Thin Privilege

Some days I might only consume 600-900 calories or so. The body can alter its metablism and shift more of it the brain, where it really counts. As long as you still get the essential nutrients. It costs energy to digest and metabolize food so there is a curve of diminishing returns up to a certain point. The brain uses about 20 watts (a pretty damn high efficiency for such a powerful computer), so it only needs about 400 calories a day. If it needs more due to intense intellectual activity then it will take what it needs from various energy stores which can be replenished later. It prefers pyruvate(-) as its preferred energy source which can be manufactured from pretty much any energy source. The brain also likes lots of choline and b-vitamins, and glutamate, as well as various other amino acids &c.

If i eat a big meal before an exam my brain efficiency falls as most of the energy is shifted to metabolizing food. I could go on and on about the evolutionary mechanisms behind some of this, but I'm not a biology major and it'd just be ... too much, and some of it might be wrong.

Caloric restriction has been shown in several studies to prolong life and slow aging.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/273/5271/59

 

The common fruit fly is one thing (for that matter you can include rats and mice) but a study done at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) raises questions as to whether it applies to humans and closely related mammals.

Scientists have found that calorie restriction—a diet comprised of approximately 30 percent fewer calories but with the same nutrients of a standard diet — does not extend years of life or reduce age-related deaths in a 23-year study of rhesus monkeys.


Hotwater

 

When you say metabolic issue, that is kind of vague. What metabolic issues exactly are you referring to? I assume you're referring to blood sugar dysregulation and insulin resistance.

While it is true some people do have issues with their metabolism, it is not going to prevent them from losing weight if they are in a calorie deficit, though they may lose it more slowly and have a harder time keeping it off..

Basically people who have metabolic issues like this need to first work on normalizing their blood sugar by eliminating refined carbohydrates and sugars. This is where low carb diets really come in handy. Medicine only masks the problem, unfortunately.

Most of the metabolic issues that exist today, which were unheard of 30 years ago, are the result of poor diet. In order to reverse the damage caused by poor eating habits, you need to change said eating habits.

 

If I change my eating habits anymore I will be starving my self and actually that is what caused the issue in the first place. Actually I have hypo thyroidism not diabetes. It didn't come from eating junk food by my choice. When I was younger my parents would feed me anything and forced me to eat everything they put in front of me. When I was about eight or nine they started to leave me alone and leave money for food. So therefore as a child I wasn't taught to eat properly then as I got older with my weight issues I started starving myself for the so called miracle weight loss according to Karen. It really messed my thyroid up. Both my mother and grandmother has this condition. It's not that I don't lose any weight it's that I have a really hard time losing weight. I have been vegitarian for quite a while and I've lost about 20 - 30 lbs, but it has taken me a long time to lose that weight. My metabolism is very slow, but it is increasing compared to what it used to be at least I think so.

 

Me too (however, my results for the past few months have been almost perfect).
What is your therapy and what supplements are you taking?

 

I thought I may have had a thyroid issue late last year. Rapid heart rates and loss of weight from not much.

 

They have me on thyroxin, as for supplements mainly iron. I was anemic.

 

That's some fun news

 

Lugol's iodine solution
probiotics
vit AD
vit B

You might wanna look into this.
It was all very helpful to me.

 

Thanks so much I will definitely check it out.