And that’s not the only problem with this kind of dieting. Baum explained, “There’s the psychological piece too for sure, which is that being very restrictive around food can often lead to disordered eating for many people.”

Plus some other symptoms that can come along when the body is in a “semi-starvation state.” Baum said, “Things like difficulty concentrating, irritability, feeling hungry all the time, losing hunger cues can happen. Sometimes digestion slows way down because the body is trying to conserve energy. There are lots of physiological shifts that the body does to protect us when it sees there’s not a lot of food around and not a lot of energy around right now.”