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The biology of human starvation: some new insights
Author(s) -
Henry C. J. K.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
nutrition bulletin
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.933
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1467-3010
pISSN - 1471-9827
DOI - 10.1046/j.1467-3010.2001.00164.x
Subject(s) - starvation , adipose tissue , obesity , body mass index , lean body mass , biology , human obesity , endocrinology , physiology , body weight
Summary Body mass index (BMI) has been extensively used to define and classify obesity. This paper proposes the use of BMI to also define the limits of human survival to starvation. Females appear to be able to withstand starvation to much lower values of BMI compared to males. This may be partly due to the the greater amount of adipose tissue in women and the preferential use of fat rather than lean tissue as fuel during starvation. These gender‐specific fuel mobilisation patterns during starvation may provide evolutionary advantages to the females.