The Skinny on Starvation Dieting:
Specifically in Young Women
by Mike Nystrom
I will preface this article by saying that starvation diets are equally detrimental to all people, and the following information pertains to the vast majority of readers, however my title refers to the fact that this type of diet is far more prevalent in young women; in addition this article is for educational purposes.
I've been a health nut for about eight years now, and through the ups and down I've maintained one critical notion about fitness. You have to do what works for you. It's the key to the elusive bodybuilding physique, the sleekly proportioned female figure and everything in between. The sooner you realize that the techniques responsible for Dexter Jackson's or Jamie Eason's body, may not be the best for you, the faster you will on track to success. Different things work for different people; a combination of finding your most beneficial techniques, and using those techniques progressively will lead to your bodies promise land. UNLESS, your favorite technique is the starvation diet. This will only bring you heartbreak and health problems in the long run.
Credit: Vikki Wignall
A lot of people these days are after a quick fix when it comes to problems. Problems finding a job, making money, or even achieving your most desirable body. If you are struggling to find a job, furthering your level of education could be a reasonable solution. Need to make more money, staying at one job for a greater length of time will better your chances of increasing your pay. Getting the body you want is no different and it takes dedication and consistency. A starvation diet is a quick fix to a problem that requires more than a “quick” amount of attention.
What is a starvation diet?
A starvation diet can be summed up as a serious caloric deficit, where caloric intake falls below a persons BMR. (BMR = Basal metabolic rate – the amount of calories your body burns undergoing no stress or activity. Simple activities such as breathing, the contracting of the heart, and blinking your eyes.) These diets are also referred to as VLCD, very low calorie diets. “Starvation-type diets may involve either complete fasting or very-low-calorie-diets(VLCD) (<800 calories/day), often referred to as modified fasts.)” (1) If your daily consumption includes nothing but calorie free beverages (water, coffee, green tea) a balance bar and an apple all day long, you fall into this category and this is where you really need to start paying attention. This type of dieting is rarely appropriate, and those rare cases are usually concomitant with surgery preparation, and hospital supervision. The reasoning for this is very simple; diets of this nature are highly dangerous to the human body.
“A variety of complications may arise with the use of VLCD, including fatigue, weakness, headaches, nausea, constipation, loss of libido, kidney stones, gallbladder disease, decreased HFL-cholesterol, impaired phagocytic function of white blood cells, inflammation of the intestines and pancreas, decreases in blood volume, decreases in heart muscle tissue, low blood pressure, cardiac arrythmias, and even death.” (1)
This range of serious consequences should be enough to scare anyone out of a prolonged fast, but just in case, I will explain the human physiology and response to a very-low-calorie-diet.
Starvation dieting is like throwing a small pebble onto a snowy slope and causing an avalanche. While the effects aren't highly noticeable at first, and can even become appealing, the end result is often disaster. Persons that becomes accustomed to very-low-calorie-dieting often fall victim to another phenomenon known as Yo-Yo dieting. Yo-Yo dieting is characterized by long bouts of weight loss followed by similar bouts of weight gain. This takes a great toll on the heart and the bodies ability to properly regulate caloric necessity, and energy expenditure.
“Research has revealed that VLCD may lead to a decreased lean body mass, a decreased thermic effect of food (TEF), a decreased resting energy expenditure (REE) and an enhanced food efficiency (less energy wasted in processing dietary calories). In essence your body recognizes that it is being starved and it will attempt to conserve body stores of energy by reducing energy output. When you resume normal eating, these energy-conservation mechanisms may continue to function for some time.) (1)
This is a very powerful statement and should raise red flags through the roof for anyone trying to look better and lose body fat. Let's analyze this statement one portion at a time.
First, VLCD may lead to decreased lean body mass. Lean body mass is precisely what will help your body look better and work to burn more calories. Not only is mass lean and firm unlike fat stores, lean mass itself burns fuel. A rule of thumb is that it takes nearly 50 more calories to sustain a pound of lean muscle mass, than to sustain a pound of fat. Therefore, 10 additional pounds of lean mass will require an extra 500 calories just to sustain. Thats a whole meal for most people, just to keep that muscle and not lose weight. Of course anyone on a VLCD would not be able to add any muscle to their physique, and would in fact be using that very firm, beautiful muscle for fuel in place of the calories they aren't taking in through food.
Secondly, a decreased thermic effect of food; all foods have a certain thermic effect, and some are much higher than others. This thermic effect raised body temperature and metabolic levels sometimes for hours and hours. Decreasing that is one more way to burn less calories and keep more fat on your body.
Thirdly using this kind of diet will cause a decreased resting energy expenditure. Because you are giving your body such a limited amount of calories, and our body has such powerful self-preservation mechanisms, it will essentially be caused to stop burning fuel. By reducing resting energy expenditure calories just aren't burned at rest as the normally would be. You could equate this to your body being on sleep mode like a computer, and using as little fuel as possible; another point that should detest any dieter.
Fourthly a starvation diet will produce an enhanced food efficiency. This means that less calories will be used in the processing of the food you eat. This creates a huge problem where even foods of perfect macro nutrient combinations and portions will become excessive. This is more damaging when rebounding from a Yo-Yo diet because it will cause a person to be unable to identify the proper amount to eat. Eating the proper amount at the right time is paramount to sculpting your body.
Finally, In essence your body recognizes that it is being starved and it will attempt to conserve body stores of energy by reducing energy output. When you resume normal eating, these energy-conservation mechanisms may continue to function for some time. In this segment body stores can be equated to body fat, and no dieter wants to conserve body fat, they want to burn it. After resuming normal caloric intake all of these factors will stack together and may function for some time. That means lean body mass may still be lost after resuming a normal diet, a decreased thermic effect of food and decreased energy expenditure may still be present in addition too an increased food efficiency. All of these factors together, in addition to an appropriate calorie intake will almost certainly cause an increase in body fat.
The ultimate downfall comes from repeated Yo-Yo dieting of a starvation nature. A persons body composition will suffer. After many episodes of weight gain and loss a persons body fat will remain higher at the same weight. A 130 lb girl who has yo-yo'ed several times and may have began at 19 percent body fat may now be at 25 or 26 percent. This takes a toll on the overall look of your body even when you reach a desired weight. Women who eat very-low-calorie-diets often suffer from this dilemma. While there bodies may look trim and fit while clothed, their body fat is actually above average and skin can appear loose and flabby looking. I've known many girls that are thin looking when dressed but are in poor physical condition and soft to the touch because of poor nutrition. A prolonged caloric deficit , Yo-Yo dieting and low protein intake can all contribute to this problem. “Prolonged undernutrition is one factor in many of the cases of lower metabolism.” (2)
The most important concept to understand when looking at a starvation diet is that your body is literally consuming itself. Fat stores are an excellent source of energy, so when the body believes it is being starved it saves the minimal amount of calories being consumed as fats (leading to fatty deposits) and reverts to muscle tissue as fuel. Even clean foods such as chicken breast and green vegetables would be stored as fatty tissue after a long fast. As I stated before the body has very complex safety mechanisms, most dieters don't understand the actual goal of the human body when a deficit situation is created.
Credit: Hogbard
“The human body will shed a pound of muscle at the same rate for every pound of body fat. The reason behind this dates back to our ancient ancestors, hunters and gatherers. The human body is designed to lose muscle mass in an event of starvation. This is an internal safety mechanism that increases the human life span in case of famine. The genetic goal of the human body is to burn fewer calories, own less muscle mass, and have more body fat in case of famine. This is the way we have survived for thousands of years.” (3)
Your body can also resort to a process called gluconeogenesis wherein even quality proteins can be chemically converted to glucose in an effort to raise blood sugar in cases with an extremely high caloric deficit. Essentially a no win situation is created if you are trying to make your body look more appealing to the naked eye.
Now that I've discussed a range of issues involved with starvation dieting I want to take a moment to discuss where this idea comes from. This concept is used in young women more often than not, and I think it's worth noting that modern American society paints a grim picture of the way a young woman should look. “The poll of over 5,000 women for Grazia magazine found just one in 50 was happy with the way her body looks, with women wanting to lose an average of 19lbs.” (4)
Reading this poll was staggering. Is anyone happy with the way they look? When you look in fitness magazines, on television, anywhere you see beautiful people you have to realize that these looks are not readily achievable for the everyday person. It takes a certain amount of time and dedication that is only afforded to, well, people that make their living looking that way.
I've told everyone that I've ever trained with that when you go to the gym, walk down the street, or go out to the club its extremely important to not compare yourself to other people. Your body can only look as good as your body can look and it's important to remember that. I see men walking around everyday that eat brownies and cheeseburgers and look the same way I do at the end of 9 weeks of dieting; and that's fine.
You can only do everything that you can for your body, and I have never, ever...let me repeat that, EVER seen someone doing everything they could to look how they want to look outside of professional bodybuilding. So evaluate yourself closely, and if you want to see a change, then make one the right way. It will benefit your body and mind a great deal in the long run.
Dieting with a severe calorie deficit is very draining on the human body, and can become exhausting for physically, mentally, and emotionally.
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Source References
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-Williams, Melvin H. Nutrition for Health, Fitness, and Sport, Eight Edition. Mcgraw Hill, 2007.
-Coons, Callie Mae. Schiefelbusch, Anna T. The Diets of College Women in Relation to their Basal Metabolism. American Society for Nutrition.http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/5/5/459.pdf
-Johnson, Matthew. Starvation Diets & Fasting the Body. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/changingshape4.htm
-Women 'Have Constant Body Woes' BBC News. April 2006. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/changingshape4.htm
