When a person is starving, his body slows its metabolism to protect itself. Without enough calories, you also feel tired and sluggish, which is your body’s way of discouraging you from burning extra calories.
Metabolic Rate
A starving body breaks down muscle for energy to preserve fat stores. Since muscle requires more calories to maintain, this both fuels your body and slows your metabolism.
Variables
Your body needs a certain number of calories to maintain brain function and other essential processes like circulation. Your minimum calorie requirement depends on factors like age, sex, ethnicity and weight. Initial health, activity level, beginning body fat stores, ambient temperature and hydration levels all affect how long you can live without food.
Time Frame
Your body can metabolize stored fat and muscle for several weeks before the signs of starvation set in. According to Professor’s House, healthy individuals can survive four to six weeks without food. Some concentration camp victims survived for months on 300 to 600 calories per day.
Malnutrition
Nutrition.com recommends that dieters eat no fewer than 1200 calories a day to cover their basic nutritional needs. For those who are on a calorie-restricted diet, complications from malnutrition instead of lack of energy are more likely to be fatal.
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