How long is able to live without water or food

Human body is able to survive days without food, however the majority of people will only survive for 2 to 4 days with no water.

There aren't any controlled scientific research studies that examine how long people are able to survive without water or food as this would be a violation of the law.

The reason for this is that the majority of research in this field focuses on research on people who are in crisis situations. For instance one imprisoned Austrian man went for 18 days without water or food the longest time in recorded history -- following being abandoned inside his prison cell.

If you're cutting down on food and drink or trying to shed weight or to avoid an appetite strike, you must be aware of the serious harm it can cause to your body.

How many days can you go without eating?

People are able to go for days without eating, according to Mir Ali, MD, Bariatric surgeon and medical director of the Memorial Care The Surgical Weight Loss Centre located at Orange Coast Medical Center.

How long you'll last without food is contingent on many factors, including your body's shape, your sex as well as the last meal you ate or drank and the environment you live in as per Andrea Paul, MD, co-founder of Health Media Experts, a consulting service that is available to healthcare organizations.

For instance, people who have larger fat reserves might live longer because their bodies can use stored fat as fuel in the event that are characterized by extreme hunger according to Ali. Furthermore, if one is able to drink water but isn't eating is available, they could be able to live for as long as two months.

Research about hunger strike and fasting has examined instances where people were able to drink drinking water, but not food. In three instances, individuals were able to go for 28 days, 36 as well as 38, days of no food until they became too sick to carry on their strike. In some cases, people who were on hunger strike passed away after 45-61 weeks without eating.

In general, lean, healthy individuals suffer severe effects of starvation when they lose more than 18 percent from their weight or have an index of body mass less than 16.5 which is thought to be extremely underweight.

In general, women are able to endure more starvation than men and have the lower weight of a BMI. This is because women naturally have more body fat and also because their bodies are more likely to utilize fat, rather than lean muscle as energy sources in times of starvation.

How does starvation affect the body

If you're deficient in food the body experiences phases of starvation as there is no longer the calories required to sustain organ function. In the absence of calories your body is forced to find energy from other sources.

Your body will first tap to whatever glucose is left. In the first couple of hours, it'll focus on sugar levels in the bloodstream, which is also known as blood sugar. Then, it will go after glycogen, the sugar in your liver that takes about 24 hours for depletion.

Beyond that, your body is required to go through a major transition from burning glucose and storing fat by a process known as ketosis. At this point, you'll begin to notice significant weight loss and symptoms of hunger such as headaches, dizziness and fatigue.

It can take your body between days and weeks to eliminate fat stores, based on the amount. Once those fat stores have been eliminated the only thing left that your body can burn is the protein that's inside of your muscles, says Ali. This includes your heart muscle, thereby increasing the likelihood of suffering from cardiac arrest.

When your body begins to burn proteins, your health will go rapidly downwards, which can cause:

How long do you have to go without drinking water?

It is estimated that people will only last up to 4 days in the absence of drinking water. For instance, in 1944 two scientists stopped drinking water but ate an uncooked diet with all the nutrients needed. One experiment lasted for three days while the other was there for 4 days before they were forced to end the study.

Although the body is able to degrade tissue in order to replace the fuel that comes from food, there's no internal mechanism to fill in the gap of water, Paul says. After a few hours of dehydration the right amount of water, you may begin to feel the effects of dehydration, such as:

Insider's tips for a successful trip

If you're not able to food, your body will remain alive for weeks by degrading tissue and storing fat. The energy produced by this process allows your organs remain functioning. But, there's an inability for the body's system to replenish fluids, and so the majority of people are able to survive for up to 4 days without drinking water.

It is not advisable to restrict the intake of water or food in order to shed weight. It's not just dangerous, but it could be harmful, Ali says. If you're eating less than 800-1000 calories a day your metabolism might slow down, which means you'll lose fewer calories, making weight loss difficult and not more easy.

So, it's best to adhere to a varied diet that consists of mostly healthy food such as fruits, vegetables and protein that is lean for weight loss if that's your aim.