinkAcid]

nutritionists mean that for people who think they can starve diet over a few months, anorexics have years to burn all that fat and muscle down to the bare minimum. the body cannot hold onto its reserves forever if it is continually being underfed even if it slows down its metabolism

[kheserthorpe]

Look, if you starve yourself, you'll lose weight, but you might not lose weight anywhere near as fast as you'd think, and you'll tend to put it on again FAST.

I could go into the mechanisms, but basically:

- a poorly designed calorie deficit diet results in burning muscle tissue for protein to support ketosis (as opposed to a higher protein diet that provides enough dietary protein for ketosis). Less muscle means you weigh (quite a bit) less on the scale, but your metabolism is essentially permanently slowed until you regain muscle.

- your hormonal systems downshift to minimize calories burned.

Weight loss is about calories in vs. calories out. By screwing their metabolisms, anorexics are pulverizing their calories out in a way that won't quickly rebound. Most people could likely run an even larger calorie gap by eating more and specifically eating in a way that encouraged lean mass maintenance and hormone recovery. Not to mention it would be generally healthier.

[MrOracle]

Best Answer.

[martyfellow]

They mean you'll lose weight SLOWLYy; your body doesn't want to die, so it can conserve nutrients for a while. But you still lose weight,even when your body is in starvation mode.

Eventually, you WILL get anorexic. It takes a while to get that skinny, months, if not years.

[beastman88]

because anorexics starve for so long that their bodies start eating themselves to try to get nutrients. where as if you starve your self than eat, your body will want to turn that unused food energy into fat and will want to hang onto that fat until the next starvation period

[artgirl1995]

your body gets used to your diat. I don't eat much cos I just don't get hungry often. I don't lose nor gain weight because my body's used to the diat, and thus I remain skinny. BUt if I were to eat a lot of food, my body won't be used to eat, so I could gain a bit of weight easily. Because I don't eat much though, if I eat a lot in a day, ill only gain weight during that day and probably go back to my regular weight.

[confugirl]

The rule is only visible when you look at people who start eating normally after. Anorexics don't do that, they just keep starving themselves. So even if they are in starvation mode, they never get enough energy to convert it to fat. People who diet and start to eat normally after they achieve their goal, will often yo-yo back because they start eating enough calories to convert into fat. Because they're in starvation mode, they need less calories to gain weight.

[britannny]

Its slows down your metabolism when you starve yourself. But you won't stop losing weight. Your metabolism just gets all out of wack. It doesn't even make sense that you wouldn't lose weight.. you would have to run off of some sort of energy, so it would only make sense for your body to start using the fat you've stored.

[RedThread]

I think you would still lose weight or else people wouldn't starve to death. Your metabolism slows down without any caloric intake though. There was a time I ate 3 small meals per day and had a ton of exercise and I lost like 40lbs in 2 months. I tried to same thing while eating less and it actually slowed down my weight loss.

[Anonymous]

Eating the right amount will cause your body to continue to burn a lot more calories, than not eating enough. If you are not eating enough your metabolism slows down, but your body must continue to burn some calories just to stay alive. Anorexics take it further. They eat fewer calories than is needed to stay alive. Some anorexics also work out a lot in order to continue to burn even more calories.

[jmurk]

. You have to actually train yourself to eat less. Thin people usually eat at the least once a day or twice a day max. A friend of mine lost 60 pounds, but he had to train himself not to eat as much. Instead of eating 3 square meals a day, He ate light in the morning, and at lunch Then he ate a big dinner. He also went for walks in the evening.

[yaddayaddayadda02]

I think the starvation mode theory has been debunked.

link

[bijinbijinbijin]

good information

[kheserthorpe]

She quotes lyle macdonald so of course its awesome :p

[sovetskii13]

You WILL start losing weight, but slowly. You will start losing fat and muscle because that's the alternative source if there is no food. Your body will function differently.

[Anonymous]

eventually your body starts to use up the fat and then the vital organs... it just takes a long time and most people can't make it that long before wanting to binge. Starving defiantly makes you skinny, look at the people from the holocaust..

[Anonymous]

Because you have to starve yourself for a LONG time to start really losing significant weight.

Your body will burn everything it can to keep going. That takes time before your body starts to show it.

[nosferatudaswampyr]

er.. because the body will use it's fats and even muscle for the longest possible period

and this means over an extended period, like months, not just dieting over weeks.

[Anonymous]

Because they are talking about a shorter time period than anorexics. Anorexics really stick it out (along with their bones)

[Anonymous]

Anorexics also work out a lot and the starve themselves for long periods of time.

[Anonymous]

because your body gets used to not eating