The Minnesota Starvation Experiment: How we know what we know about diet
By Lauren MacDonald, Environmental Science & Chemistry, 2022
As World War II drew to a close, the world began to wonder about how to move forward from the devastation left behind. Hundreds of thousands of people had gone years without sufficient food due to wartime rationing or concentration camps, and doctors were left with the task of physically rehabilitating the affected population.
Up until that point, there was very little knowledge of the effects of starvation on the human body. One researcher, Dr. Ancel Keys, proposed an experiment that involved severely restricting the diets of 36 men, with two main goals: to study the psychological and physical effects of starvation, and to determine the best treatment for famine-stricken people.
Dr. Ancel Keys proposed an experiment that involved severely restricting the diets of 36 men, with two main goals: to study the psychological and physical effects of starvation, and to determine the best treatment for famine-stricken people.
The experiment began in 1944; volunteers were handpicked based on health. For the first three months, the men were put on a controlled diet of 3,200 daily calories to have a comparison to their bodies’ baseline functions. This was followed by six months of semi-starvation, where the men lived on only 1,560 calories a day and were expected to lose 25 percent of their body weight. After this, there were six weeks of “restricted rehabilitation,” which involved varying levels of carefully controlled caloric and supplement intake, designed to determine the best protocol for recovery. The last period of the study was unrestricted rehabilitation, where the men were allowed to eat whatever they wanted and in whatever quantity they wanted.
When under starvation conditions, the human body becomes irritable, fatigued, and experiences a decrease in muscle mass.
This study laid the groundwork for much of what we now know about the body’s relationship with food. When under starvation conditions, the human body becomes irritable, fatigued, and experiences a decrease in muscle mass. Insufficient food intake also has a negative effect on blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rate, and sex drive. Cognitive ability, concentration, and reaction time all decrease, and higher rates of depression, social withdrawal, and obsessive thoughts are experienced. The study found that the best strategy for mental and physical rehabilitation was simply providing a large amount of calories for the body to replenish itself.
The researchers published a two volume work detailing the results of the experiment, as well as a pamphlet for wartime medics to consult. The study remains relevant today, as it has laid the groundwork for understanding a variety of eating disorders. Doctors are also more equipped to help with other health concerns such as obesity and weight change as a result of the findings from the Minnesota Starvation Experiment.
