What exactly is happening when your body enters “starvation mode” ?

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If the body needs calories to survive, how can it go into starvation mode and slow down the metabolism? I hear of people trying to lose weight who can’t because they aren’t eating enough calories. Does your body shut down certain systems? If there is a base minimum, how can “starvation mode” change that on a biological level?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Short version: The body’s metabolism slows down. This results in a loss of energy and general lethargy. Slow thinking, slowed reactions, general malaise and lack of energy. Tired all the time.

The body begins to consume fat stores. Once those are gone, it begins to consume muscle tissues. The body begins to shut down nonessential functions. You begin to have serious issues with your kidneys and liver as they weren’t designed for this.

Your eyesight begins to go. You’re sleeping all the time. You eventually get reduced to skin and bones. You suffer brain damage. At this point, any kind of physical trauma can result in shock and then death. If you survive to this point, you’ll go to sleep soon and everything shuts down and you die.

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