Anorexia and metabolism

Question
If not eating food will cause your metabolism to slow down thus not losing weight, how is it possible for anorexics to lose weight so fast? They hardly eat yet some of them drop 30 or more pounds in only one month. I've heard people say that it's just muscle but after awhile they are actually losing fat as well. How is this possible if their metabolism is so low? Thank you.

Answer
Rose,

The slowing down of metabolism due to calorie restriction is overrated. During first 72 hours of complete fasting the resting metabolic rate goes way up. During this time, the body's energy homeostasis is being rearranged so body fat becomes the only supplier of alternative fuel for all body organs including the brain, the ketone bodies. Only when body fat depots are exhausted, the protein in the muscles begins to burn to produce new glucose to fuel the bodily processes.

Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric disease so it's a special case a part of which is that calorie deficit causes an exaggerated reaction to endorphins that are normally released in response to fasting, for example, during religious fasts, people experience elation due to the endorphins.

Tanya Zilberter

1. Prev:Estrogen to progesterone ratio diet
2. Next:A complete water fast, 72 hours and longer?