Is starvation mode a myth?
Gaygirl2120
Posts: 541 Member
I see a lot of posts about "starvation mode" saying if you aren't eating enough your body will just hold onto fat & you won't lose any weight. But this makes no sense to me because how do people become anorexic then? I myself have battled anorexia for several years. There was a span in my life where I ate little to nothing for 6 months & went from 155 pounds down to 105 very quickly. So I just don't understand this thing called starvation mode. Where does the research come from to prove this?
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I see a lot of posts about "starvation mode" saying if you aren't eating enough your body will just hold onto fat & you won't lose any weight. But this makes no sense to me because how do people become anorexic then? I myself have battled anorexia for several years. There was a span in my life where I ate little to nothing for 6 months & went from 155 pounds down to 105 very quickly. So I just don't understand this thing called starvation mode. Where does the research come from to prove this?
It's a myth the way it's currently used and explained in the mainstream fitness/dieting environment.
You do not hold on to fat (or even worse, some people claim you GAIN fat) by under-eating.
That being said, there is something called Adaptive Thermogenesis (AT) which is basically a decrease in energy expenditure beyond what would be expected as a response to weight loss.
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Yes.1
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Like Steel said, it is not taught correctly. Have you read anything about IF (intermittent fasting)? Many people use this to help in their weight loss.1
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readytobeatfat54 wrote: »Like Steel said, it is not taught correctly. Have you read anything about IF (intermittent fasting)? Many people use this to help in their weight loss.
If you don't mind my asking, what does IF have to do with this?5 -
Yes. As SS mentioned AT is at work here. It can be overcome by increasing or changing one exercises whereby the body is using muscles more intensely or just involving them where they weren't before. In the fitness world, they use another term for this called "confusing your body", but it's not really being confused. You're just changing intensity and/or exercise program.
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Jax, well done on battling your anorexia - long may you continue to do so. My understanding of starvation mode is that your hair starts falling out and your organs start shutting down because your body is starved. This is why so many posts mention the need to have a minimum of 1200 calories, net, a day (or at least averaged out over a week).3
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readytobeatfat54 wrote: »Like Steel said, it is not taught correctly. Have you read anything about IF (intermittent fasting)? Many people use this to help in their weight loss.
If you don't mind my asking, what does IF have to do with this?
I'm guessing it's going after the "don't skip breakfast or you'll go into starvation mode" angle.3 -
Yea it is, look at people that do intermitten fasting, ther lean as hell and they only have a 4 hour window for eating0
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Hensonator1084 wrote: »Yea it is, look at people that do intermitten fasting, ther lean as hell and they only have a 4 hour window for eating
They're not all lean. Regardless of calorie split or eating style, it boils down to calories.Strudders67 wrote: »Jax, well done on battling your anorexia - long may you continue to do so. My understanding of starvation mode is that your hair starts falling out and your organs start shutting down because your body is starved. This is why so many posts mention the need to have a minimum of 1200 calories, net, a day (or at least averaged out over a week).
That's not starvation mode, just starvation or undereating.4 -
Hensonator1084 wrote: »Yea it is, look at people that do intermitten fasting, ther lean as hell and they only have a 4 hour window for eating
Some of them are. And there are a lot of other very lean people who've never done IF in their life.
IF is just another method of calorie control/adherence. There's nothing magical about it, despite all the hype.
As to the OP - SideSteel hit it on the head (as usual). Additionally, I'm surprised nobody has linked to this article yet: http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/3 -
Starvation mode refers to having too low a calorie intake such that while you still lose weight, you are also causing damage to your body. For example in starvation mode, the body starts breaking down muscle as well as fat. This in turn lowers your metabolism so you need fewer calories a day to live. It essentially is the body's way of reducing the number of calories to maintain a weight. Of course, depending on the deficit, you will lose weight until you reach that balance...where your muscle mass and body fat result in a metabolism that equals the calories you do eat. This is why/how anorexics and concentration camp inmates can survive for years on starvation diets. But other things happen in starvation mode, lack of collagen means your connective tissue breaks down causing loss of teeth from receding gums, and joint injuries increase. Your nine mass also decreases leading to osteoporosis and greater chance of fractures. Starvation diets are also commonly associated with vitamin deficiencies so you get increased cases of fatigue from lack of vit D, scurvy from lack of vit C, goitres from lack of iodine, etc. If a child is in starvation mode, their growth will be stunted and puberty delayed. In women, fertility is reduced and their periods may even stop. If the calorie deficit is too great, the body passes through starvation mode and then the organs start shutting down resulting in death. So starvation mode is not a myth...but I agree too many people will claim they are in starvation mode as an excuse to explain a weight loss plateau.2
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*nine mass, should be "bone mass" sorry0
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Starvation mode refers to having too low a calorie intake such that while you still lose weight, you are also causing damage to your body. For example in starvation mode, the body starts breaking down muscle as well as fat. This in turn lowers your metabolism so you need fewer calories a day to live. It essentially is the body's way of reducing the number of calories to maintain a weight. Of course, depending on the deficit, you will lose weight until you reach that balance...where your muscle mass and body fat result in a metabolism that equals the calories you do eat. This is why/how anorexics and concentration camp inmates can survive for years on starvation diets. But other things happen in starvation mode, lack of collagen means your connective tissue breaks down causing loss of teeth from receding gums, and joint injuries increase. Your nine mass also decreases leading to osteoporosis and greater chance of fractures. Starvation diets are also commonly associated with vitamin deficiencies so you get increased cases of fatigue from lack of vit D, scurvy from lack of vit C, goitres from lack of iodine, etc. If a child is in starvation mode, their growth will be stunted and puberty delayed. In women, fertility is reduced and their periods may even stop. If the calorie deficit is too great, the body passes through starvation mode and then the organs start shutting down resulting in death. So starvation mode is not a myth...but I agree too many people will claim they are in starvation mode as an excuse to explain a weight loss plateau.
On that basis, many people hit starvation mode daily. May understanding is that low calorie intake, plus low protein intake, plus high energy output will lead to glycogen depletion and then fat and muscle metabolism.1 -
Starvation mode in the sense that it is taught in fitness circles, from my understanding, is more geared toward competitive bodybuilders that want to hang into every ounce of muscle they can. If you just want to be a healthy weight, calories in vs. calories out is pretty much all that matters, from my understanding.0
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VintageFeline wrote: »Hensonator1084 wrote: »Yea it is, look at people that do intermitten fasting, ther lean as hell and they only have a 4 hour window for eating
They're not all lean. Regardless of calorie split or eating style, it boils down to calories.Strudders67 wrote: »Jax, well done on battling your anorexia - long may you continue to do so. My understanding of starvation mode is that your hair starts falling out and your organs start shutting down because your body is starved. This is why so many posts mention the need to have a minimum of 1200 calories, net, a day (or at least averaged out over a week).
That's not starvation mode, just starvation or undereating.
Agreed.0 -
StealthHealth wrote: »Starvation mode refers to having too low a calorie intake such that while you still lose weight, you are also causing damage to your body. For example in starvation mode, the body starts breaking down muscle as well as fat. This in turn lowers your metabolism so you need fewer calories a day to live. It essentially is the body's way of reducing the number of calories to maintain a weight. Of course, depending on the deficit, you will lose weight until you reach that balance...where your muscle mass and body fat result in a metabolism that equals the calories you do eat. This is why/how anorexics and concentration camp inmates can survive for years on starvation diets. But other things happen in starvation mode, lack of collagen means your connective tissue breaks down causing loss of teeth from receding gums, and joint injuries increase. Your nine mass also decreases leading to osteoporosis and greater chance of fractures. Starvation diets are also commonly associated with vitamin deficiencies so you get increased cases of fatigue from lack of vit D, scurvy from lack of vit C, goitres from lack of iodine, etc. If a child is in starvation mode, their growth will be stunted and puberty delayed. In women, fertility is reduced and their periods may even stop. If the calorie deficit is too great, the body passes through starvation mode and then the organs start shutting down resulting in death. So starvation mode is not a myth...but I agree too many people will claim they are in starvation mode as an excuse to explain a weight loss plateau.
On that basis, many people hit starvation mode daily. May understanding is that low calorie intake, plus low protein intake, plus high energy output will lead to glycogen depletion and then fat and muscle metabolism.
Where did I say if calorie intake is too low for a single day, that would result in starvation mode? I didn't. Starvation mode doesn't happen so quickly! In fact you can fast (zero food) for a few days with no ill effects.0 -
Here is a great summary of starvation mode, how it happens and how it results in a lower metabolism
https://authoritynutrition.com/starvation-mode/0 -
StealthHealth wrote: »Starvation mode refers to having too low a calorie intake such that while you still lose weight, you are also causing damage to your body. For example in starvation mode, the body starts breaking down muscle as well as fat. This in turn lowers your metabolism so you need fewer calories a day to live. It essentially is the body's way of reducing the number of calories to maintain a weight. Of course, depending on the deficit, you will lose weight until you reach that balance...where your muscle mass and body fat result in a metabolism that equals the calories you do eat. This is why/how anorexics and concentration camp inmates can survive for years on starvation diets. But other things happen in starvation mode, lack of collagen means your connective tissue breaks down causing loss of teeth from receding gums, and joint injuries increase. Your nine mass also decreases leading to osteoporosis and greater chance of fractures. Starvation diets are also commonly associated with vitamin deficiencies so you get increased cases of fatigue from lack of vit D, scurvy from lack of vit C, goitres from lack of iodine, etc. If a child is in starvation mode, their growth will be stunted and puberty delayed. In women, fertility is reduced and their periods may even stop. If the calorie deficit is too great, the body passes through starvation mode and then the organs start shutting down resulting in death. So starvation mode is not a myth...but I agree too many people will claim they are in starvation mode as an excuse to explain a weight loss plateau.
On that basis, many people hit starvation mode daily. May understanding is that low calorie intake, plus low protein intake, plus high energy output will lead to glycogen depletion and then fat and muscle metabolism.
Where did I say if calorie intake is too low for a single day, that would result in starvation mode? I didn't. Starvation mode doesn't happen so quickly! In fact you can fast (zero food) for a few days with no ill effects.
You said "in starvation mode, the body starts breaking down muscle as well as fat."
I said words to the effect of "if that is an indication that you have entered (your definition of) starvation mode, then many people are entering starvation mode on a daily basis".
What I am saying is - if you're implying that breaking down muscle to use as fuel ONLY occurs when in (your definition of) starvation mode, then I think your definition of starvation mode is poor.2 -
Thank you everyone for all the insight into this.1
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Here is a great summary of starvation mode, how it happens and how it results in a lower metabolism
https://authoritynutrition.com/starvation-mode/
Authoritynutrition is not an authority on nutrition.3 -
I see a lot of posts about "starvation mode" saying if you aren't eating enough your body will just hold onto fat & you won't lose any weight. But this makes no sense to me because how do people become anorexic then? I myself have battled anorexia for several years. There was a span in my life where I ate little to nothing for 6 months & went from 155 pounds down to 105 very quickly. So I just don't understand this thing called starvation mode. Where does the research come from to prove this?
There isn't any. So why would you believe something that has no basis in truth? Your own experience should show you differently.
Gosh do we really need another thread on this silly misleading phrase?-1 -
Here is a great summary of starvation mode, how it happens and how it results in a lower metabolism
https://authoritynutrition.com/starvation-mode/
Total B.S.3 -
Starvation mode refers to having too low a calorie intake such that while you still lose weight, you are also causing damage to your body. For example in starvation mode, the body starts breaking down muscle as well as fat. This in turn lowers your metabolism so you need fewer calories a day to live. It essentially is the body's way of reducing the number of calories to maintain a weight. Of course, depending on the deficit, you will lose weight until you reach that balance...where your muscle mass and body fat result in a metabolism that equals the calories you do eat. This is why/how anorexics and concentration camp inmates can survive for years on starvation diets. But other things happen in starvation mode, lack of collagen means your connective tissue breaks down causing loss of teeth from receding gums, and joint injuries increase. Your nine mass also decreases leading to osteoporosis and greater chance of fractures. Starvation diets are also commonly associated with vitamin deficiencies so you get increased cases of fatigue from lack of vit D, scurvy from lack of vit C, goitres from lack of iodine, etc. If a child is in starvation mode, their growth will be stunted and puberty delayed. In women, fertility is reduced and their periods may even stop. If the calorie deficit is too great, the body passes through starvation mode and then the organs start shutting down resulting in death. So starvation mode is not a myth...but I agree too many people will claim they are in starvation mode as an excuse to explain a weight loss plateau.
This thread should really be deleted - such misleading information should just not be tolerated here. True starvation is not an issue on these boards, and to suggest that it is, is really wrong. Starvation mode, as it is TYPICALLY used in conversation here, IS A MYTH.4 -
fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »I see a lot of posts about "starvation mode" saying if you aren't eating enough your body will just hold onto fat & you won't lose any weight. But this makes no sense to me because how do people become anorexic then? I myself have battled anorexia for several years. There was a span in my life where I ate little to nothing for 6 months & went from 155 pounds down to 105 very quickly. So I just don't understand this thing called starvation mode. Where does the research come from to prove this?
There isn't any. So why would you believe something that has no basis in truth? Your own experience should show you differently.
Gosh do we really need another thread on this silly misleading phrase?
Gosh I've never asked about it before here & if others have that has nothing to do with me. I never said I believed it based on my own experiences so that's why I am asking. Which is what I thought these forums were for, learning & sharing knowledge.
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fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »I see a lot of posts about "starvation mode" saying if you aren't eating enough your body will just hold onto fat & you won't lose any weight. But this makes no sense to me because how do people become anorexic then? I myself have battled anorexia for several years. There was a span in my life where I ate little to nothing for 6 months & went from 155 pounds down to 105 very quickly. So I just don't understand this thing called starvation mode. Where does the research come from to prove this?
There isn't any. So why would you believe something that has no basis in truth? Your own experience should show you differently.
Gosh do we really need another thread on this silly misleading phrase?
Gosh I've never asked about it before here & if others have that has nothing to do with me. I never said I believed it based on my own experiences so that's why I am asking. Which is what I thought these forums were for, learning & sharing knowledge.
My apologies. It's just that this question gets asked over and over here.0 -
I see a lot of posts about "starvation mode" saying if you aren't eating enough your body will just hold onto fat & you won't lose any weight. But this makes no sense to me because how do people become anorexic then? I myself have battled anorexia for several years. There was a span in my life where I ate little to nothing for 6 months & went from 155 pounds down to 105 very quickly. So I just don't understand this thing called starvation mode. Where does the research come from to prove this?
Yes..
I usually see the term being used around here when people hit a weight loss plateau, aren't weighing and logging their food properly, incorrectly believe they are only eating 1200 calories per day while running 5 miles yet not losing weight. Someone invariably jumps in and says they must be in starvation mode and they need to eat more to lose weight. Sometimes people even claim it's possible to gain weight when not eating enough. Of course if this was true no one would ever starve to death, there would be no reason to eat, and like you said anorexia wouldn't be an issue.
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