6 Dieting Lessons From a Classic Starvation Study That Matter To You

What you should know when you drastically cut calories

“It happened again,” exclaims my client. She tells me she’s had another dream about cheesecake. She laughs it off, as she’s dieting to meet her goal of weighing under 200 pounds for the first time in a decade. I tell her it’s normal to become preoccupied with food (even dreaming about it) when you’re semi-starving.

We can anticipate the cheesecake dreams now, but seventy years ago scientists didn’t fully understand the psychological and physiological effects of caloric-restriction (especially extreme dieting). Much of what we know about living in a semi-starved state comes from an experiment completed at the University of Minnesota in 1944.

Thirty-six conscientious objectors to WWII who wanted to serve their country without taking up arms walked into a laboratory for a year-long experiment. Ancel Keys, the lead investigator, sought to explore how individuals would be affected physiologically and psychologically by a limited diet (people were starving all over Europe). They hoped to learn how to rehabilitate people after famine and wartime deprivation.

The healthy men spent 12 weeks eating around 3,500 calories per day (considered the caloric balance needed to maintain weight). Then, for the following six months, they were served two meals a day for a total of 1570 calories. As a result, they lost approximately 25% of their weight. The final three months of the study included a rehabilitation period where they gradually increased calories.

While the study may not be ethical according to today’s standards, it gave the world tremendous insight into what happens to people living in a semi-starved state. If you think you’re not starving on a diet and lessons from the study don’t apply to you, think again.

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