Exercise, Nutrition, WLS & Cooking Q&A - 10/31/2013
Window is Open!
Please keep in mind that I am not an expert in any of these areas but I have some or a lot of experience with all of these. I am not offering a medical opinion and my answers are based on my experience and current state of knowledge. I am not a medical professional but I am a pretty good cook. This advice is not warranted in any way. You have to decide if the advice I give works for you. If I make specific suggestions or recommendations, it is up to you to do further research, consult your physician/nutritionist, or decide if it will work for you according to the guidelines for your program that you have established.
I will qualify my answer first by saying everyone is different and there are many many factors that affect metabolism. But generally speaking I would say yes with potential impact to your brain and nervous system. The brain alone requires about 600 calories a day to operate normally. This would essentially leave no energy for the rest of your body. You could survive for a little while but ultimately your body would like begin to shut down. You would start to forget things, mix up words, etc. Over time it would certainly bring your metabolism down. I have noticed that the longer I stay on an extreme low carb/cal diet my resting metabolic rate has dropped significantly even though I have added lean muscle mass.
There are, again, a number of things that impact metabolism. It is a common belief that if you eat many small meals throughout the day you can increase your metabolism. There is some emerging evidence that eating a high fat, low carb, low protein diet can increase your metabolism and actually make your body an environment that disease cannot live in. Building lean muscle mass is the best way to improve your metabolism. More lean muscle burns more calories at rest.
