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Copyright on all art by Emily Boller

All Rights Reserved

The age well-meaning but totally misinformed adults forced dieting on me in order for me to lose weight.

The Complications of Chronic and Sustained Undereating

September 02, 2025 in dangers of diet culture

Whether the individual is age six, thirty-six, or sixty-six; the complications of chronic and sustained undereating are disturbing: bradycardia (abnormally low resting heart rate), A-fib, congestive heart failure, dangerous electrolyte imbalances, hair loss, cognitive decline, forgetfulness, sleep problems, depression, gastroparesis (paralysis of the digestive system), lack of menstrual cycles in women, infertility, weakened immune systems, osteoporosis, liver disease (hepatitis), pancreatitis, kidney failure, GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), bloating, feeling cold, high cortisol levels, elevated cholesterol, abnormally low blood pressure, high blood pressure. . .just to name a few.

Most dieting deaths are due to cardiac complications.

Every fifty-two minutes, someone in the US dies from chronic undereating—and only 6% are underweight.

Not to mention, insufficient amounts of carbs consumed in long term undereating causes a hormone in the brain to be elevated (neuropeptide Y), increasing the likelihood of binge eating.

In a person who’s never dieted to lose weight, this hormone will go down after eating; therefore, they don’t struggle with binge eating.

Binge eating is merely the body’s survival mechanism.

Yet, unfortunately, many diseases are blamed on not eating the “right” foods and/or overeating. Rarely, if ever, does anyone in the mainstream healthcare industry routinely discuss the dangers of chronic and sustained undereating.

A sobering fact: the pressure to diet (undereat to lose weight) greatly impacts disordered eating and eating disorders, because dieting is a leading risk factor for developing eating disorders.

Chronic dieting is not just harmful but dangerous.

If your child’s pediatrician or your doctor is unwilling to read the book by Dr. Mehler linked below, find a new physician who will read it.

It may save you or your child from harmful and life-threatening complications.

Lastly, become aware of diet cults. They are everywhere and easily accessible on social media; teens and adults alike can easily get caught in them.

Individuals seldom recognize they are in a cult; only that they were. -Peter Young


Some telltale signs of a diet cult:

  • critical thinking skills are banned

  • rigid food rules are expected to be followed without question

  • opposing ideas are censored/silenced

  • those who buck the system are shunned

  • no tolerance for open-minded and honest discussions

  • blind devotion expected; dissenters are ostracized

  • participants regularly say, “I’m not allowed to eat. . . “ or “I’m not supposed to eat. . .”

  • weight loss challenges and boot camps are promoted

  • publicly sharing before/after pics is normalized

  • publicly sharing “what I eat in a day” pictures is also normalized

  • frequent weight checking and/or mirror checking is also normalized

  • celebrity-like worship of weight loss transformations

  • participants comment/gossip about others’ body size or weight gains (weight stigma)

  • participants’ lives revolve around food, food talk, weight talk

  • they label others’ food choices as good or bad regardless of others’ socioeconomic status/privileges


Eating Disorders: A Guide to Medical Care and Complications by Philip Mehler, MD, FAED, CEDS and Arnold Andersen, MD, FAED, DLFAPA

Dennis Gibson, MD describes the life-threatening dangers of electrolyte imbalances: “The Eating Disorder Trap” podcast, episode #120: Electrolyte Complications with Dr. Dennis Gibson.

Movie: Dying in Plain Sight


Emily Boller, wife, mother, artist, and author is on a mission to create expressive works of art in her lifetime; and to bring awareness to the potentially harmful traps of diet-wellness culture. In her free time, she loves to chase sunrises, grow flowers and vegetables, and can homemade soups.

Diet cults are real. If you think you’d never get trapped in one, you may be a prime candidate.

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