We do not talk about what restriction (even a little bit) does to your brain.

Your emotions.

Your psyche.

Your stability.

A dieting brain is not a stable one.

Restriction is not kind to the brain.

The best documented example of this is from The Minnesota Starvation Experiment, an experiment that could never be replicated now because of humane scientific testing standards… but the information from the Minnesota Starvation Experiment SHOULD have prevented all restrictive dieting.

If we took any warning from the results of the experiment, nobody would diet.

Healthy and mentally stable men volunteered to be a part of this experiment near the end of World War II in order to help study the effects of starvation and learn about how to re-feed those who had been in famine.

After a control period of feeding them normally, where they ate over 3000 calories (NORMAL!) they then dropped their calories to 1570 a day.

1570 a day.

1570 a day!

These days, 1570 is a totally “normal” amount of calories to consume on a “healthy” diet. 1200-1800 is what we often read about consuming in Health Magazines for weight loss (and sometimes even “maintenance”. Gag me).

But 1570 calories in the 1940s was considered “semi starvation”. And it was. The men quickly became skeletal, but their mental effects were even worse.

Before I get into the mental effects, just remember, these men were being fed 1570 calories a day. Which is how much you have eaten a day on diets, and maybe even STILL ARE.

They immediately became obsessed with food. Thought about it all day. Started making rituals out of their food. Starting obsessively reading cook books for fun. Started displaying obsessive behaviors around food and other things.

They became anxious, mean, and impatient with one another.

They were extremely irritable if their meals weren’t served on time or if they had to wait too long for food.

Mental apathy took over, they didn’t care about any of the things they used to care about. No politics. No romance or sex. Just food.

They developed addictive behaviors with coffee and gum.

Despite their intense commitment to the study before it began, they began cheating and seeking out food outside the study compound.

One man really lost it, having vivid dreams of cannibalism, then after cheating and indulging off the study compound, he was confronted by the organizer and broke down in tears, threatened his life, and had to be sent to the psychiatric ward of a hospital, where he became fully normal again in weeks once amply fed.

One man chopped off his finger… not clear if it was on purpose or just because of mental fogginess.

The men also started thinking that they looked fat, and that everyone else looked thin.

Restriction alone caused body dysmorphic disorder.

These men who had been totally normal and healthy in every way pre-experiment, were now obsessed with food and their weight.

Restriction alone caused this mental dysfunction. And only feeding themselves again healed it.

(And this is just the mental side!)

Once the men started eating normally again, they were ravenous. Only eating many thousands of calories actually helped them start feeling better.

Many talked about feeling a hunger that was completely insatiable, no matter how stuffed they were.

Many of them said they experienced more anxiety during the re-feeding period than during the restriction period…

All because of restriction.

All because of only eating 1570 calories a day.

SO. What do you think your dieting and restricting is doing to your brain?

You’re nuts over food because of restriction.

When you restrict your food, even a little bit, the starvation response kicks in.

If you control your food, even just a little bit, the starvation response kicks in.

If you think you are going to restrict tomorrow or eventually “after you try this intuitive eating thing”, the starvation response kicks in.

If you feel guilty over what you’re eating, the starvation response can easily kick in.

It does not take much to trigger your body and brain into believing that there isn’t enough food and to trigger the starvation response.

When all you want is to lose or maintain weight, the starvation response is triggered.

Your brain and body are VERY connected when it comes to (everything… and) food, satiation, weight, hunger, and metabolism.

What happens when the starvation response kicks in?

You become fixated on food. You become hungrier. You binge. Food is all you can think about. Your metabolism gets slower. You become moody. You can become more obsessive. You can gain weight “just by thinking about food”.

That’s why eating anything and everything is essential to get to normal eating and repaired metabolism.

Mental Restriction

You cannot disassociate your brain from your body. What you think you are ingesting can actually affect what your body does metabolically.

Bingeing and feeling “out of control” around food, are often caused by actual physical restriction. Not eating enough food.)

But just as often it can be caused by just mental restriction, which is: guilt over eating, “I should cut back tomorrow”, “I really shouldn’t be eating this”, “this has got to end”, “i can’t eat like this forever”, “i’ll be good soon.” Last supper mentality: I am going to eat everything in sight now because I may never let myself again.

Because you’ve done it before, guilt over what you are eating can cause the body to expect you to deny it soon, which triggers the starvation response, which triggers food obsession.

See?

Guilt or control over what you are eating is directly sabotaging your desire to “control what you eat”. It is also directly in the way of you experiencing normal eating.

Fun Facts:

You do NOT have to be underweight to be experiencing the starvation response. If our bodies waited until we had lost lots of weight it would be a very flawed system.

Going even 5 hours in between eating can temporarily trigger the starvation response.

If you are still bingeing, you are most certainly physically or mentally restricting.

2000 calories is almost never enough food.

Read this article about The Minnesota Starvation Experiment.

Restricting is NOT giving you what you want. Letting yourself eat again will make you wanna eat the whole world. You have to lean into it, trust it. Trust that your body knows how to heal from this physical and emotional famine you’ve been on.

The only way out is through. (Robert Freaking Frost!)

When people start trying to eat normally, they almost always have to go through a phase of craving and eating things they used to think were “bad”, or things that are not generally considered “healthy”.

And it freaks. them. out.

What’s wrong with me?! Is this just proving I’m a glutton? Is this proving my eating is broken? Is this just proving that I am the one person who won’t do this right? This is PROOF I need a diet!?

No. It’s just proof that you were in a starvation state before (even if you weren’t underweight or physically restricting. YEP! Because you don’t have to be underweight to be metabolically compromised, and you don’t even have to under eat to trigger the biological starvation response, you just have to “mentally restrict”.)

Most people who are gravitating towards my site have enough knowledge or pseudo knowledge about nutrition to last them a few lifetimes.

That’s why any talk of nutrition here is pointless. The issue isn’t that you don’t know enough about nutrition, it’s that you know too much. And your knowledge has royally fucked with your happiness and ability to listen to your body.

Nutrition these days can be so limiting, restrictive, and fearful. All we tend to focus on is what’s bad. What we should avoid. And, voila: eating disorders.

That’s why my view on nutrition is this:

Nourish yourself.

Nourish yourself with fruit. With vegetables. With Dairy. With Sugar. With Carbs, complex and simple. With Meat. With Greens. With Soup. With Butter. With Sea Salt. With Sweet Potatoes. With Pasta. With Sauerkraut. With Brownies. With Ice Cream.

These foods are healing.

If you think that sugar and carbs and fat and calories and weight are still bad for you, you have a few things to read. Read Health at Every Size. Read In Defense of Sugar.

If you’re allergic or sensitive to certain foods, trust that you can honor that while not restricting. It’s all about self care.

Real, beautiful food is healing. Calories are healing. Vitamins are healing. Minerals are healing. Sugar is healing. Meat and broths and stews and starch are healing.

We need food. We need filling food. We need good, delicious, salty, nourishing food.

And all that processed or “fake food” you’re still scared of still serves a purpose.

It is liberating.

Processed food is emotional freedom. Processed food is “Fuck it, I don’t need to be the healthiest eater on this planet. Look where it’s gotten me anyway: nowhere.”

So stop worrying about toxins and all that “bad food”. Your body was built to handle that stuff. It was NOT built however, to constantly feel like it doesn’t have enough. Jk… it was actually. It’s called starvation mode. And it’s not good for you.

Remember these key points:

1. Less is not better. You need food. If you are afraid you can’t trust your hunger, stop. Trust your hunger and food desire above all else.
2. Eat things you love and want. If you truly do that you will be amazed how much your cravings and tastes do change and lead you right!
3. Celery is not better than pie. Seriously. Celery is not better for you than pie. Pie has way more nutrition in it. Celery just has some vitamins and minerals. Apple pie has vitamins and minerals, and way more calories, protein, fat, and carbs, which are necessary to nourish you. Celery is not better for you than pie. Kale is not better for you than ice cream. They are all good for you.

Ok, fuck it. Bye!