In Britain, people are dying to be thin -- literally -- and one company is pulling in a profit of about $30 million because of it, according to this article from the Daily Mail.

A popular diet program in the UK, called LighterLife, is wildly successful these days, but it's costing some people their health -- and their lives. The program advocates an extreme calorie deficiency -- participants consume shakes that give them a total daily caloric intake of only 500 calories, and they end up losing weight at an alarming rate. LighterLife claims it's all perfectly fine because the body doesn't need those excess calories, adding that this type of starvation has been used healthfully for over 30 years. Yeah, right.

But now, some people are speaking out about the side effects of this diet. One former participant claims her vision is now permanently blurred and she suffers from ongoing memory loss; another, a dentist, says the lack of calories ruined his wife's teeth; another claims it led her to become anorexic. Other side effects include hair loss, menstrual disruptions and constipation. And if that's not frightening enough for you, consider this: One 25-year-old participant died from heart troubles believed to have been caused by the diet. Click here for some more horror stories.

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It never hurts to do a little review on a topic that affects so many women, and some men too. The topic: Anorexia.

Anorexia Nervosa, a type of eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight and leading to a restriction of food and dangerous weight loss, is one serious disease -- between one and two of every 10 cases of anorexia leads to death from starvation, cardiac arrest, medical complications, or suicide.

Anorexia can halt the physical and emotional growth of teenagers and can lead to premature osteoporosis, infertility, increased risk of miscarriage, and low-birth-weight babies. Anorexia may be especially deadly for women with insulin-dependent diabetes if they omit or under-use insulin to control their weight.

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Famine and starvation in developing countries is one of the mos devastating global issues of the last few decades. But there's an even bigger crisis looming -- obesity in developing countries. Dubbed globesity, Diet Blog has an interesting article on the increasing phenomenon.

Here are some interesting stats:

• Worldwide, 1.3 billion people are obese. The number of people that are starving? 800 million.
  
• Even the poorest nations in the world are facing alarming obesity rates
• Poor nations also have access to more technology than one would think -- and it's halting the amount of exercise people are getting.
  

Ideally, the majority of people would be a healthy weight across the board, in all countries. Instead, we have some sort of bizarre dichotomy going on here -- obese vs. starving, with obesity slowing winning the race. It's disturbing, if you ask me. What do you think?

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Here are some scary statistics: In a national poll done in the UK, it was discovered that 38% of teenage girls eat less than 1200 calories a day because they want to slim down. What's more, half of them didn't even get 2.5 servings of fruit and veggies a day, and very few had a healthy concept of proper nutrition. Looking back on my teenage years -- a time when one McDonald's Happy meal a day was my diet of choice, because more than that would make me gain weight -- I don't find it surprising, but it's still a little alarming -- haven't teenagers learnt anything?

I think this is a good reminder to talk to your teenager or child about what a healthy weight is and how to slim down with starving yourself. And the time to have this talk is now ... don't you agree?

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Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Greetings Fitz. So far I've lost 25 lbs and have a few more to go to get rid of that annoying belly fat. I'm training for a duathlon. I bike one to two hours a day, run for 30 minutes or so every other day, and workout every other day (different day than running). I'm 155 pounds, 68" and eat about 2,000 calories a day (I keep track in a spreadsheet). So let's say I burn 900 calories/hr biking, 300 calories/half hour running, and some more doing other workout stuff. Is it okay that I only take in 2,000 calories a day? Should I take in more, less, etc? I eat 5-6 small meals a day and am feeling great, but I just want to maximize my effectiveness for fat loss. Thanks, Ryan

A. Wow Ryan! Sounds like you've turned your life all the way around. Going from 180 to 155 is not an easy task, and your exercise routine is really athletic. I'm inspired! The reason your 'belly fat' is taking longer to go away, is because you're nearing your goal weight. It's easy to lose five pounds quickly when you have 35 to lose. When you are nearing true leanness the pounds take a little longer to lose.

2,000 calories a day is not starving in anyone's book. In fact...it's quite enough calories to fill up almost anyone. I'm really not concerned that your body may be in 'starvation mode', especially since you didn't even mention feeling hungry. You are burning a ton of calories it's true, but you shouldn't need to add calories to lose weight. Accept that this process will take time. You're striving to look like an athlete and that is a lofty goal. Not a silly goal.......just a really high one.

Have patience, keep doing what you're doing, and add some intense ab training to your routine. I recommend push-ups, roman-chair leg lifts, and crunches on a stability ball or BOSU. Do this at least every other day. Keep me posted Ryan. Send before and after pictures when you get to your point B. We're all dying to see your new abs! Fitz

Q. Hi Fitz. The world is bashing Britney Spears' body after her performance at the Video Music Awards and now I feel like garbage about mine. I'm no where near as trim as she is. Does she really look that bad? If so......I'm screwed! Is there hope for the non-perfect people? Angelina

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Is there really a "starvation hormone?" There is, and it's produced by the liver, according to a recent report in Cell Journalism. What in the world could it be for, though? Well, it can help the body internally cope with being starved from food intake. Think of it as part of an auto-pilot program for the human body.

This newly-identified hormone has been shown to play a role in in shifting one's metabolism after fasting or radical diet changes like eating based on a diet like the Atkin's Diet.

In other words, when glucose plummets (due to eating habits being changed) and the body starts relying on fat stores to feed the body. This starvation hormone begins working by assisting to alter behavior changes that lead to energy-conserving habits, as those undergoing diet changes (like lack of food) cope internally to "ride out" the food shortages currently being experienced.

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I saw a poster the other day advertising the 30-hour Famine charity event. If you haven't heard of it, you're supposed to fast for 30-hours to raise money for impoverished countries, and also to learn what it's like to go hungry like so many men, women and children in our world are forced to do everyday.

My first impression of this is that it must be unhealthy and/or completely impossible because come on, that's more than an entire day and night without food. How do you sleep or even function when you're starving? Yeah, I know people do it all the time but not well-fed North Americans like us who are plagued with an overabundance of food. But that's the point of the exercise -- to make you realize how good you have it.

Anyway, back to the health issue. I did some research and found this advice from WebMD on fasting. The question: is it healthy? The answer: Occasionally fasting for religious practices, longevity and even detoxification won't do you much harm, but there's not much evident that it does you any good either. One thing they do know is that fasting is not an effective weight-loss tool and can be quite dangerous if you're not careful.

Have you ever done a fast?

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