&gt; On the starvation study it&#x27;s merely one example that highlights how calorie restriction affects people. Yes, it&#x27;s an extreme version, but it is different only in degree from any other calorie restriction, and when people try to reduce by X calories, it&#x27;s probably a linear effect; more restriction, more of these effects. Oddly though, fasting tends not to have these effects, it&#x27;s only in sustained calorie restriction, so fasting in various forms is one of the tools people can use to lose weight.<p>No dude, you are ignoring the fact that these people did not have ample fat stores.  It is completely unreasonable to expect that obese people would behave the same while restricting calories than people who are already borderline starving (4% BF).  These aren&#x27;t effects of caloric intake restriction, they are effects of caloric restriction in general, which is a state obese people are not, have not been in for years and will not be in for years.<p>&gt; One major problem is that the basal metabolic rate does not stay stable. Decreased caloric intake can decrease basal metabolic rate by up to 40 percent<p>This is basically unrelated to your statements about insulin though, so don&#x27;t conflate the two.  This statement does not support the idea that obese people cannot harvest energy from their fat stores, it supports the idea that you get less energy output from less energy input which is almost tautologically true.