Understand how to identify the signs and symptoms your body expresses when you’re not consuming adequate food.
Pressure, hectic lifestyles, sickness, sorrow, and the daily grind can affect us significantly. More precisely, they can impact our appetites and how our bodies manage hunger, often resulting in insufficient food intake. Moreover, many individuals aiming for weight loss may unintentionally reduce their food consumption or limit their intake to reach their objectives.
No matter the reason, inadequate food intake and depriving your body of essential nutrients can appear in forms that disrupt your metabolism and hormones, effects that may take longer to observe if you’ve been routinely consuming too little.
Let’s explore the subtle signs indicating your body may not be receiving enough essential protein, carbohydrates, and fats, along with ways to boost your food consumption through a balanced diet.
If you’ve felt overwhelmingly fatigued for weeks, regardless of your sleep quantity or quality, it may be time to reconsider your dietary habits. When we are consistently undereating, our bodies fail to receive proper fuel, leading to feelings of sluggishness and fatigue.
This is often observed particularly in low carbohydrate diets. Given that starchy carbohydrates serve as the body’s main source of quick energy, it’s understandable that limiting them could result in suboptimal energy levels.
Examine your usual consumption in terms of both quantity and variety. Are you eating balanced meals that include all of the Foundational Five elements? Do they include starchy carbohydrates? Are you paying attention to your hunger cues? Take a moment to assess and see if you can implement some changes.
Lightheadedness can be one of the initial physical indicators of insufficient food intake. When you’re not consuming adequate food, your blood sugar can drop, making you feel dizzy or faint. If you frequently experience lightheadedness without a clear cause, review your food consumption.
For a quick energy boost, have a snack rich in carbohydrates and protein, such as a banana with almond butter, a handful of berries with nuts, or vegetable sticks with hummus. This mixture will help raise and stabilize your blood sugar levels for an energy lift.
If dizziness continues after these dietary and lifestyle adjustments, consult your physician to eliminate potential issues.
Ever find yourself forgetting where you left your keys? That’s common, but persistent brain fog might be your body signaling you to reassess your nutrition (i.e., eat more)! Brain fog can indicate various health issues but is also a primary symptom of inadequate food intake throughout the day.
Delaying lunch or disrupting normal meal timings for meetings or calls can hinder the energy your body needs. When that 3 p.m. slump hits and you realize you missed lunch, that’s your prompt to head to the kitchen or grab a snack.
It’s advisable to rely on whole foods whenever possible. Aim for a filling salad topped with fresh veggies, sweet potatoes, avocado, grilled chicken, or protein of your choice, complemented with a delicious dressing. Foods rich in B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, folate, and antioxidants can enhance brain function and thwart cognitive decline. Bye-bye brain fog.
This may come as a shock, but if you’re not consuming enough food or nutrients, the body’s priority organs will take precedence in absorbing what you do consume. This prioritization goes to your brain, heart, and lungs, instead of your hair, skin, and nails. The health of your hair, skin, and nails closely correlates with your diet and the vitamins and minerals your body absorbs.
It’s typical to lose between 50-100 hairs daily. If you’re shedding more strands than usual and noticing your nails breaking more easily, you should focus on nurturing your hair and nails from within.
Begin by consuming foods that promote keratin production, the protein essential for strong hair and nails. Foods like spinach, beans, oatmeal, salmon, eggs, and berries are excellent sources of crucial nutrients for hair and nail health. Specifically, protein, biotin, iron, vitamin B12, and omega-3 fatty acids are vital for maintaining the thickness, shine, and growth of your hair.
Hanger is a legitimate emotion! If you’re juggling a hectic schedule and leave home without breakfast, your blood sugar and mood can plummet. Research shows that low glucose levels can lead to aggression and irritability. Therefore, when you haven’t eaten, irritability may become one of the first noticeable repercussions of inadequate food consumption.
The best antidote for hanger is to have regular, nourishing meals and snacks. Maintaining consistent eating times stabilizes your blood sugar, allowing you to sustain a positive mood and good energy. When you notice your first hunger signal, don’t ignore it! Respond promptly by taking a meal or snack based on your hunger level to feel your best instead of a moody, irritable self.
Do you feel cold frequently? Your food intake plays a crucial role in keeping your body warm while it performs various functions.
If you’re not eating sufficiently, your capacity to conduct thermogenesis, the process that helps produce body heat, is likely affected. Some studies indicate that individuals on restrictive diets may have lower body temperatures than those who are not.
Women who are underweight or possess low body fat may develop “downy” hair (known as lanugo) to cope with heat loss. When the body lacks adequate fat for warmth, it may grow lanugo to help retain heat. This is often seen in those with anorexia nervosa or individuals who are extremely thin.
Ensuring you consume enough food is actually a method to manage your hydration levels. Many electrolytes obtained from food influence your thirst, including sodium, potassium, and magnesium. If you feel thirsty after drinking a glass of water, it may signal insufficient calorie intake.
Your body might also confuse thirst for hunger, leading you away from your water supply. Aim for hydrating drinks like caffeine-free teas, unsweetened sparkling waters, and plain water.
Amenorrhea refers to the absence of your menstrual period. Women may miss their periods for various reasons, including pregnancy, dietary changes, and stress. Some medications, including contraceptives, can also alter your cycle. Specific health conditions such as hypothyroidism and polycystic ovarian syndrome can influence hormone levels and subsequently impact your menstrual cycle.
Amenorrhea can also occur due to insufficient food intake and low body fat or being underweight (approximately 10 percent under the “normal” weight, which varies per individual). Being underweight can halt ovulation and disrupt hormonal balance, which is why certain women with disordered eating habits or high-performance athletes may experience missed periods. In some scenarios, their bodies aren’t receiving enough nutrients for normal functions.
The female athlete triad consists of an interconnected cycle encompassing low energy intake, amenorrhea, and reduced bone density. This is frequently observed in athletes striving for a specific level of “leanness” for sports like figure skating, ballet, gymnastics, and others.
The key takeaway from this article is to be aware and attuned to your body’s signals indicating that something may be amiss. Utilize these 8 signs and symptoms to assess your situation and determine if you may need to increase your caloric intake.
Then discover your balanced eating type!
Complete this 45-second free quiz to uncover which balanced eating archetype you embody, and what your unique type requires for balance in how you nourish yourself. This way, you can ultimately liberate yourself from food and diet fixation, maintain a balanced weight, and foster a healthy relationship with food and your body.
