The suggestion of 1,200 calories a day is from the 1920sThe concept of 1,200 calories a day for weight loss has been around since the 1920s, due to a book called Diet and Health: With a Key to the Calories that was widely read by Americans. “A lot of my clients have tried 1,200 calories in the past,” said Jamie Nadeau, a registered dietician who focuses on helping people repair their relationship with food. “For most women, you need more than 1,200 calories just for your normal survival functions in your body,” Nadeau said. 1,200 calories a day is similar to the Minnesota Starvation ExperimentGiven the average daily energy needs for a woman is 2,400 calories a day, this would make a 1,200 calorie a day diet on par with the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, which was conducted in 1944 to try and establish the best way to re-feed people suffering from starvation. “What I hear the most about 1,200 calories a day is that even if they are able to stick to it, they are miserable,” Nadeau said.

Source: The Nation October 29, 2021 19:01 UTC