Why is it safe for a super morbidly obese person to eat 800 cals a day?

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  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    edited October 2016
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    Conventional wisdom is slow, steady and sustainable weight loss. The scientific literature to date shows that the faster weight loss with a protein-sparing modified fast diet results in less hunger and better long term maintenance which I assume is why doctors prescribe "crash diets" for the morbidly obese.


    Never pondered it, but there is probably a good reason they're called "crash diets."
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    Conventional wisdom is slow, steady and sustainable weight loss. The scientific literature to date shows that the faster weight loss with a protein-sparing modified fast diet results in less hunger and better long term maintenance which I assume is why doctors prescribe "crash diets" for the morbidly obese.


    Never pondered it, but there is probably a good reason they're called "crash diets."

    adjective: crash

    1. done rapidly or urgently and involving a concentrated effort.
    "a crash course in Italian"
    synonyms: intensive, concentrated, rapid, short
  • akamran1
    akamran1 Posts: 78 Member
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    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    Conventional wisdom is slow, steady and sustainable weight loss. The scientific literature to date shows that the faster weight loss with a protein-sparing modified fast diet results in less hunger and better long term maintenance which I assume is why doctors prescribe "crash diets" for the morbidly obese.


    Never pondered it, but there is probably a good reason they're called "crash diets."

    adjective: crash

    1. done rapidly or urgently and involving a concentrated effort.
    "a crash course in Italian"
    synonyms: intensive, concentrated, rapid, short

    I think they're also using the term with this definition in mind:

    transitive verb; 1 a: to break violently and noisily
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Packerjohn wrote: »
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Is "super" morbidly obese a term now?

    Wasn't morbidly obese enough?

    Often when classifications of anything get too broad, subcategories are added.


    "BMI categories help evaluate the degree of obesity in a particular person. A person with a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered to be in the healthy range. An individual with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, and a person with a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese. A person with a BMI of 40 to 49.9 is morbidly obese and an individual with a BMI of 50 or more has super obesity or super morbid obesity, according to a 2009 article published in "Archives of Surgery."

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/369944-super-morbid-obesity-body-mass-index/
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Is "super" morbidly obese a term now?

    Wasn't morbidly obese enough?

    It has always been a term. Class 3 (morbid) obesity starts at 40 BMI, and super obesity starts at 50 I think?

    I've never heard it before, was only aware of class IV and V

    Interesting
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    AimiAutumn wrote: »
    I'm super confused by this! Usually the heavier/taller you are the more calories you can eat and still lose weight aslong as their is a deficit, but why is it when someone is super morbidly obese its not uncommon or unhealthy according to Doctors to put them on a diet of 800 - 1000 calories?

    But if you are just obese its not safe to be on a 1000 calorie diet and they recommend something closer to 1200- 1600 (for a female)

    Any thoughts?

    It's not safe...thus the whole doctor supervision part...but generally the benefits outweigh the risk for someone who is actually morbidly obese.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
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    Where does the 1200 calories come from? I can't find a study on it.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    edited October 2016
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    Most of the time that amount of calories is closely monitored by the doctor to ensure the patient is getting proper nutrient supplementation.

    Perhaps the most important caveat to VLCDs. They must be closely supervised by well-informed medical personnel and also include proper vitamins and other supplements to avoid malnutrition, organ damage, etc.

  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    johunt615 wrote: »
    Where does the 1200 calories come from? I can't find a study on it.

    There wasn't one. 1200 calories was considered the minimum number of cals where the average person would be reasonably likely to get adequate nutrition without extra effort (i.e. supplementation or a carefully crafted diet). I can't remember off of the top of my head which organization came up with it - FDA, I think.

    It was a committee decision and not a scientifically determined one, though for once it's a pretty good baseline.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    stealthq wrote: »
    johunt615 wrote: »
    Where does the 1200 calories come from? I can't find a study on it.

    There wasn't one. 1200 calories was considered the minimum number of cals where the average person would be reasonably likely to get adequate nutrition without extra effort (i.e. supplementation or a carefully crafted diet). I can't remember off of the top of my head which organization came up with it - FDA, I think.

    It was a committee decision and not a scientifically determined one, though for once it's a pretty good baseline.

    And it was for average sedentary woman. (height & weight)

    And using average eating habits - not even hitting the recommended food group quantities.

    Avg male was 1500.
  • jvcjim
    jvcjim Posts: 812 Member
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    Eat under to a reasonable calorie count that you can maintain and still loose weight. a couple years ago my BMI was at a stellar 85.1, it is now 70.9... my doctors advice back then was try a 3000 calorie diet, now he says try for 2000 so naturally i am averaging a 2750 calorie diet with much more exercise than i used to get, since i can move better now. diabetes, high blood pressure and arthritis in most of my load bearing joints.
    of course he thinks i should have surgery, but my personal thought on that is: 'i have large bore rifles which i would use on myself before i would allow them to modify me'.
    sorry.
  • chrisabraham
    chrisabraham Posts: 1 Member
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    I also think that doctors believe it won't be adhered to rigidly, so advise a lower calorie goal to account for the extra calories that the patient will probably consume.
    I am 100-150 lbs overweight at 6'3" and 350lbs and I feel like what you say in the quote rings right by me.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,902 Member
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    Where does the 1200 calories come from? I can't find a study on it.

    https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/
  • JRsLateInLifeMom
    JRsLateInLifeMom Posts: 2,275 Member
    edited June 2019
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    Well you just pinpointed the reason so many fail with the low calorie diets as low as 500- 1000calories or get ill. I see it as Doctor being reakless even cruel. A 1200-1500cal diet for a Woman y higher for a man they would safely drop the weight just walking a little more at home more y more daily makes a difference.10min then 30min until they find themselves doing it multiple times a day for longer periods of time.
    Look up Those tv ones who were on 500-700calories for tv weight loss quickly for contest to gastric bypass where are they now? Some died,heart issues,y some gained some back. Loosing slowly also helps with the skin of weight loss. They all lost so fast they needed skin removal surgeries.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    I think it is a terrible idea regardless of medical supervision. The only thing more terrible is dying because you need a surgery and something like the amount of visceral fat is preventing it from happening.

    A super morbidly obese person can already lose weight at a really fast pace. There is no reason to go faster unless it was life threatening.
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
    edited June 2019
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    The risks of being that obese outweigh the risks from living on too few calories.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
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    As I'm sure has been mentioned it's not safe which is why it is only done under very close medical supervision and when deemed appropriate by the doctors who will be taking responsibility for the care of the patient. It's not something people should be doing on their own. So it's not a case of you can't and more a case of it's risky to do so and needs to be professionally managed.

    In the extreme is the case of Angus Barbieri who under supervision of doctors didn't eat for over a year (fasted for 382 days). This included very regular visits with a team of doctors at a Dundee university including frequent overnight stays in hospital.