Introduction

Under-eating and extreme dieting has been normalized in today’s society. We often see people praised it as signs of great self-desaline and health. However, this is just a glorifed issue is detrimental to your health.

Being under your caloric maintenance for a long period of time will cause various health issue and disrupt your hormonal health as well. Your body does not have enough calories or energy to support your basic bodily functions. This can affect people of all ages, sizes, and gender, even if they look inherently “healthy” if they are undereating, they aren’t at a stable state.

Hormonal Disruptions and Menstrual Irregularities

No periods

One of the most common effects from chronically undereating or underfueling yourself is  Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (HA). This is a condition where your reproductive organs, overories, stop ovulating because there is not enough energy to support its needs. Therefore, it resorts to shuting this organ down in order to conserve energy for your “more” essential organs like your urinary system/ digestive system. This also indicate that your hormones are imbalance and out of wack.

Impact on Reproductive Hormones

Your key reproductive hormones such as estrogen, luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) will dip tremendousely. These hormones don’t just affect your period, they affect your entire body. Estrogen controls your cardiovascular health and mental health. Additiaonlly, having low LH and FSH will pause ovulation, making you infertile. Even if you don’t want any kids, having no period is a sign your body is not functioning correctly, affecting your hormonal health.

Bone Health Complications

Reduced Bone Density

When you undereat, your bone health also decenigrates. Estrogen decreases while your cortisol, stress hormones, increases. One of the roles of estrogen is maintaining bone strength, so when it is low due to energy deficiency, bone formation slows down.Cortisol also speeds the process of bone degradation. Tese two factor, acting together will reduced bone mineral density, making you more prone to injuring or fracturing your bones. This can lead to osteopenia (low bone mass) or osteoporosis (brittle bones).

Metabolic and Thyroid Effects

Lowered Metabolic Rate

Whne you are undereating, your thyroid hormones will be affected, especially triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4).  These hormones control you metabolic health. In order to conserve eneryg, your body lowers T3 and T4 levels, causing fatigue, cold intolerance, sluggishness, and difficulty concentrating. Your metabolism slows down to also conserve your energy.

Impaired Growth and Development

This mainly applies to adolcendents, teens and younger ages. During your growing age, you need fuel and energy to develop. Undereating will disrupt growth hormone levels while supressing your hormones. This will stunted growth and delayed puberty, and delayed development of secondary sex characteristics. This will prevent the individul to grow into their full height potential and properly develop. 

Mental and Emotional Impact

Mood Changes

Undereating will affect neurotransmitters in your brain,such as serotonin and dopamine, causing higher levels of anxiety, depression, mood swings, and brain fog.

Food Preoccupation

When you are not fueling yourself enough, your body will ocnstantly send hunger cues as a natural survival response. This will cause obsessive thoughts about food, eating, and body image, which will be mentally draining on the individual. This will consequently create an unhealthy mentality associated with body image and food, something that is suppose to be a enjoyment in life.

Other Physical Health Consequences

Immune Suppression

Eating less will make your immune system weak, causing your body to become weak and less tolerant to viruses or other illnesses. You might experience tiredness all of the time as well as coldness. 

Digestive Issues

Since your digestive system is not being put to work as often, it is slowed down. This results to constipation, bloating, and abdominal discomfort. The reason for this is because lowers gut motility means a decrease in production of digestive enzymes.

Hair, Skin, and Nail Changes

You are not receiving all of the nutrients and victims you need if you are undereating. This will cause fair lost, dry flaky skin, and thin bittle nails. There isn’t enough energy to fuel and properly build these body parts, weakening them.

Long-Term Health Risks

Cardiovascular Complications

• Low blood pressure 
• Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias)
• Dizziness
• Fainting
• Weaken the heart muscle

Conclusion

Summary of Key Takeaways

The dangers of undereating should not be glamorized by societal beauty standards. They are detrimental to human health and paints a terrible image of what is “healthy”. Not eating enough food means you have an energy deficiency, which could be life threatening. Undereating causes imbalance hormones and period loss to weakened bones, slowed metabolism, mental health struggles, and cardiovasulcar risks.

It is so important to nourish your body, and to block out the negative and normalized harmful dieting culture in today’s society. Your health is so much more important than how much you eat or what that weight says. Do not link your self-worth to some numbers and embrace who YOU are naturally, without trying to mold yourself to someone you’re not. Priorize your health, not a dangous lifestyle.

Resources

• Cleveland Clinic: Hypothalamic Amenorrhea – Causes, Symptoms & Treatment
  
• ACUTE Center for Eating Disorders
  
• Lara Briden: Are You Eating Enough to Get a Period?
  
• PMC: Hypothalamic Amenorrhea and Long-Term Health Consequences
  
• Verywell Mind: Eating Disorders and Hypothalamic Amenorrhea
  
• Equip Health: Amenorrhea and Eating Disorders