Starvation mode is a myth, so why do we keep saying it exist

ucalegon

Seriously, stop it.

Starvation mode ("Starvation response" if you want to research it) only exists for males with 5% body fat or less and females with 10% body fat or less.

A link with cited sources:

http://fitnessblackbook.com/main/starvation-mode-why-you-probably-never-need-to-worry-about-it/

Via Wiki:

Starvation mode is a state in which the body is responding to prolonged periods of low caloric intake levels. During short periods of caloric abstinence, the human body will burn primarily free fatty acids from body fat stores. After prolonged periods of starvation the body has DEPLETED ITS BODY FAT and begins to burn lean tissue and muscle as a fuel source.

(emphasis mine).

You should eat a caloric deficit that's comfortable for you regardless of the numbers.

BrianSharpe

Oh my, what did we do before wikipedia......

Did your sources that say it's ok to drop to whatever level of calories also tell you that going below 1000 calories a day should only be done under medical supervision because of other potential health complications ?

Perhaps the term "starvation mode" does get overused but the fundamental science behind recommending a minimum of 1200 cal a day for women and around 1500 per day for men is sound. Extreme diets fail for 90%+ of dieters using them as they do not encourage the adoption of healthy eating habits that can be sustained for a lifetime.

theroadto100

Eh, I disagree, I've had my own personal experiences with it. I have an ED, at once point I dropped down to a few hundred calories a day and lost nothing at all and even put on a few pounds. Now I'm sure if I had continued down that path for an extended period of time, I would have ended up losing weight, but at first I definitely put some on.

tigersword

Seriously, stop it.

Starvation mode ("Starvation response" if you want to research it) only exists for males with 5% body fat or less and females with 10% body fat or less.

A link with cited sources:

http://fitnessblackbook.com/main/starvation-mode-why-you-probably-never-need-to-worry-about-it/

Via Wiki:

Starvation mode is a state in which the body is responding to prolonged periods of low caloric intake levels. During short periods of caloric abstinence, the human body will burn primarily free fatty acids from body fat stores. After prolonged periods of starvation the body has DEPLETED ITS BODY FAT and begins to burn lean tissue and muscle as a fuel source.

(emphasis mine).

You should eat a caloric deficit that's comfortable for you regardless of the numbers.

*sigh*

Famine response is real, and has absolutely nothing to do with catabolizing muscle vs burning fat. It's a hormonal response (by the thyroid) that slows your metabolic rate to match your caloric intake, in order to survive the perceived famine due to severe caloric restriction. Also, fat burning is slow, and when you exhaust glycogen supplies during intense activity, your body will switch over to breaking down amino acids, because those can be converted to glucose faster to replenish glycogen supplies. Oh, and there wasn't a single citation in the article you posted.

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

Sorry but I also disagree especially your last sentence "You should eat a caloric deficit that's comfortable for you regardless of the numbers". Also I don't think your source is a reliable one. If that would be true then the human race have died long time ago & we are now just a bunch of dinosaurs now.

I know there are a lot of conflicting tips and advice on fitness which really drives my nuts but articles such as that source should be taken with a grain of salt. It is why it is important to consult a RD or any experts on that matter & not just relying on some online stuff that even an 8 year old can edit.

crazytreelady

If I'm not hungry, I'm not going to eat. Plain and simple. Eating when you are not hungry is a big no no, so if I'm below whatever calorie goal I may be pursuing... I don't really give a flying f**k.

tigersword

If I'm not hungry, I'm not going to eat. Plain and simple. Eating when you are not hungry is a big no no, so if I'm below whatever calorie goal I may be pursuing... I don't really give a flying f**k.

Hunger is a hormonal response that can be trained. If you consistently under eat, you will train your body to not be hungry.

skinnylove00

^because **** like this happens when you eat under 1200 cals a day for a long period of time. i also havent had my period for over a year because i decided to get restrictive so.....yeah. my body pretty much was shutting down from the lack of cals.

crazytreelady

If I'm not hungry, I'm not going to eat. Plain and simple. Eating when you are not hungry is a big no no, so if I'm below whatever calorie goal I may be pursuing... I don't really give a flying f**k.

Hunger is a hormonal response that can be trained. If you consistently under eat, you will train your body to not be hungry.

Ya, but that hasn't happened to me. I've been doing quite fine the past year. I'm healthy and happy. I get that there are people who starve themselves, but people need to quit acting like they know everything when it comes to not eating below the magical number of 1200.

skinnylove00

@Pu_239 yes i am doing a lot better...i am actually eating about 1700 cals a day now haha and i feel much more energetic than ever! of course i have my days where i feel obese but its so much better than those horrid restrictive days where i was utterly miserable. lol when i say `obese` i mean that lightly...i know i am not obese but its hard to totally get rid of those thoughts, you know?

Lift_hard_eat_big

Seriously, stop it.

Starvation mode ("Starvation response" if you want to research it) only exists for males with 5% body fat or less and females with 10% body fat or less.

A link with cited sources:

http://fitnessblackbook.com/main/starvation-mode-why-you-probably-never-need-to-worry-about-it/

Via Wiki:

Starvation mode is a state in which the body is responding to prolonged periods of low caloric intake levels. During short periods of caloric abstinence, the human body will burn primarily free fatty acids from body fat stores. After prolonged periods of starvation the body has DEPLETED ITS BODY FAT and begins to burn lean tissue and muscle as a fuel source.

(emphasis mine).

You should eat a caloric deficit that's comfortable for you regardless of the numbers.

So if I'm at 5.1% bf I have nothing to worry about? Suh-weet!!!

jcr85

^because **** like this happens when you eat under 1200 cals a day for a long period of time. i also havent had my period for over a year because i decided to get restrictive so.....yeah. my body pretty much was shutting down from the lack of cals.

Probably because you were below 10% body fat...but what I think OP is saying that people on this site misuse that term constantly and by no means is there a magic caloric number you need to meet everyday just a general one. If you can slow your metabolism so dramatically by always being below your BMR how come your can't speed it up by eating 4000 calories... genetics play a bigger role in your metabolic rate than your diet.

thejen75

Oh my, what did we do before wikipedia......

Did your sources that say it's ok to drop to whatever level of calories also tell you that going below 1000 calories a day should only be done under medical supervision because of other potential health complications ?

Perhaps the term "starvation mode" does get overused but the fundamental science behind recommending a minimum of 1200 cal a day for women and around 1500 per day for men is sound. Extreme diets fail for 90%+ of dieters using them as they do not encourage the adoption of healthy eating habits that can be sustained for a lifetime.

AGREED.

christenwypy

I have seen a lot of studies saying it is a myth also. Some people fast two times a week for weight loss with no reverse effects. I am not saying anyone should fast but I think at my weight with all my stores fat, if I am 100-200 calories under I am not going to go into starvation mode. There are no fat starving people out there. Watching the show "Survivor" even where their calories are drastically reduced- those people lose a lot of weight! They do not hold onto their weight because of starvation mode. I am no expert. I might be wrong, but that is my gut feeling based on what i have read.

Aineko

Seriously, stop it.

Starvation mode ("Starvation response" if you want to research it) only exists for males with 5% body fat or less and females with 10% body fat or less.

A link with cited sources:

http://fitnessblackbook.com/main/starvation-mode-why-you-probably-never-need-to-worry-about-it/

Via Wiki:

Starvation mode is a state in which the body is responding to prolonged periods of low caloric intake levels. During short periods of caloric abstinence, the human body will burn primarily free fatty acids from body fat stores. After prolonged periods of starvation the body has DEPLETED ITS BODY FAT and begins to burn lean tissue and muscle as a fuel source.

(emphasis mine).

You should eat a caloric deficit that's comfortable for you regardless of the numbers.

I'm starting to think that critical reading of scientific studies should be a mandatory subject in PRIMARY school and not something that only ppl in science grad schools are thought.
here is my response from one other thread referring to the same study:
"what if it's exactly this extremely high level of physical activity that kept them from inducing starvation mode responses (loss of muscles)? Their training can be EXTREME (my partner is an ex army officer) and "I do P90X twice a day" doesn't even come close to it. Plus, based on what I heard from my partner about his officer training, these guys/girls don't exactly have three meals a day - their regime includes a lot of IF-like periods (like having time to eat only once a day when in a field and similar), and we all know - fasting -> growth hormone -> protection of muscle mass. I mean, it makes sense: your body won't get rid of what you need for as long as it can. If you use your muscles heavily, body will preserve them as long as it can (until it hits a minimal level of body fat required to survive). Your body doesn't know if you are just dieting and exercising a lot or are you in a middle of a famine and use all this physical activity just to find that little food you are getting.

Now, I noticed that ppl here can be extremely polarized about this. The starvation mode sceptics tend to think that if you mention starvation mode you must be saying that someone will start losing their muscles if she skips breakfast or goes without food for 48h. That's certainly not what I'm talking about (actually I think that IF sounds like a great and very logical thing). I'm talking about metabolic response to a prolonged, very high calorie deficit (but not high enough to kill you) - how high is "very high" and how long is "prolonged" depends on things like your starting weight and your genetics. Women who live on 700cal a day for years without being able to lose weight would probably disagree with the statement that most of us don't have to worry about it."

if you go and read more studies on caloric restriction (CR), you will see that loss of lean mass is well documented even in low CR diets. seems that he only way to keep your muscles while on CR is to use them (start lifting, people).

darkmouzy

not this again *face palm*

aproc

Seriously, stop it.

Starvation mode ("Starvation response" if you want to research it) only exists for males with 5% body fat or less and females with 10% body fat or less.

A link with cited sources:

http://fitnessblackbook.com/main/starvation-mode-why-you-probably-never-need-to-worry-about-it/

Via Wiki:

Starvation mode is a state in which the body is responding to prolonged periods of low caloric intake levels. During short periods of caloric abstinence, the human body will burn primarily free fatty acids from body fat stores. After prolonged periods of starvation the body has DEPLETED ITS BODY FAT and begins to burn lean tissue and muscle as a fuel source.

(emphasis mine).

You should eat a caloric deficit that's comfortable for you regardless of the numbers.

'seriously, stop it' as in putting this kind of information up encouraging people to eat as low as they want. =/ I bet you did sooo much research, right?
While the whole 'starvation mode' is overused, it is still very important to keep up a certian amount of calories. Going too low can only do more harm than good. =/

christenwypy

I agree with not dropping too low because calories are needed for bodily functions. But I think if I eat 1200 calories rather than 1400 I will be fine and still drop weight, especially if I am not even hungry.

Sumo813

I wish I was allowed to use WikiPedia as a source for my papers. :sad:

skinnylove00

^because **** like this happens when you eat under 1200 cals a day for a long period of time. i also havent had my period for over a year because i decided to get restrictive so.....yeah. my body pretty much was shutting down from the lack of cals.

Probably because you were below 10% body fat...but what I think OP is saying that people on this site misuse that term constantly and by no means is there a magic caloric number you need to meet everyday just a general one. If you can slow your metabolism so dramatically by always being below your BMR how come your can't speed it up by eating 4000 calories... genetics play a bigger role in your metabolic rate than your diet.

eh, i would disagree. 1200 already has a deficit worked in. your brain alone needs about 500 calories to function properly, plus your organs need to run sufficiently since 70% of the cals you consume is JUST to keep the essential body parts running (liver, kidneys, brain function, etc). 10% of the calories you eat are burned through digesting the food, and the rest in burned through your physical activity. so, 1200 cals a day seems like a good diet for a bed ridden child but as for a full functioning and active young lady like me, eating anything lower than that for a long period of time REGARDLESS of my body fat % is starvation and i dont care what anyone else says.

mzhokie

all i know is when I dropped below a net of 1200 calories.... I stopped losing weight. I went weeks without losing anything because there was one to two days in the week where my calories were 1000 or less. I was eating low calorie foods, not hungry and thinking this was a good thing.

Then I did some reading, decided I should see if eating more would help..... dropped weight every week after my first week of getting between 1200-1400 net calories every day.

I have no clue if it's a myth or not.... but eating more helped me lose weight and I'm not as grouchy. Win Win all around.

karinaes

Seriously, stop it.

Starvation mode ("Starvation response" if you want to research it) only exists for males with 5% body fat or less and females with 10% body fat or less.

A link with cited sources:

http://fitnessblackbook.com/main/starvation-mode-why-you-probably-never-need-to-worry-about-it/

Via Wiki:

Starvation mode is a state in which the body is responding to prolonged periods of low caloric intake levels. During short periods of caloric abstinence, the human body will burn primarily free fatty acids from body fat stores. After prolonged periods of starvation the body has DEPLETED ITS BODY FAT and begins to burn lean tissue and muscle as a fuel source.

(emphasis mine).

You should eat a caloric deficit that's comfortable for you regardless of the numbers.

can you seriously stop encouraging people to become unhealthy eaters. :noway:

Anyaaaa11

Wiki? Are you serious?

angng

I'm talking about metabolic response to a prolonged, very high calorie deficit (but not high enough to kill you) - how high is "very high" and how long is "prolonged" depends on things like your starting weight and your genetics. Women who live on 700cal a day for years without being able to lose weight would probably disagree with the statement that most of us don't have to worry about it."

~Raises hand~ I've been on a very high calorie deficit (at some points high enough to kill me if I'd continued) basically. . .all my life? And I certainly maintain/gain weight at this point.

And I agree that she was probably not less than 10% body fat: You have to look at the big picture. Anorectics and others who are on a high calorie deficit are robbing themselves of essential micronutrients. People with eating disorders (even at normal weight) can have seizures, hair loss, muscle wasting, etc.

This, of course, doesn't happen over night.

Iamjulez

I have seen a lot of studies saying it is a myth also. Some people fast two times a week for weight loss with no reverse effects. I am not saying anyone should fast but I think at my weight with all my stores fat, if I am 100-200 calories under I am not going to go into starvation mode. There are no fat starving people out there. Watching the show "Survivor" even where their calories are drastically reduced- those people lose a lot of weight! They do not hold onto their weight because of starvation mode. I am no expert. I might be wrong, but that is my gut feeling based on what i have read.

I think the point alot of people are trying to make is HEALTHY vs. LOSE WEIGHT QUICK SCHEME. You can lose weight quickly using a number of unhealthy diets like atkins. But is it truly ok even if you are losing weight? I suppose anything is ok if you're doing it on a restricted time limit. It shouldn't be a lifestyle and if you're thinking of diving below minimal calories it should be done with the ok of your Doctor.

I also think that those kinds of diets turn people off of the healthy lifestyle they should be living by making changing your eating habits so negative that they either get an eating disorder or just quit altogether and go back to eating whatever they want whenever they want.

I think moderation is the key!

sleepytexan

If I'm not hungry, I'm not going to eat. Plain and simple. Eating when you are not hungry is a big no no, so if I'm below whatever calorie goal I may be pursuing... I don't really give a flying f**k.

Hunger is a hormonal response that can be trained. If you consistently under eat, you will train your body to not be hungry.

Ya, but that hasn't happened to me. I've been doing quite fine the past year. I'm healthy and happy. I get that there are people who starve themselves, but people need to quit acting like they know everything when it comes to not eating below the magical number of 1200.

You are young. There are many things that haven't happened to you yet. There are many people who do many things that are not really very good for themselves and they remain "fine". for a while.

Christina1007

I was eating 1200 and lost nothing for 3 months!!!! Needless to say how frustrated I was. Then I read here that I have to up my calories and calculated an amount that gave me a higher calorie goal. I started on that and guess what?!!! I started putting on a lot!!!! of weight.

Now I eat 1000 calories a day and started losing weight like crazy. So, no I don't believe in that either!

jakes1971

Threads like this saddens me , the most apt comment is this one:

Meanwhile, this is my fitness pal, not my anorexia pal.

sigh, if you don't look after yourself noone else will.

LondonEliza

Here is my experience of starvation mode.
I was anorexic for 3 years. Some days I ate an orange and a piece of toast and thought I was wonderful for it (more fool me)

In the short term (1-6) months eating under 800 or 900 cals a day:
Makes you irritable, grumpy and a pain to live with
Your breath will smell
Your face skin will dry out and/or you'll get spots
You will feel nauseous with hunger
You stomach will make noise all the time
You will lose hell of a lot of weight (up to 7lbs a week)

6 -12 months
Your period will stop
Your appetite will be gone.
You will have trained yourself to go without food.
Your energy will be non-existant
Your circle of friends will have whittered away as you fall out or cut out all of them in turn because of your eating
Your family will be in a panic about your appearance
Your weight loss will slow down to about 1lb a week (or less)
Your hair will thin

12-18 months
You are really ill now
You panic about your weight loss and drop down to 300-500 cals because some other anorexic on an internet forum said this worked for her
The other Anas on the forums are your only "friends" now
All your muscle has gone
The skin all over your body and your face will be in a shocking condition
You are cold all the time, a horrible soul sucking coldness that seems to come from within
Organ damage has started
Your hair will stop growing and may start to fall out

18 months +
As well as everything else above
The symptoms of mental illness appear (paranoia being the most common)
Irreversible organ damage may have started
Lumps of your hair will fall out leaving you with bald patches

After recovery:
Your body clings on to every calories like a dying man to a shipwreak and you put on weight. You think dropping back to your previous habits will lose it - it doesn't. What do you do then?

Those are the consequences of surviving on anorexic portions of food. Those are the ones I saw myself and others in real-life support groups go through. Some lived, some died. Those that lived took years to get over the consequences of our eating habits. That is the reality of eating half what a woman needs to survive on.

Do you know that anyone can edit wikipedia? Do you really want to ruin your life because someone thought it would be clever to justify their lifestyle choices by lying about the consequences of eating like this?

Is this really the path you want to go down? I am begging you now to stop before it is too late and you embark on a lifestyle that negatively shapes the rest of your life.

Right now, I am now losing 2lbs a week eating around about 2000 cals a day. I am happy, healthy and energetic.

Be smart before it is too late for you.

susannamarie

I was eating 1200 and lost nothing for 3 months!!!! Needless to say how frustrated I was. Then I read here that I have to up my calories and calculated an amount that gave me a higher calorie goal. I started on that and guess what?!!! I started putting on a lot!!!! of weight.

Now I eat 1000 calories a day and started losing weight like crazy. So, no I don't believe in that either!

WTF?

You have a 3-day stretch in December, a 4-day stretch in January and a 3-day stretch at the end of March where you actually ate 1200+ for a few consecutive days. Other than that you have at most two days in a row where you ate 1200+, and a pattern of alternating a few very-low days (and yes, you're under 800 a fair amount) with a higher day.

If you want to starve yourself and then binge, knock yourself out. But don't use statements that just plain aren't true to try and convince others to join you.

Christina1007

No one here is talking about anorexia!!! As I can see the OP is a very active person, doesn't have an eating disorder either!

All she is saying is that she doesn't believe in the starvation mode. It hasn't been scientifically proven to exist anyway.