Why do people keep saying that if you eat too few calories, you metabolism will slow down and ...?

Question

you will store fat, instead of losing it? I knew a guy who ate like one cracker a day and lose a lot of weight (he was 400lbs) in MONTHS, not years. And i had a female friend who ate 200 calories per day, going from 220lbs to 116lbs in months, not years.

Answer 1

That's not dieting, that's starving. Your body needs certain minerals, vitamins, fat & water to function properly every day. You can not get them from a cracker - not even if you put a multi-vitimin on top.

Our bodies have a natural response to famine - it's a survival mode where it slows the metabolism. Your friends may have lost weight but I guarantee you they were not healthy when arriving at the bottom rung. They may have caused themselves lifelong health issues by using these diets.

When you hear the same statement coming from several sources, your should think there's something to it.

Answer 2

There is great variation in people -- one thing doesn't work for everyone.

In general, your body tries to adapt to its environment and circumstances. Often, when you severely cut down on calories, your body kicks off a "famine response" -- it reduces your metabolism thinking food is going to be short for a while, so it had better lower metabolism in order to survive longer off the reserves it has stored. That often results in an initial rapid weight loss, followed by a much slower one as the body adapts. It happens at different rates for different people -- and those who have a LOT of reserves (fat) often have a much-delayed famine response. That response is how literally starving people can survive for months or years on very few calories, and in general it's a *good* thing.

You'll usually see a slower but more constant weight loss by just cutting down moderately on calories instead of dramatically -- going from, say, 2000 per day to 1500 per day. If you accompany the calorie drop by exercise to keep your metabolism up, you'll usually get less of a famine response and you'll keep up a constant, moderate weight loss.

Answer 3

because it is true. while a starvation diet will indeed lose weight, it is not the kind of weight you want to lose. What happens in that situation is one where the body will conserve fat tissue and literally burn and consume muscle tissue. Muscle, being denser, weighs more than fat, so yes, weight loss occurs, but what you end up with is malnutrition, gall bladder disease, poor muscle tone, heart disease, and a high body fat. Not only that, once you reach a goal weight and start eating normally, the body will store every single calorie and your weight will bounce back up, usually higher than when you started. Much safer and longer lasting to eat sensibly, lose the weight over time, and it stays off while you become healthier and better toned.

Answer 4

people say it because it is a fact....the body is trying to preserve itself because it is lacking food....ur examples are not relevant...they are losing weight because they are taking in less food, but they are still burning calories!! it would be much healthier to eat 2000 calories a day but burn 3000 per day...its called exercise..

Answer 5

Those people were not healthy when they lost that weight and probably had tons of health problems even though you didn't hear about all of the bad things that happened to them.

Answer 6

It is dangerous for your heart and organs, they might not feel anything now, but when they get older they might have problems. The safest way to do this is 2-3 pounds a week.

http://www.HerbUrHealth.net
http://www.Lose-itnow.net

Answer 7

Sensing danger, your body will start to conserve fat instead of actually burning it.