How long can someone live without eating?

Hunger: How long can someone live without eating?

Everyone knows that the consumption of food and water is essential for human life. Although the human body cannot survive long without water, it can survive several weeks without food. A prolonged period without eating, however, can lead to hunger and malnutrition. How long we can survive without food depends on a variety of factors and there is no definitive time frame for starvation. But evidence suggests it only takes about eight hours without eating for our bodies to change the way it operates. So how long can the body live without food?

Click and discover the facts.

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Varied food

Food consumption is essential for human life. Eating a balanced and varied diet can benefit our health by reducing the risks associated with malnutrition.

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Water

Water is also vital for life. In fact, there can be no life on Earth without water. The recommended daily fluid intake is about 3.7 liters of fluids per day for men and approximately 2.7 liters for women, according to the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

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Eat and drink

To function properly, the human body requires energy from food sources and hydration from water. When we don’t eat enough food, the body begins to increase cortisol production, leaving us stressed and hungry.

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Dehydration

Not drinking enough water can cause dehydration. Low water intake is also responsible for a number of other ailments, including fatigue, headache, weakened immunity and dry skin.

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Lack of fluids

The effects of dehydration can quickly become serious and even fatal. In fact, the human body can only function without water for about four days before it stops working.

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Absence of food

Researchers agree, however, that a person can live up to three weeks without food, as long as they have enough water to drink. But the absence of food in the system begins to have negative consequences on the body sooner than we imagine.

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Significant consequences

Skipping a meal every now and then has a negligible effect on the body. But not eating for a prolonged period can have significant consequences for the brain and the body in general.

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Food as fuel

Food is fuel. Proteins, carbohydrates, good fats, vitamins and minerals that make up the nutrients in food provide us with energy. Anyone who doesn’t eat for whatever reason is basically walking around without fuel, in other words, without energy.

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Low blood sugar

One of the first symptoms of malnutrition is low blood sugar. Glucose, which is provided by carbohydrate-rich foods, fuels the brain. Low blood sugar can sap energy, making a person feel lethargic and weak.

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Hunger pains

A growling belly is commonly associated with hunger and the absence of food in the stomach. This uncomfortable sensation is also called hunger pangs, caused by strong contractions of the stomach when it is empty.

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Hunger sets in

Going without food and water intake for a significant period of time is known as starvation. But how long the human body can survive without food depends on a variety of factors.

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Thoughts

In addition to impacting physical state, the early stages of hunger also affect mental state and behaviors. An irritable mood, fatigue and difficulty concentrating are typical indicators of hunger.

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How long can we survive?

How long a person can survive without food also depends on their overall health, gender, body composition, environment and, of course, what the person last ate and drank.

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Women

According to data from World Data, the average life expectancy of women in the US is 81.4 years and that of men is 76.3. Furthermore, on average, women can also expect a longer life expectancy when facing the harshest conditions — including famine and epidemics. Women therefore tend to have a greater survival advantage when facing hunger.

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Fat reserves

People with more fat reserves can survive longer, as the body can burn stored fat for fuel in times of extreme hunger.

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Protein breakdown

Inevitably, as hunger sets in, the physical symptoms become more severe. Although considerable amounts of body fat can be lost during starvation, the main danger comes from the breakdown of protein.

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Muscle wasting

Visually, the most apparent sign of hunger is muscle loss. This sinister feature points to the parallel loss of functional proteins in the heart, liver, kidneys and other tissues.

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Malnutrition

Becoming malnourished is how hunger begins, when people don’t get enough calories to keep up with their body’s energy needs. In fact, it only takes about eight hours without eating for your body to change the way it operates.

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Diseases find space

Over weeks and months, as the famine progresses, malnutrition can result in specific illnesses such as anemia, when the body does not receive enough iron, or beriberi due to inadequate thiamine.

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Lower metabolism

Deprived of food, the body begins to feed on itself. Fat reserves are depleted and metabolism slows down. The body cannot regulate its own temperature.

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Impaired functions

Without anything to eat, kidney function is impaired, heart rate accelerates and breathing — which was already shallow — slows down. The immune system weakens.

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When fat stores are depleted

When fat stores run out, the body begins to consume stored protein for energy. This results in muscle loss. In fact, there is nothing left for the body to feed on except muscle.

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Effect on the heart

The heart is a muscle and the primary organ of the circulatory system. At this stage of hunger, it is malfunctioning, making breathing even more difficult.

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Skeletal appearance

With the muscles literally being eaten, little is left of the human body except skin and bone. Hunger leaves a skeletal appearance.

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Final steps

In the final stages of starvation, people may experience hallucinations and seizures. Other signs may include hair loss, broken skin, and a swollen belly (incidentally, this is a prominent sign in severely malnourished children).

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Death

With the body severely weakened and unable to produce enough energy to fight bacteria and viruses, the heart ends up stopping beating.

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World hunger

According to the World Health Organization, more than 820 million people are facing hunger in the world. This highlights the immense challenge of achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030, which the Geneva-based agency is committed to achieving.

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What causes hunger?

The global humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger lists the factors underlying malnutrition as: poverty, war, gender inequality, seasonal changes, natural disasters and lack of access to safe drinking water.

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Hunger relief

However, the biggest driver of hunger is war, according to the World Food Program (WFP). For its efforts to provide food assistance in conflict areas and prevent the use of food as a weapon of war, WFP was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020.

Sources: (American University Radio) (National Academies) (Scientific American) (World Data) (WHO) (Action Against Hunger) (World Food Program)

See also: Foods that help unclog arteries

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