Do you believe you can damage your metabolism by eating too

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo · April 2012

LOL I don't want to sound rude here but please get some education there lady. Its pretty obvious that you don't know anything about fitness but well I commend you for joining MFP, at least here you will learn more about proper nutrition and fitness.

EDIT: Sorry if I sound rude but I hate seeing such a misleading post like this that tend to mislead others who are trying their best to live a healthy life.

LizKurz · April 2012

Ooh, well, this would be a prime example then, of a preponderance of scientific evidence being ignored for no reason, other than a lack of "belief" in said scientific evidence.

hpsnickers1 · April 2012

Not true. I follow a very low carb diet and just watched my daily calorie burn take a jump. As long as you are getting enough protein/fat your body won't eat into your muscle mass. I make sure also to get enough protein so that if my body needs to make glucose it will from protein.

I also don't eat VLC processed crap. As long as you are giving your body the nutrients it needs your metabolism won't slow down.
"If you can't pick, dig or spear it, don't eat it. Mostly spear".
(gnolls.org)

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange · April 2012

HUH? Re-think that. What does your macronutrient composition have to do with the assertion that VLCDs cause a metabolic decline?

Are you on a high protein VLCD? Connect the dots for us because this makes no sense.

Improvised · April 2012

You can knock off the sarcasm, lady. There are plenty of scientists who are sketipcal of global warming, and or flatout call it a myth, I'm surprised someone as educated as yourself hasn't bothered to do some research on it. This isn't really the time or place to argue about it though, I suppose, since it's a thread about starvation mode.

MelV1 · April 2012

bump

LizKurz · April 2012

You know, I want to expound on this. The body, while being a very complex biomechanical machine of sorts, is built like a car, and like a car, you need more than gas. You need an alternator, a battery, gas, and spark plugs to make it go. You need oil to lubricate all the parts, so they don't lock up.

And just like a car, the body needs many thing to operate at prime capacity. You can give a car enough gas to get around, like putting food in your body, but if you don't put enough food of other RIGHT foods, and you don't get enough exercise, or enough sleep, if you aren't getting proper nutrition, well, you might not run out of gas in your car, but your alternator could go out, or you could lock up your engine or throw a rod by not having it lubricated properly.

It's not a simple "eat this, not that" and "eat less and less" ideology.

Eta for missing word.

Improvised · April 2012

Interesting. Hm. I've heard this too. What to do, what to do.

Improvised · April 2012

Double post, sorry!

jlewis2896 · April 2012

I'm proof positive that you can! I gained 12lbs while marathon training (not muscle, I LOST muscle mass...)

I am slowly trying to set things right again.

hpsnickers1 · April 2012

It was the lack of calories (and nutrition) that caused your metabolism to slow (not the lack of carbs. In the absence of carbs you have got eat plenty of fat and protein so your body gets the fuel and can maintain it's glucose level. People on VLC diet have higher than normal morning blood sugars. My belief is the is the body giving itself the glucose it needs to get through the day (this is just a thought I had. I haven't read that anywhere and have no idea it is fact. I could be entire wrong on the last sentence).

The only thing in your body that absolutely has to have glucose is red blood cells. That's it. Your brain can use ketones from fat-burning. You brain will also use L-glutamate for fuel. (This is a great supplement when you are trying to transition your body from sugar-burning over to fat-burning).

delilah47 · April 2012

I think you are just trying to start something. I hope people don't fall for it and we see more of the explanations that are archived in the forums hundreds of times.

LizKurz · April 2012

There was no sarcasm, I'm being quite sincere, and yes, I have done research, which is why I understand the science behind it. Notice I didn't say "believe"

And honestly, this topic is a mirror image of not "believing" the science behind metabolic decline on a VLC diet, so I think it's a perfect example to shed some light on just why people don't understand the science behind things like this.

o_delaisse · April 2012

^^^^ This. Thank you.

RikanSoulja · April 2012

I'm pretty sure he meant very low calorie diet not carb diet considering we are talking about starvation mode in this topic.

reneeramirez4christ · April 2012

Well, studying this in the medical field I have found that it causes more damage than just to one's metabolism. I find it sad that people under eat as a way to lose weight or try these insane fad diets and "miracle diets" to lose weight. None of gained all this weight over night yet we expect it to come off that way. Being healthy is the most important and to do that weight loss must be slow and gradual, and we need to give our bodies what it needs, a MINIMUM of 1200 calories a day.

Quiing · April 2012

About 72% of your body (brain, heart, lungs, especially the liver) requires a certain amount of calories just to function properly. 9 times out of 10, less than 1200 calories isnt going to cover it. And your daily activities (walking, cooking, typing on the computer, etc)? You need even more calories to feed those working muscles in the other 28% of your body.

So yes, eating too little calories can indeed impair the function of your organs in the longrun.

vjrose · April 2012

There have been ream upon ream of studies of "yoyo" dieters, folks who get their weight down using very low calorie diets, go back to eating normally, gain it back, repeat ad nauseum. It does a bit more damage each time and makes it more and more difficult to lose the weight so the diets become more extreme. In the end it usually takes a doctors care and lots of determination and skill to get it off and keep it off. A modest deficit "500 calories or so" from maintenance has been shown to be effective in permanent weight loss. Living at a 1,000 or more deficit for months has been shown to cause permanent changes in the subjects body that make it difficult to keep the weight off and metabolize food correctly. So yes in short burst or for the morbidly obese VLC diets do work. For a lifetime of health and fitness they don't.

However, you will not change the mind fo someone who says "I eat 800 calories a day, lose weight and feel great". They are seeing results, in our instant gratification world slow and steady is not considered acceptable by many young folks, they want to be skinny now and who cares what they look like when they are over 40, lol.

gettingthinandfit · April 2012

Honestly, when I ate less than 1200 calories consistently, I didn't lose weight, in fact I gained it and I lost muscle. So I do think my metabolism slowed down. I had less energy. AND when I upped my calories to 1200, I started losing weight. and gained the energy I need to build back muscle that I lost.

Proof

Meggles63 · April 2012

Considering that scientists are backing off, as well as admissions that evidence was skewed, I would contend that the skeptical attitude is the more knoweledgable one, quite frankly!

SteffieMark · April 2012

I'm with her!

WorkoutMaine · April 2012

Blindly following science is bad also. That's why the autism linked to vaccines scandal happened. Also if you look at the test sites for global warming you will stop believing in that too. When you put a thermometer in the middle of a blacktop parking lot it will show it is hotter in that area. Think for yourselves please.

hpsnickers1 · April 2012

I don't diet. VLC is my lifestyle. I don't track calories or macronutrients. I eat leafy greens and veggies on occasion. I'm 5'2" and 108lbs. I get probably around 60-100g of protein a day. I really don't know. I guess if the word diet is used then I follow a high-fat diet. I have to eat a lot of fat to maintain my weight.

I don't know if the question was for me.

and N=1.

LizKurz · April 2012

Bam, you hit the nail on the head. It's the instant gratification that skews the perception.

neanderthin · April 2012

If it wasn't true then slow downs in BMR's wouldn't show up in studies, but they do.

jkleon86 · April 2012

Oh about the "PETPEEVE" thread a few days ago I need to add.

"People starting a thread like this just to get something started."

'

Ncdaniel16 · April 2012

Agreed...This is suppose to be a support website...We shouldn't critique those who aren't as knowledged in certain subjects, just help them to gain information...

Hope everyone else is having a great Easter weekend though!!

LizKurz · April 2012

Skepticism is fine, but once evidence has been placed on the table, one has to weigh said evidence. And if the overwhelming majority of the evidence is pointing in a specific direction, saying "I don't believe" is simply burying your head in the sand.

Now with global warming, I get it, because of the socio-political benefits of certain companies and individuals who are benefiting, what I don't get is that no one is benefiting from the "belief" that a VLC diet is not only not harmful, but beneficial. They only lose out, so why the struggle with it?

jcgrant43 · April 2012

There may be a misunderstanding here with the acronym VLCD. I believe the gentlemen who initially posted was talking about a Very Low Calorie Diet, and @hpsnickers1 seems to have taken it as a Very Low Carb Diet, which is understandable, but are two very different things. Yes?

And to the OP...yes, starvation mode exists. It has always existed. Its how our species has survived times of famine, its how small children all over the world survive, when they are existing on nothing but air and prayers. All you ever have to experience is delivering rice to starving people, and watching them bloat and get sick with the rush of calories and carbs they haven't had for ages.....that madame is starvation mode.....there is nothing to believe or disbelieve, you can see it with your own eyes in too many places in the world.

XXXMinnieXXX · April 2012

*munching popcorn also*...

Do you believe you can damage your metabolism by eating too

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