Are you eating enough calories on a daily basis? While many people are eating too much, many are actually eating too few calories. The fact is, our bodies have a minimum energy requirement that does no more than maintain one's vital functions while at rest.
This is called one's basal metabolic rate. If you regularly restrict calories then your body establishes a new, lower, metabolic set point.This essentially determines how fast your metabolism is.
By lowering your metabolic set point, you deposit fat more easily since your body can no longer burn excess calories as well as it once could. Other than allowing for a slower metabolism, here are some more serious side effects that can accompany restrictive diets:
- kidney damage
- liver damage
- dehydration
- muscle loss
- ketoacidosis
While the kidneys and liver ordinarily serve as complex processing plants, their normal functions can be compromised due to the muscle and organ tissue that has to be broken down just to maintain the basal metabolic rate.
This puts undue stress on the kidneys and liver which when left unchecked could lead to unbalanced pH levels in the blood. The broken down tissue comes as a result of the body's lack of blood sugar that comes from a proper, healthier diet and can become fatal if the restrictive diet is prolonged and extreme enough in its restrictions.
If you are curious as what a healthy caloric requirement would be, then use the calculator provided on the West Virginia Dietetic Association's website (http://www.wvda.org/calcs/fcals.htm).
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