Food Deprivation-Why It Doesn't Work

Today I wanted to talk a little about the 2nd principle of Intuitive Eating. In their book, Tribole and Resch call this principle 'Honor Your Hunger.' The basic idea of this principle is to keep your body adequately fed and to learn to recognize the first signs of hunger (before that hunger becomes excessive). I remember the first time I read this chapter of the book while in inpatient treatment. The part that stuck out to me the very most was the description of a starvation study conducted during World War II. I completely related to everything described and it was a very enlightening experience. I came to a total realization and understanding of the biological and psychological consequences of trying to starve myself for all the years of my eating disorder. 

World War II Starvation Study

The study was conducted by Dr. Ancel Keys, for the purpose of helping famine sufferers. There were 32 participants who were all men. These men were chosen because of their "superior mental and physical health." The men were studied for the first three months while they practiced their normal eating habits. During the next 6 months of the study, their calories were cut down to an average of 1570 calories per day and they were required to lose 19-28% of their weight (Resch, Tribole 2012). Here are some of the shocking side effects these men experienced:

• Metabolic rate decreased by 40%
• They became obsessed with food (heightened cravings, talking about food, collecting recipes)
• Eating styles changed (at times the men gulped down their food very quickly and other times they would draw out meal time for hours)
• Several men couldn't adhere to their diets and reported episodes of bulimia
• Some men flagrantly broke diet rules. One man ate several sundaes & malted milks, and even stole penny candy. Another 'lost control' and ate several cookies, a bag of popcorn, and 2 bananas.
• Some men exercised for the sole purpose of getting more food rations
• Personalities changed (apathy, irritability, moodiness, and depression)

(Resch, Tribole 2012)

The Refeeding Period: After the 6 month starvation part of the study, the men were allowed to eat how they pleased. I found this to be one of the most interesting and telling parts of the study. It took the men an average of 5 months before being able to normalize their eating to what it was before the study. During that time their "hunger was insatiable." They had weekend binges where they would consume between 8,000 and 10,000 calories. This type of behavior had never been observed in any of these men prior to the study. Remember, they were chosen because of their "superior mental and physical health" (Resch, Tribole 2012).

Another thing that was so shocking to me about this particular study was the fact that these men were eating an average of 1570 calories during the starvation portion (Resch, Tribole 2012). Now, granted I am a woman and women usually need less calories than men. Still, the fact that this number seemed so high for a 'starvation study' and the men experienced such severe side effects was shocking to me. Many of the diets people participate in these days contain significantly less calories than this. In my eating disorder there were times that I would go days with absolutely NO CALORIES. When I did allow calories, the intake was so low it could never have sustained me and I only allowed calories from "good" foods. Then I would wonder why after doing 'so well' on this type of restriction (for a certain amount of time) I would ALWAYS end up uncontrollably bingeing and purging. I truly thought I had some character flaw that caused me to binge. I never stopped to consider that what I was experiencing was the result of me trying to override one of my most primal and necessary drives as a human being. It cannot be overridden. You may be able to temporarily suppress it, but you will suffer the backlash and consequences of doing so. Our bodies were divinely designed by a master creator. We all have several mechanisms that drive us to seek out the necessary calories and energy we need to survive and thrive. Our creator also put in place mechanisms to help us survive periods of famine. The body cannot distinguish between a person that is truly living through an actual famine and a person that is experiencing a self-imposed famine through dieting. The same biological responses happen in both cases: decreases in metabolic rate and increases in the brain chemicals that drive hunger, specifically Neuropeptide Y-the 'carbohydrate craver' (Resch, Tribole 2012). Now, I want you to stop and think about this for a minute. Think about a time when you went hungry. This could be a time that you dramatically cut back on calories or carbohydrates for a diet, or it could be a time where you just couldn't eat for some other reason (ie fasting before surgery or a procedure, being away from food for an extended period of time, etc). Did you obsess about food during this time? How did your body react when you came off your diet or when you could eat normally again? How intense were your cravings for carbohydrates? Did you eat more than usual?....Failing at a restrictive diet has NOTHING to do with willpower, and EVERYTHING to do with our primal and biological drive to eat. PERIOD.

Let's go back just a little bit to the 'refeeding period' of the starvation study. The fact that it took these men 5 months (on average) to normalize their eating shows that there are not just biological consequences to dieting and starvation, but psychological ones as well. Resch and Tribole state that "the psychological terror of hunger is profound." This 'terror' can have lasting effects on a person's psyche. In the book it mentions that orphans adopted from poor countries will often obsessively smuggle and hide food. There are also a large number of survivors of Nazi concentration camps who are now obese. Hunger from dieting may not be as 'terrifying' as being starved for reasons out of your control, but the psychological results are very similar. Chronic dieters often binge in-between diets, as they fear they will not be able to eat certain foods or certain amounts of food again (Resch, Tribole 2012). In recovery, I went through my own 'refeeding period.' As I have mentioned before, I struggled a lot with binge eating early on. Even after being in recovery for several months, and having my body biologically fed, I still suffered the psychological effects of starvation and dieting. I was still obsessed with food, and still felt the need to eat as though it may be my last meal. Getting through this part of my journey will be discussed in later posts as I explain the other principles of  Intuitive Eating.

What 'honoring your hunger' looks like in my life...
The principle of honoring your hunger has become etched into my very being. After working so hard to get through the biological and psychological consequences of my eating disorder, I never EVER want to go through those things again. This principle goes right along with rejecting diet mentality for me. Now that I have experienced what it feels like to not be controlled by food, I would never want to compromise that for a diet or a return to my eating disorder. I've become very in-tune with my hunger signals and what my body is craving. Some days I am more hungry so I eat more. Other days I am less hungry so I eat less. It's as simple as that. I try to never let myself get ravenously hungry, and I always allow myself to eat until I am satisfied. I've learned to trust my body. I trust that it knows what and how much it needs. This does not mean that I am perfect at this principle, or any of the principles of Intuitive Eating for that matter. That's the beauty of this process, it doesn't have strict rules to follow. It is meant to be a learning process. One thing that I do have to be extra careful with in applying this specific principle, is to not use a temporary loss of appetite as an excuse to restrict. There have been times in recovery where I have completely lost my appetite. It usually happens when I go through periods of deep stress. It can be easy to slip into a mind set of justifying restricting myself since I don't feel hungry during these times. I've learned that I must use a second person (my husband) to keep me in check, and make sure that I am getting enough food and nutrients until my appetite returns.

In Conclusion...
If you have ever felt like a failure because you couldn't stay on a diet, I want you to think about the men in the study I discussed above. Think about what dieting did to them. Think about the biological mechanisms that you tried to override while dieting. Think about the other 95% of dieters who 'failed' too. See that your own 'failure' with diets has nothing to do with your character or willpower. See that you are not a failure, but a human being created by an all-knowing Father and that is definitely a good thing.

Sources

Resch, E. & Tribole, E. 2012. Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works. St. Martins Press: New York, NY.