"When your body senses restriction, it thinks you are starving. It doesn't matter that you are eating 'healthier,' as many people will say," Soto said. "At an instinctual level, your body senses something isn't right and thinks it's starving." Your body wants to protect you from starving. She explained that this increases cravings and causes bingeing, which makes you overeat, which is why dieting can actually cause weight gain.