Starvation vs Hunger

STARVATION mode is a state in which the body is responding to unhealthily low caloric intake levels. The body becomes more efficient at using energy and burns lean tissue and muscle in order to conserve fat reserves. That process is also called catabolic damage. If one's goal is weight loss, cutting calories below a certain level is both dangerous to one's health and counterproductive.

Ordinarily, the body responds to reduced caloric intake by cleansing itself of toxins and burning fat reserves first, and only consumes muscle and other tissues when those reserves are exhausted. Specifically, the body burns fat after first exhausting the contents of the digestive tract along with glycogen reserves stored in muscle and liver cells. Then, if these sugars are depleted, the body will burn the actual muscle tissue. People who practice fasting on a regular basis, such as those adhering to caloric restricted diets, can prime their bodies to abstain from food without burning lean tissue.

HUNGER is a feeling experienced when one has a desire to eat. The often unpleasant feeling originates in the hypothalamus and is released through receptors in the liver. Although an average nourished individual can survive weeks without food intake,] the sensation of hunger typically begins after a couple of hours without eating and is generally considered quite uncomfortable. The sensation of hunger can often be alleviated and even mitigated entirely with the consumption of food. Hunger is also the most commonly used term to describe the social condition of people who frequently experience, or live with the threat of experiencing, the physical sensation of hunger.