Starvation mode

ColeyBear08

I've decided to do my on research on what starvation mode really is and how it effects the body because I wasn't so convinced that a person with an extremely high body fat % will put on more fat because of very low caloric intake...

what I found was VERY interesting.

Keep in mind that I found my information on google SCHOLAR, where the information was published in academic and scientific journals (I list my sources at the bottom)

Here's what I found:

You don't convert everything you eat as fat until you reach very low body fat percentages and your metabolism isn't lowered until this point as well. Obese people who lower their caloric intake lower than 1200 calories/day WILL lose fat unlike those with healthy body fat percentages. Once you drop below 5% body fat for men and 10% for women you start losing lean muscle instead of fat.

Basically, restricting caloric intake does not have the same result on obese people as it does healthy people.

Now let me be clear: IN NO WAY AM I CONDONING EXTREME CALORIC RESTRICTION! I just feel like there was way too much false information out there and most people have a misconception of when starvation mode actually kicks in.

Sources:
Journal of applied physiology: http://jap.physiology.org/content/88/5/1820.short
Here is a pod cast that can also put the information into lemans term for you: https://s3.amazonaws.com/fitbb/How+to+Get+Into+Starvation+Mode.mp3

This experiment has been replicated with similar findings ^^^

ColeyBear08

So basically if you're 50lbs overweight and want to lose weight... not such a big deal til you start reaching healthier body fat percentages
BUT if you want to lose 10lbs for bikini season.... that's a different story.

itsuki

The article you linked to is about a study that was testing endocrine markers under VERY specific circumstances. They were undergoing Army Ranger training. They were exposed to many stresses including "sustained workload, inadequate sleep [an average of 3.6 hours per day, the article goes on to say], and thermal strain."

These are NOT normal circumstances that you or I or anyone on this website would be in while trying various diets. Any results that the article concluded should not necessarily be considered for people who do not fit the description of those who participated in the study. These men were in "starvation mode" (a net of 1000 calories, lower than the 1200 standard) not because they were eating 1.5k calories and exercising 500 and not eating back the exercise calories, as is often the case when people post on these forums. They were burning around 10,000 calories in a day. It's a bit different.

On top of this, the article actually says that in the study there were"overall reductions in
metabolic rate," (aka metabolism goes down) which is exactly why people say you should avoid starvation mode when trying to lose weight.

I was not able to listen to the podcast, but my guess is they may have taken some liberties with their analysis of that article.

So yes, the article does say you can lose weight if you net less than 1,000 calories per day. The article also says you do this by being awake for 20 hours, exposing yourself to extreme temperatures, and doing extremely intense physical activities for hours on end. Taking this information and therefore assuming that a person who is NOT going through ranger training will have similar results netting 1,000 calories per day might not be correct.

That said, weight loss certainly is different for everybody! I'm sure many people net 1k calories per day and have great success. But I just wanted to point out that that article actually does more to suggest that starvation mode is real than it does suggesting it's a myth.