Re: What is a starvation diet?

Some points;

I think what you mean (and what is typically meant) by the term starvation diet is a VLCD (very low calorie diet), which if pursued for long enough will eventually lead to death, think anorexia.


Malnutrition means exactly that: Poor Nutrition. So someone can be hugely obese but still malnourished and perhaps suffering from nutritional deficiencies.

Even a very poor typically Western diet will provide all the nutrients that a human being needs, namely Carbohydrate (for energy) Protein (essential amino acids for muscle synthesis and repair) and fat ( necessary as contains certain essential nutrients (linoleic / linolenic acid for example).

A calorie is simply a unit of energy and if you eat too many they are stored in the form of fat, whereas consumption of too few calories will lead eventually to emaciation and death. Your BMR (basal metabolic rate) determines how many calories you need simply to stay alive (maintain blood pressure, transmit nerve impulses etc) whereas how active you are determines how many more calories you need.

The key, as always, to diet is BALANCE. Although the benefits of Water Fasting are extolled it is not possible to fast forever so you need to adopt a balanced diet: some protein, some carbohydrate and some fat. Studies have shown that calorie restriction (up to 60%) can prolong life (Robert Walford) provided all nutrients are available, this is often referred to as CRON (Calorie Restriction with Optimum Nutrition) and much information is available on the web.

Don't quite agree with Fonty obout the difference between total fasting and consuming only a few calories per day: I think that if you are only eating for example an orange a day then the body will draw on its reserves to make up the calorie deficit, just as when fasting. To me a very very low calorie diet is not too dissimilar to fasting.

John.

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