Undereating is bad for the health: 9 signs that the body isn’t getting enough food

Nowadays excessive weight has become a rising problem among Americans.

Numerous researches show us, that being overweight can cause a lot of harm to our health and contribute to serious health disorders.

While we all focus on obesity-problem, adverse effects of undereating are often overlooked.

Your body uses calories from foods as energy fuel to work properly. The average adult needs nearly 1000 calories a day to stay healthy. For those, who are physically active, this number is even higher.

When you spend more calories than take in, you lose weight. This simple rule usually helps people with obesity to lose weight effectively.

But if your body mass index is under 18.5, it means that you've overdone with weight-loss program.

Those, who follow strict diets, often don't get enough nutritive elements, needed for normal body functioning.

Some people don't realize that they eat less than their bodies require.

The problem of undereating may also occur in people with eating disorders like anorexia.

Not getting enough nutrients for a long time may lead to anemia, osteoporosis, infertility and weak immune response.

Check up these signs and symptoms to recognize undereating and correct your dietary preferences:

#1. Permanent tiredness – taking too few calories lowers metabolic rate and reduces energy levels, causing physical tiredness and brain sluggishness.

#2. Depression and anxiety – poor nutrition may significantly affect your mental health. People, who follows fad diets, often feel extremely irritable, anxious and moody without any reason.

#3. Hair loss – lack of protein, minerals and vitamins may affect normal hair growth and increase its loss.

#4. Frequent infection – getting enough vitamins is important to maintain healthy immune response. Undereating is associated with lower defensive capabilities that increases frequency of common cold, flu and other infections.

#5. Disturbed sleep – you've probably heard that lack of high-quality sleep may lead to weight gain and insulin resistance. But did you know that restrictive diets may impair your sleep and make it difficult to fall asleep?

#6. Fertility problems – when percentage of your body fat drops too low, balance of reproductive hormones may be disturbed. This often leads to amenorrhea and inability to get pregnant.

#7. Skin problems – your skin may show you that it needs more vitamin E, protein and other nutritive elements to stay elastic and healthy.

#8. Feeling always cold – heat is normally produced, when your body burns calories from foods. Scientists found that those, who take less calories, have lower core body temperature than people with higher calorie intake, even if they have similar levels of physical activity.

#9. Constipation – it's not surprising that the less food you eat, the less stool is formed in the gut. This results in constipation, when people have few bowel movements and pass hard stool.