Negative Diet Effects: How Limiting Calories Limits Your Health

So, you’re looking to lose weight. Maybe that cute dress is just a little too snug again, or you’re doing it for health reasons. So sure, it seems like an easy system. Number of calories eaten<number of calories burned. Consuming less calories then expended should lead to weight loss right? Simple as that, isn’t it?

Well, it’s not as easy as it might seem. First of all, if you don’t eat a certain number of calories—it changes, depending on the person, but it’s pretty universally agreed on that the number should exceed 900 calories—every single day, your body goes into starvation mode. And it’s as bad as it sounds. Your body will storing fat instead and guess how? It will start turning muscle into fat. It also slows down metabolism, restricting the number of calories burned. It’s doing this because your body literally thinks you are in danger of dying. Sure, weight loss may happen, but part of that may be because of the loss of muscle, which weighs more than fat. So weight loss may happen, but it’s not necessarily the weight loss you may be looking for.

According to a study at the University of Alabama, when losing weight a decrease in metabolism and muscle loss is always going to happen—it’s why losing weight at the beginning is so easy. However, this can be directly combated by exercising, specifically with weights. So the path to healthy weight is eating non-processed food, going easy on the salt, and having plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Sure, eating less than before can definitely help in the weight loss process. But if you’re hungry, and wondering whether or not to eat a pepper? Eat the pepper. Just because someone looks thin doesn’t mean they’re healthy. It’s health that’s important, not weight.