You remember when you were a kid and you’d complain about some physical issue and Grandma would insist that you eat something? We all assumed she was just embodying the stereotype, but it turns out that Grandma may have been more onto something than we originally perceived.
Undernutrition is something that may not sound like an issue, as most people in modern society suffer from overeating, but it’s a problem that may be affecting you more than you think – especially if you’re always on the go or dieting.
However, not consuming enough food can translate to some fairly significant health concerns and daily discomfort. Here are some of the top signs that you may not be providing your body with enough nutrition:
We’ve ALL been there. You’re only halfway through your day and already you feel like curling up on the couch and staying there until noon the next day. This isn’t your body telling you it needs a Redbull or a latte, this is your body simply saying that it doesn’t currently have enough calories to properly sustain itself.
Though it varies from person to person, on average the body needs somewhere around 1,000 calories a day to function. Depriving your body of those 1,000 calories will slow you down and make you feel lethargic.
Men aren’t the only ones prone to losing their hair, it’s just that women don’t lose quite as much. While what you’re eating is often more important than how much you’re eating, proper calorie intake can be a factor in why you’re losing more hair strands than normal.
It may seem obvious that craving food is a sign of not eating enough, but craving food and not eating it isn’t always a good thing. Studies done on reducing calories found that doing so actually acts as a sedative for hunger-suppressing hormones and increases hunger signals by 18%. In other words, if you reduce your calorie intake, it will only send signals to the brain compelling you to eat way more.
Located in the brain, the hypothalamus and pituitary glands work to regulate hormonal balance and reproductive health based off of the signals it receives from the body. If the body is undernourished, it will impair the ability to tell the brain how to regulate these hormones, which in turn will present a hinderance to fertility. If you’re trying to get pregnant, consume balanced meals for ideal conditions!
While overeating can lead to sleep issues, depriving your body of food can have the same results. Studies have indicated that people who go on strict diets experience difficulty in falling asleep and maintaining deep sleep, as well as creating low moods.