One of the biggest half truths in the world of weight loss is the condition called “Starvation Mode”. Is it real? Let’s look at the facts!
What is starvation mode?
You hear about starvation mode on fitness blogs where people and experts explain that if you eat less than a certain amount of calories for an extended amount of time, that you will stop losing weight.
Is this true?
YES, sort of.
Here is the science.
Our metabolism is made up a variety of factors. This includes our thyroid, digestion, non-exercise activity thermogenesis (a fancy term for heart beating, breathing, blinking), activity, and lastly our lean muscle.
Believe it or not, the amount of lean muscle you have is most likely the largest driver of your metabolism. Each pound of lean muscle burns 10 calories per day. If you have 100 pounds of lean tissue, you burn 1000 calories a day just by having that muscle.
So what happens when we go TOO low on calories?
Our body starts using energy stores as energy. This is fat AND muscle. Every 10 pounds of muscle we burn is another 100 calories off of our metabolism. This starts to cause our metabolism to crash.
Another interesting point is that when we eat less, our body offsets some of our metabolism due to less calories being consumed.
Then our body starts going into “TRUE SURVIVAL MODE.”
True survival mode is when the body slows down internal processes to lower your metabolic rate. Your brain will be foggy, your core body temperature will decrease, your pulse will lower, and your respiration will decrease. This is so your body canbstart conserving energy.
Don’t believe me? Check out the Minnesota Starvation Experiment.
Minnesota Starvation Experiment
The study will never be repeated again. In this study during World War II, 36 volunteers were starved over a period of 6 months.
The calorie in vs. calorie out theory would have predicted each volunteer to lose 76 pounds during the 6 months. They only lost 37 pounds on average. Why?
Side effects of the study:
- Significant decrease in stamina and strength
- Core body temperature dropped.
- Heart rate dropped
- Sex Drive dropped
- Depression, hysteria, severe emotional distress
- One subject self amputated 3 fingers with an axe.
- Large decrease in metabolism
The body will conserve energy (fat/muscle) to increase perceived longevity of survival. Results showed that resting metabolic rate decreased by 40% during this period, drastically decreasing the amount of fat burned during the 6 month starvation.
Do you need to eat more to lose weight?
Not necessarily “more” food needs to be ate to lose weight, but there is definitely a “sweet spot” of how much food is needed to optimize weight loss, but it isn’t just calories. Protein, activity, water, vitamins and minerals, gut health, hormone optimization, and stress all play positive and negative effects on our metabolism, however you can use them to your advantage!
I suggest downloading the 1st Phorm app to help calculate safely how many calories and protein is needed to optimize fat loss.
Summary
What the Minnesota Starvation Experiment shows is that starvation mode is real, and that the body will do anything to survive, even if it needs to conserve energy by reducing brain capacity, breathing, heart rate, and core body temperature.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment