116: The Minnesota Starvation Study

I’ve been referencing this study for awhile now and it keeps coming up in conversations with clients and colleagues. So I want to devote this episode to discussing the study, called The Minnesota Starvation Study. It was conducted by Ancel Keys in 1944 to 1945, during World War II, on 36 healthy male volunteers. Ancel Keys’ goal was to study the physical and psychological effects of what he termed “semi-starvation” because of the soldiers and civilians across Europe who were chronically underfed as a result of the war. The Minnesota Starvation Study is, to my knowledge, the only study of its kind which is partially why it is constantly talked about in weight loss and obesity medicine circles. And the results of the study are profound and important to discuss in relation to self-restriction of calories through dieting. 

Ancel Keys ensured the 36 male volunteers met specific criteria in terms of their health and baseline eating habits before joining the study. During the study, which took place over a full year, the men lived in a controlled environment and adhered to very strict guidelines regarding calorie intake, activity, and testing. For the first 12 weeks they were in a control period. Then they entered the 6 month semi-starvation period which meant they each only ingested half the amount of their daily calories from before. Finally, they entered a 12 week rehab period. The effects of the semi-starvation on the men included cognitive and emotional changes as well as medical and physical changes and some of the symptoms they experienced echo those suffered by people with disordered eating. Keep in mind that the men’s overall caloric intake was decreased to 1570 calories per day, which is still more than most diets recommend now. The enormity of effects on their minds and bodies, some of which lasted for years, brings up very real harm questions about the cost of the diets we willingly put our bodies through. I encourage you to join me in this episode and to give the resources a read.

About Dr. Michelle Tubman

Dr. Michelle Tubman is a physician and health coach. She helps women ditch dieting and thrive at any size. For the longest time she believed that weight loss was the answer to all her problems. But decades of yo-yo dieting and restriction left her miserable, unhealthy, and exhausted. Now she teaches women how harmful dieting can be and shows them the way to true health and wellness.

As a physician specializing in both emergency and obesity medicine, with additional training in nutrition, eating psychology, and coaching, Michelle can tell you with certainty that dieting is dangerous. Studies associate compromised health more with yo-yo dieting than higher body weight. Yet, everywhere you turn, shrinking your body is hailed as the solution. Women don't need to change. Attitudes do. So let's stop self-shaming, speak out against sizeism, and fiercely champion unconditional self-celebration!

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Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Ancel Keys
• “The Minnesota Semi-Starvation Experiment: What It Teaches Us About Eating Disorders” by Samantha DeCaro, PsyD
• “The Starvation Experiment” by Chantal Gil, PsyD

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Learn more about Dr. Michelle Tubman and Wayza Health:

• Website: www.wayzahealth.com
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