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What Happens When You Eat 1,000 Calories A Day?

I wanted to point out an article that looks at the compensations with low-calorie diets in detail.  It is free full-text, and here is a portion from the abstract:

“For the first time we show that in free-living conditions, CR results in a metabolic adaptation and a behavioral adaptation with decreased physical activity levels.”

This is something that doesn’t get mentioned much with low-calorie diets.

So here are three things that will happen when you eat a 1,000 calorie diet (represented by LCD (low-calorie diet) in this study):

  • Your metabolic rate will slow.

The paper discusses this in some detail.  (There was no real slowing in the CR+EX group though.  In this group, it was a relatively minor calorie restriction of 12.5%, combined with an activity increase of 12.5%.)

  • You will lose both fat mass and fat-free mass.

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  • You will move less.

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It doesn’t seem like calorie restriction goes along with the “Let’s Move” campaign by Michelle Obama!

So here’s a question: how is moving less on a daily basis healthy?  It’s not.  Yes physical activity fell in all groups except those who were required to move via their study group (CR + EX).  And this decreased movement was a direct result of calorie restriction!

To me, this study shows that giving a 1,000 calorie a day diet to a sedentary person is a recipe for disaster.  They will end up with a lowered metabolic rate (independent of lean mass), loss of lean mass, and they will actually move less.

So why is this becoming the de facto option in mainstream diet books??


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