Effects of over restriction/undereating

katie1318

So I think most of us can agree that "starvation mode" is generally not what our bodies are susceptible to when we strictly diet or undereat. But what exactly does happen to our bodies if we restrict calories too much (like less than 1000-1200 for a woman)?

rankinsect

The worst possible effect is malnutrition - that could be something like vitamin deficiencies or it could be protein deficiency. Your body will break down muscle faster to support the higher rate of weight loss (you can only lose fat so fast, and at high levels of loss, a lot of that loss is muscle) - which is only exacerbated more if your body needs to break down muscle for protein, too, because you're deficient. Eventually, once your muscle has wasted to a point, the body would break down other internal tissues for energy.

Of course the actual worst effect would be if you continued to restrict calories until you died of starvation, typically happening from heart failure when your body has cannibalized your organs to the point you can't maintain electrolyte balance.

blankiefinder

rankinsect wrote: »

The worst possible effect is malnutrition - that could be something like vitamin deficiencies or it could be protein deficiency. Your body will break down muscle faster to support the higher rate of weight loss (you can only lose fat so fast, and at high levels of loss, a lot of that loss is muscle) - which is only exacerbated more if your body needs to break down muscle for protein, too, because you're deficient.

Of course the actual worst effect would be if you continued to restrict calories until you died of starvation, typically happening from heart failure when your body has cannibalized your organs to the point you can't maintain electrolyte balance.

Actually the worst result is death from fainting at the wrong time.

Apparently the leading cause of train delays in New York for medical reasons was from fainting from hunger.

malibu927

-more muscle loss in place of fat loss
-weakened organs that have the potential to shut down
-brittle hair/nails
-irregular/stopped cycle

And so on

Actually the worst result is death from fainting at the wrong time.

Also this

janjunie

....not to mention hair loss, bad skin (your skin is an organ), irritability, infertility...just to add a few things to what was posted

middlehaitch

Don't forget lack of concentration, decrease in analytical functions, and general cognitive decline.

The brain needs fuel too.

Cheers, h.

RodaRose

Lower sex drive.

purplishblue

And don't forget the rebound binging. You can end up in a cycle where you're perpetually going back and forth between starving and binging. Not to mention, they've done studies showing that when people are put on very restricted diet, they actually begin experiencing eating disorder thoughts/behaviors. When they had the people go off the study, some people on it continued restricting and having ED issues.

usmcmp

Malnutrition
Hair loss
Loss of lean mass (which lowers your BMR)
Damage to internal organs
Higher risk of osteoporosis
Long term fertility damage

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

katie1318 wrote: »

So I think most of us can agree that "starvation mode" is generally not what our bodies are susceptible to when we strictly diet or undereat. But what exactly does happen to our bodies if we restrict calories too much (like less than 1000-1200 for a woman)?

It is awful in reality. I did this for over 10 years and it stopped my periods, weakend my teeth, my hair wouldn't grow and my nails split in to layers all the time. My skin was always dry and I looked like a skeleton with skin.

Fast forward to my late 30s and I have been in recovery for 11 years. The problems I am left with is brittle bones due to lack of nourishment during my developing years, weakened teeth and gums where they don't think I'll keep my teeth for many more years. Constant pain due to my l1 and l2 crumbling. I face spinal realignment on a monthly basis and I'm fighting to keep my bone strength and keep the muscle strong around it to help. My hair is much better but my nails still aren't.

I look a million times better than I did when I under ate now that I maintain a healthy BMI.

Sued0nim

This thread

BodyByBex

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

katie1318 wrote: »

So I think most of us can agree that "starvation mode" is generally not what our bodies are susceptible to when we strictly diet or undereat. But what exactly does happen to our bodies if we restrict calories too much (like less than 1000-1200 for a woman)?

It is awful in reality. I did this for over 10 years and it stopped my periods, weakend my teeth, my hair wouldn't grow and my nails split in to layers all the time. My skin was always dry and I looked like a skeleton with skin.

Fast forward to my late 30s and I have been in recovery for 11 years. The problems I am left with is brittle bones due to lack of nourishment during my developing years, weakened teeth and gums where they don't think I'll keep my teeth for many more years. Constant pain due to my l1 and l2 crumbling. I face spinal realignment on a monthly basis and I'm fighting to keep my bone strength and keep the muscle strong around it to help. My hair is much better but my nails still aren't.

I look a million times better than I did when I under ate now that I maintain a healthy BMI.

@RuNaRoUnDaFiEld You are so beautiful and so strong. Thank you for sharing your story and this information to satisfy our, sometimes horrifying, curiosities. It is deeply appreciated.
Congratulations on your excellent work in recovery.

Does anyone else feel like the OP of this thread was asking as if to see if it would really be worth it to over restrict their caloric intake, or is that just me?

robertw486

lilaclovebird wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

katie1318 wrote: »

So I think most of us can agree that "starvation mode" is generally not what our bodies are susceptible to when we strictly diet or undereat. But what exactly does happen to our bodies if we restrict calories too much (like less than 1000-1200 for a woman)?

It is awful in reality. I did this for over 10 years and it stopped my periods, weakend my teeth, my hair wouldn't grow and my nails split in to layers all the time. My skin was always dry and I looked like a skeleton with skin.

Fast forward to my late 30s and I have been in recovery for 11 years. The problems I am left with is brittle bones due to lack of nourishment during my developing years, weakened teeth and gums where they don't think I'll keep my teeth for many more years. Constant pain due to my l1 and l2 crumbling. I face spinal realignment on a monthly basis and I'm fighting to keep my bone strength and keep the muscle strong around it to help. My hair is much better but my nails still aren't.

I look a million times better than I did when I under ate now that I maintain a healthy BMI.

@RuNaRoUnDaFiEld You are so beautiful and so strong. Thank you for sharing your story and this information to satisfy our, sometimes horrifying, curiosities. It is deeply appreciated.
Congratulations on your excellent work in recovery.

Does anyone else feel like the OP of this thread was asking as if to see if it would really be worth it to over restrict their caloric intake, or is that just me?

Completely agree on the comment from @RuNaRoUnDaFiEld - if more people with a history of EDs would come out and speak up like that it may help others avoid the long term damage and seek help earlier. Well done!


As for your second comment, I sort of assumed that as well, and then realized that my assumption could be way off base. Maybe the OP was asking to stop themselves from taking that route, for general knowledge, or to help prevent someone else from doing something unhealthy. But I did assume at first.

middlehaitch

@RuNaRoUnDaFiEld I think I you.
Thank you so much for your honest and thoughtful post.
Cheers, h.

CariLynn67

I struggled with eating disorders from age 20-30. I think I may have even invented a few. At age 23 I suddenly started menstruating after two years of not...only to find out I was pregnant and was having a "near miscarriage". My due date was impossible to estimate because of that, so when I went into labor an emergency c-section was done and my baby was in intensive care for 12 hours to be sure she was not premature. There is no amount of body fat to lose that is worth "undereating" for.

katie1318

Thanks for all the information, everyone! Especially @RuNaRoUnDaFiEld for your inspiring story

katie1318

And @CariLynn67 thank you for sharing!

middlehaitch

to you too @CariLynn67
Cheers, h.

hgycta

I'm not going to repeat anything anyone has already said, they are all true and very serious consequences of under eating! I, too, suffered from anorexia nervosa and can say looking thin just isn't worth any of the damaging physical nor mental effects you will go through.
Some things I would like to add to the list:
-You will be cold all the time (due to less muscle and body fat to insulate you)
-I actually developed Raynaud's phenomenon from this; when I get cold some of my fingers will actually turn a yellow color because the blood vessels constrict and I lose all feeling in them. This is your body's way of trying to keep the important organs near the core warmer, and if you are left in the cold some people have actually lost extremities due to this condition (luckily I'm not one of them).
-Once your body does begin to gain weight again and you stop restricting, it feels HORRIBLE. I would retain water like crazy and actually suffered edema while regaining. After overeating (whether it would be a binge or simply 300 calories over maintenance), everything would hurt, especially my stomach (which was the first place to gain the weight since again, the body tries to preserve the vital organs first) and it looked very abnormal how much larger my stomach was versus the rest of me for quite some time.
-Someone here already mentioned weakened teeth; mine actually cracked and others developed cavities. I brush my teeth two times a day and never forced myself to vomit, so this was solely due to vitamin deficiencies.

middlehaitch

Thank you too @hgycta for speaking out.

Cheers, h.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Thank you very much for the comments, they really do mean a lot

I wrote that post in haste on Sunday morning. I was in agony at the time and lacing up my trainers to go to run 5k. (Running helps keep bone density) It was one of my very rare self pity moments.

If it helps one person see that under eating is not a good idea, I'll be happy.

Hug to the other posters on this issue, I hope your posts stop someone else going through this too x

pie_eyes

I undereat but can't say I'm anorexic. Whenever I eat I look for the most nutritious options.

middlehaitch

@Blankly4200, one does not need to be anorexic to do irreparable damage to ones body by consistently under eating.
Please eat the amount of food that will nourish and fuel your body.

You are not only possibly hurting yourself, but by making that statement on a public forum you are condoning and encouraging under eating. This could encourage others to follow suit and hurt themselves.

MFP recommends a 1200 cal minimum, most members of this forum agree, and respect that that number is relevant for all but a few. ( short, older, disabled, out lying medical condition, under the supervision of a medical professional)

Cheers, h.

tulips_and_tea

robertw486 wrote: »

lilaclovebird wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

katie1318 wrote: »

So I think most of us can agree that "starvation mode" is generally not what our bodies are susceptible to when we strictly diet or undereat. But what exactly does happen to our bodies if we restrict calories too much (like less than 1000-1200 for a woman)?

It is awful in reality. I did this for over 10 years and it stopped my periods, weakend my teeth, my hair wouldn't grow and my nails split in to layers all the time. My skin was always dry and I looked like a skeleton with skin.

Fast forward to my late 30s and I have been in recovery for 11 years. The problems I am left with is brittle bones due to lack of nourishment during my developing years, weakened teeth and gums where they don't think I'll keep my teeth for many more years. Constant pain due to my l1 and l2 crumbling. I face spinal realignment on a monthly basis and I'm fighting to keep my bone strength and keep the muscle strong around it to help. My hair is much better but my nails still aren't.

I look a million times better than I did when I under ate now that I maintain a healthy BMI.

@RuNaRoUnDaFiEld You are so beautiful and so strong. Thank you for sharing your story and this information to satisfy our, sometimes horrifying, curiosities. It is deeply appreciated.
Congratulations on your excellent work in recovery.

Does anyone else feel like the OP of this thread was asking as if to see if it would really be worth it to over restrict their caloric intake, or is that just me?

Completely agree on the comment from @RuNaRoUnDaFiEld - if more people with a history of EDs would come out and speak up like that it may help others avoid the long term damage and seek help earlier. Well done!


As for your second comment, I sort of assumed that as well, and then realized that my assumption could be way off base. Maybe the OP was asking to stop themselves from taking that route, for general knowledge, or to help prevent someone else from doing something unhealthy. But I did assume at first.

X2. I agree with @lilaclovebird regarding the courageous and helpful post and with @robertw486 as far as trying to not assume or judge. Thank you both for your comments and all the other helpful posts on this thread.

tulips_and_tea

middlehaitch wrote: »

@Blankly4200, one does not need to be anorexic to do irreparable damage to ones body by consistently under eating.
Please eat the amount of food that will nourish and fuel your body.

You are not only possibly hurting yourself, but by making that statement on a public forum you are condoning and encouraging under eating. This could encourage others to follow suit and hurt themselves.

MFP recommends a 1200 cal minimum, most members of this forum agree, and respect that that number is relevant for all but a few. ( short, older, disabled, out lying medical condition, under the supervision of a medical professional)

Cheers, h.

Agreed, particularly since @Blankly4200 is a 22 yr. old male. Under eating now will affect your final growth and brain development. Lots of other bad effects, too. Don't mistreat your body - you've only got this one and it needs to last you the rest of your life! Just trying to be helpful and encouraging. Please don't take it as criticism.

robertw486

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

Thank you very much for the comments, they really do mean a lot

I wrote that post in haste on Sunday morning. I was in agony at the time and lacing up my trainers to go to run 5k. (Running helps keep bone density) It was one of my very rare self pity moments.

If it helps one person see that under eating is not a good idea, I'll be happy.

Hug to the other posters on this issue, I hope your posts stop someone else going through this too x

Just for the record, but to me your post read much more like "please don't do the thing I learned the hard way" rather than a self pity statement. But I'm not about to argue with your feelings on the issue.

In either case, I thought it was a very helpful statement.