I believe that once you are starving, there is really no way out.
Your body shuts down a lot of things in the process of starvation, trying to keep itself alive for as long as possible, but ultimately destructing itself in order to do so.
(Terrible, horrific, and sad example) Take the Holocaust for example. When they saved so many starving people from those camps, a lot of those people were already destined to die from that point forward due to their bodies not being able to function properly. The starvation that overtook their bodies destroyed all muscles and fatty substances that the human body needs in order to continue onward.
Starvation is a very awful way to die but once you get to a certain point, there is sadly no return.
If only hope could keep us alive in such dire circumstances...