The Science of "Starvation Mode"

Amy11108

So correct me if I am wrong, but this is how I understand it. These people were on a low calorie diet for 2 years, and the only effect on their metabolism was there was a 180 calorie reduction in their daily expenditure? 65 of which was from fidgeting? Sounds like most people are overestimating the effects of being in starvation mode.

MinimalistShoeAddict

So correct me if I am wrong, but this is how I understand it. These people were on a low calorie diet for 2 years, and the only effect on their metabolism was there was a 180 calorie reduction in their daily expenditure? 65 of which was from fidgeting? Sounds like most people are overestimating the effects of being in starvation mode.

This is correct and one of my primary points! The effect of "starvation more" is greatly exaggerated, particularly when applied to obese individuals with an abundant energy supply (of body fat).

It is worth emphasizing however that this study used solely overweight individuals. People who are underweight/normal weight to begin with have more to fear because they will run low on excess fat to burn and will lose lean body mass much more quickly than someone who is obese. There is no question that an underweight person will suffer far greater harm (and slowing of metabolism) than an obese person on a very low calorie diet.

Amy11108

So correct me if I am wrong, but this is how I understand it. These people were on a low calorie diet for 2 years, and the only effect on their metabolism was there was a 180 calorie reduction in their daily expenditure? 65 of which was from fidgeting? Sounds like most people are overestimating the effects of being in starvation mode.

This is correct and one of my primary points! The effect of "starvation more" is greatly exaggerated, particularly when applied to obese individuals with an abundant energy supply (of body fat).

It is worth emphasizing however that this study used solely overweight individuals. People who are underweight/normal weight to begin with have more to fear because they will run low on excess fat to burn and will lose lean body mass much more quickly than someone who is obese. There is no question that an underweight person will suffer far greater harm (and slowing of metabolism) than an obese person on a very low calorie diet.

Well thank you for posting that is very interesting! My husband went bariatric surgery, and his doctor told him the starvation mode (as we refer to it) was a myth but I never saw or looked for any evidence to back it up.

joleenl

Excellent response. Thank you for responding to the content of my post and not the citation format!

I actually agree with everything you said. Learning portion control and calorie approximation is absolutely essential to the sustainability of any diet over the long run. Yo-yo dieting is not helpful for anyone and people need to work with a plan that will lead to a lifestyle they can maintain once their weight goals are achieved.

Excellent post. Thank you.

I just want to add one tiny thing (aside from starvation mode):

I think obese/over weight people who enter diets that extremely low calorie diets, should also consider the substainability of the caloric intake. Many people that eat at extremely low caloric intake do end up undoing their weight-loss and sometimes even gain more back by binge eating. My advice eat at a manageable deficit for slow and steady weight-loss. In the slow process we teach ourselves portion size and calorie approximation which are valuable tools for long term success.

No problem, I just understood the message you were trying to convey.

Thanks for understanding mine. Honestly, when I re-read my posts, I can't believe how bad my grammer is. I am an educated individual but you'd never know it by my writing skills. One of my profs said it was because my brain thinks faster then I write or in this case type.

suzscott72

The conclusion of this thread is that if you read Wikipedia then you will go into Starvation mode.

I find it funny how this topic of this thread has turned into an academic debate on proper citations instead of a discussion about the actual studies referenced.

My goal was not to debate citation format, but provide some well organized resources that contain citations to scientific studies for those that wanted to learn more.

Well said!