How Starvation Affects Your Body and Mind

Let’s consider what happens to your body and mind when you’re starving by looking at the similarities between participants in the Minnesota Starvation Study and individuals with eating disorders.

There’s a very popular research study that is often referenced in the nutrition and fitness community. In the 1940s, researchers wanted to determine what happened to the body during semi-starvation. For the Minnesota Starvation Study, they looked at 36 young and healthy participants. For the first portion of the study, they fed them 3,500 calories per day — a normal diet at the time. Then, for the next 24 weeks, they put the participants on what they called a semi-starvation diet: They cut their calories to 1,570 calories per day.

As nutritionist Elaina Efird, RDN, CD, CEDRD, CSSD explains in a YouTube video for The Kahm Clinic, a lot of people reference this study for the wrong reasons. They simply draw the conclusion that individuals can lose weight by drastically cutting their calories — which is, of course, true. In fact, these participants lost an average of 25 percent of their body weight during the study timeframe. “What they don’t talk about, though, is the psychological impact and the adoption of unhealthy food behaviors caused by starvation,” Elaina explains.

The Psychological Impact of Starvation

Psychologically, there was a negative fallout for these individuals. Compared to their mindsets at the start of the study, most of the participants developed a preoccupation with food. They obsessed over what they ate, constantly talking about it and even “reading” cookbooks. They also experienced concentration issues when trying to focus on something besides food. 

Additionally, participants became isolated and socially withdrawn, feeling a lack of confidence in their ability to engage with family and friends. Along these same lines, they reported a decreased interest in communicating or being with people in general. They also reported a decrease in sex drive and an increase in symptoms of depression. “Researchers noted that the only time participants showed a positive emotional reaction was when they were discussing their weight, their food, or their hunger,” says Elaina. 

It’s important to note that this psychological impact looks very similar to what we see in individuals with eating disorders. Some studies have even compared the results of the Minnesota Starvation Study with reports from eating disorder patients, and the findings match up. 

The Adoption of Eating Disorder Food Behaviors

Participants in the study showed notable changes in their food behaviors. They licked their plates in an attempt to eat every crumb. They also cut their food into small pieces in an attempt to make it look like there was more food on their plate. They would even spread it around and play with it. They would then eat their food very slowly, taking hours to finish a single meal.

Furthermore, they adopted two habits in an effort to quell their hunger cues: gum chewing and smoking. In between meals, they excessively chewed gum — to the point where they experienced jaw soreness! Researchers even had to limit the amount of gum available. “That’s a very common eating disorder behavior,” explains Elaina. Additionally, they started smoking tobacco, even though they were previously non-smokers.

During the rehabilitation phase of the study — when they resumed a normal daily diet — participants began to engage in binge eating and purging behaviors due to newly-developed, severe body image concerns. These habits lasted for up to five months after the study ended.

“To summarize, participants developed eating disorder behaviors after being starved because, when they were starved, eating disorder and body image concerns bubbled up,” Elaina shares. “We often talk about that idea: When you’re under-eating, your obsession with food, your depression, and your anxiety all increase, which can make that eating disorder voice even louder.”

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