After 48 hours without food, your body runs out of glycogen to power the two organs that need it the most: red blood cells and the brain. As carbohydrate stores run low, protein and fat become the dominant sources of fuel. However, our body can only store 1–2 days’ worth of glycogen (the body’s carbohydrate stores), which, if not replenished, is quickly used up to maintain blood sugar.Īfter several days of undereating, the body switches to energy-conservation mode, meaning your metabolism slows way down, making you feel tired and edgy. As well-nourished individuals, we do carry enough stored fuel to meet our needs for 1–3 months in the form of muscle tissue and fat. On the other hand, going without food for several days or eating less than the calorie minimum for weeks to months puts you at risk of malnutrition. We also go anywhere from 4–8 hours without eating when we skip meals during life’s busier moments. Our bodies were actually designed to handle short-term fasts, like when we don’t eat for eight hours during sleep. Fasting is commonly practiced on a timescale of several hours, but while the term has earned itself a bad reputation from notorious fasting or “detox” diets (think: cayenne pepper diet), fasting for weight loss can be safe. The difference between fasting and chronically undereating (which can lead to starvation) is a matter of duration. WHAT REALLY HAPPENS WHEN YOU CHRONICALLY UNDEREAT? These minimums, based on recommendations from the National Institutes of Health, ensure the majority of us trying to lose weight do so safely and get enough essential nutrients from food to prevent malnutrition. To prevent this, MyFitnessPal automatically has a minimum daily calorie goal of 1,200 calories per day for women and 1,500 calories per day for men. In fact, regularly eating too few calories can put you at risk of malnutrition, resulting in unhealthy weight loss and nutrient deficiencies. In the case of healthy, sustainable weight loss, more restriction doesn’t always lead to better weight loss. The logic is sound for most healthy adults, but we can also take that logic too far. As long as you eat fewer calories than you burn, you should lose weight. We all know that calories matter a lot when it comes to weight loss.
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