Dieting Kills Your Metabolism
Most people know that if you want to lose weight, you need to put your body into a calorie deficit. At the most basic level this means you need to burn more calories than you take in. With this in mind, many people make the HUGE mistake of cutting way back on calories so much that it actually lowers their metabolism. I’ve heard of people bringing their calorie intake down to 800 calories a day which frankly is absurd.
While cutting down on calories will work in the short term, in the long term you’re doing more damage than you know. When you deprive your body of the calories and nutrients it needs to function, your brain will eventually kick in to survival mode. It will lower your metabolism in an effort to prevent you from starving to death. The scientific term for this is adaptive thermogenesis which basically means your body adapts to burn fewer calories based on what you’re taking in. And here’s the kicker, once your metabolism slows down, it may not ever be restored to its normal function. A study published in The International Journal of Obesity found that low-calorie diets led to a 15% slow down in metabolism long term.
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