What is a starvation? It’s a dietary intake below what’s required for survival. Essentially, starvation means your diet fails to provide your body with enough life preserving energy, nutrients and vitamins. Eventually, the effects of this unhealthy deprivation are extreme malnutrition, organ damage and finally death.
Following a diet of starvation is not an easy task because your body has mechanisms designed to compel you to seek food. Unfortunately, there are uncontrollable circumstances wherein starving to death does occur, such as:
- coma
- stroke
- poverty
- depression
- lack of food variety
- gastrointestinal disease
- eating disorder ~ bulimia, anorexia nervosa
- obtaining food situation ~ famine, war, natural disasters, overpopulation
Starvation Diet Symptoms
A very noticeable sign of starvation is emaciation caused by the wasting effect. Being emaciated is abnormal leanness due to your body breaking down adipose tissue, muscle and eventually organ tissue for energy. Starvation symptoms that occur because of an unsustainable existence may include:
- edema
- irritability
- weakness
- skin rashes
- dehydration
- muscle atrophy
- cold intolerance
- chronic diarrhea
- dry, cracked skin
- trouble swallowing
- difficulty concentrating
- lowered body temperature
In the final stage of a starvation diet, you may experience convulsions, hallucinations and excruciating muscle pain symptoms. Generally, death ensues from a starvation within 3 months.
Starvation Effects
Besides the wasting effect of starvation, nutrient and vitamin deficiencies cause numerous consequences as well. Some of the effects caused when a body is starved are:
- anemia
- hepatitis
- blindness
- arrhythmia
- heart failure
- gum disease
- osteomalacia
- retarded growth
- immune deficiency
- repeated infections
- poor wound healing
- blood clotting issues
- blood forming problems
- nervous system function decline
- digestive problems caused by reduced stomach acid
- vital organ shrinkage & function loss ~ heart, lungs, ovaries, testes
After being on a starvation diet for a long period you’ll likely need to gradually reintroduce solid foods because your stomach and intestines may otherwise labor to digest it. And although you may consume some food, your body can still be starved because your diet has a shortage of energy, nutrients and vitamins.
A calorie restriction diet is not the same as starvation, albeit you may feel as if you’re starved on this diet. The goal of a restriction diet is maintaining an energy deficit, while consuming adequate life required vitamins and nutrients.