Eating Less Without Going Short

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cofactor · 1

Protein During Deficit
During a cut you can eat fewer calories, but do not skimp on protein. The usual advice is 1.6–2.4 g per kilogram of body weight a day: with enough, more of the weight you lose comes from fat; with too little, muscle goes along with it.

regulates · 1

Adaptive Thermogenesis
If a calorie deficit costs you muscle, your resting metabolism drops with it. After weight loss the body also saves an extra slice of energy on top of that, which is called adaptive thermogenesis. Together they make each further kilogram harder to lose. For the same deficit, eating enough protein and strength training shift more of the loss toward fat.

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Stop 1/5

Calories drop, nutrient needs don't

EVIDENCEREVIEW 1

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When you cut back on food, you cut only one thing: fuel. Vitamins and minerals are not fuel. They are tools: the small part set into an enzyme, the iron atom in a red blood cell that holds on to oxygen. How many sets of tools you need depends on how many cells you have and how often they are replaced. It has nothing to do with how much you ate today.

So dieting opens a gap like the blades of a pair of scissors: calories go down, but nutrient needs barely do.

Cutting from 2000 kcal to 1400 kcal a day shrinks the basket that carries your nutrients by 30%The need has not moved at all, so every bite has to be denser than before to carry the same nutritionIf the basket is still filled with empty-calorie foods, you fall short of micronutrients in proportion
The trouble is that you cannot feel it. Hunger has its own alarm; a vitamin shortfall does not. The gap is paid out of the body's stores first, and only when the stores run low do you notice anything.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.

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Eating Less Without Going Short

Story

Connected to · 2

cofactor · 1

Protein During Deficit
During a cut you can eat fewer calories, but do not skimp on protein. The usual advice is 1.6–2.4 g per kilogram of body weight a day: with enough, more of the weight you lose comes from fat; with too little, muscle goes along with it.

regulates · 1

Adaptive Thermogenesis
If a calorie deficit costs you muscle, your resting metabolism drops with it. After weight loss the body also saves an extra slice of energy on top of that, which is called adaptive thermogenesis. Together they make each further kilogram harder to lose. For the same deficit, eating enough protein and strength training shift more of the loss toward fat.

Read full story

Stop 1/5

Calories drop, nutrient needs don't

EVIDENCEREVIEW 1

READ THE ORIGINAL

When you cut back on food, you cut only one thing: fuel. Vitamins and minerals are not fuel. They are tools: the small part set into an enzyme, the iron atom in a red blood cell that holds on to oxygen. How many sets of tools you need depends on how many cells you have and how often they are replaced. It has nothing to do with how much you ate today.

So dieting opens a gap like the blades of a pair of scissors: calories go down, but nutrient needs barely do.

Cutting from 2000 kcal to 1400 kcal a day shrinks the basket that carries your nutrients by 30%The need has not moved at all, so every bite has to be denser than before to carry the same nutritionIf the basket is still filled with empty-calorie foods, you fall short of micronutrients in proportion
The trouble is that you cannot feel it. Hunger has its own alarm; a vitamin shortfall does not. The gap is paid out of the body's stores first, and only when the stores run low do you notice anything.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.