How long can a person go without eating???

[Skel]

I was thinking about this the other day. I have a buddy that starves himself to lose weight. Even after I tell him, that's only doing more damage. So how long can a person go?

 

[Anubis]

if he keeps drinking water. like a week or 2. provided he has teh fat stores to use up

 

[pyonir]

as long as he continues with vitamins and water, some have lived 6 weeks or more.

e.g. Bobby Sands.

 

[radioouman]

I think that you can go for about 30 days, if you have plenty to drink. Obviously not good for your body.

 

[Skel]

Wow, the longest I've gone is 5 days... even then I could barely stand up..

 

[amnesiac]

Ask him if he realizes that starving himself is a good way to lose muscle mass too. He'll just get weaker. It also screws with your immune system. Ask him if he's heard of exercise.

 

[pyonir]

From http://www.bobbysandstrust.org/blanket.asp

The hunger strike ended on December 18th when the British government presented to the seven men who had fasted 53 days two documents.

 

[Rudee]

Originally posted by: Skel
I was thinking about this the other day. I have a buddy that starves himself to lose weight. Even after I tell him, that's only doing more damage. So how long can a person go?

Tell your buddy that all he's doing by starving himself is lowing his body's metabolic setpoint, which in turn causes him to put fat on even quicker once he resumes normal eating.

What he's doing is called "yo-yo" dieting, and he can continue with it indefinitely. When "yo-yo" dieters lose a significant amount of weight, they end up looking like a smaller, flabbier version of their heavier selves. This is not the way to go about losing fat (notice I said "fat" not "weight") big difference.

 

[Fausto]

Depends on how much fat they have on them to begin with. A pound of fat contains roughly 3500 kcal and the average adult male's BMR is around 2,000 kcal/day. So, if we assume your buddy has 20 extra pounds on him and he does as little as possible and keeps his caloric expenditures to 2500 kcal/day (almost impossible) he could theoretically go almost a month without eating as long as he stayed hydrated and took supplements to keep his vitamin/mineral/electrolyte levels normal. He'd also look like he just came from a concentration camp since his body would be scavenging muscle tissue in addition to the fat. Not a super idea any way you cut it.

 

[Skel]

Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
Ask him if he realizes that starving himself is a good way to lose muscle mass too. He'll just get weaker. It also screws with your immune system. Ask him if he's heard of exercise.

Yeah, I did point that out to him more then once...

 

[MrsHoneybee]

I wouldn't wanna try that.

 

[Sluggo]

Your body is tuned to defend itself against starvation. Your body will use muscle mass for energy BEFORE it uses its fat stores.

 

[Ameesh]

on just water alone a human can survive for 3 months, on food alone (no water) only 30 days.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: Ameesh
on just water alone a human can survive for 3 months, on food alone (no water) only 30 days.

Someone can survive that long without water? I'm pretty sure it's less than a week.

 

[yowolabi]

http://askthecoach.apte.com/question.cfm/210.cfm

Survival times without water depend on the air temperature that you are in and how much energy you are exerting. At 50 degrees farenheit, with minimum exertion - life expectancy is 14 days, while with a gallon of water, it's 16 days. In the desert, say, at 120 degrees Farenheit at the same conditions, it would be 3 days and with a gallon of water a human could endure 4 days.

You wouldn't come within sniffing distance of 30 days.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Jellomancer

Originally posted by: Ameesh
on just water alone a human can survive for 3 months, on food alone (no water) only 30 days.

Someone can survive that long without water? I'm pretty sure it's less than a week.

As with most things, there is no limit set in stone. It totally depends on the individual and the conditions they are in.

You can survive a lot longer than a week without water in optimal conditions... Hell, there are a lot of people that don't even drink water(just coffee, pop, sugary juice drinks, etc).

 

[yowolabi]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Jellomancer

Originally posted by: Ameesh
on just water alone a human can survive for 3 months, on food alone (no water) only 30 days.

Someone can survive that long without water? I'm pretty sure it's less than a week.

As with most things, there is no limit set in stone. It totally depends on the individual and the conditions they are in.

You can survive a lot longer than a week without water in optimal conditions... Hell, there are a lot of people that don't even drink water(just coffee, pop, sugary juice drinks, etc).

that describes me, but that stuff qualifies as water. to get an 8 ounce cup of coffee, you need almost 8 ounces of water. Same with pop.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: yowolabi
http://askthecoach.apte.com/question.cfm/210.cfm

Survival times without water depend on the air temperature that you are in and how much energy you are exerting. At 50 degrees farenheit, with minimum exertion - life expectancy is 14 days, while with a gallon of water, it's 16 days. In the desert, say, at 120 degrees Farenheit at the same conditions, it would be 3 days and with a gallon of water a human could endure 4 days.

You wouldn't come within sniffing distance of 30 days.

What? Having a gallon of water only increases life expectancy by 2 days? That can't be right. If you were dehydrated, a gallon of water would go a long way.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: yowolabi

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Jellomancer

Originally posted by: Ameesh
on just water alone a human can survive for 3 months, on food alone (no water) only 30 days.

Someone can survive that long without water? I'm pretty sure it's less than a week.

As with most things, there is no limit set in stone. It totally depends on the individual and the conditions they are in.

You can survive a lot longer than a week without water in optimal conditions... Hell, there are a lot of people that don't even drink water(just coffee, pop, sugary juice drinks, etc).

that describes me, but that stuff qualifies as water. to get an 8 ounce cup of coffee, you need almost 8 ounces of water. Same with pop.

That is incorrect. You are most likely moderately dehydrated, and you don't even know it. Your body cannot utilize the water in the same way when it is saturated with sugar...

Same thing with coffee. Coffee is a diuretic. All those things do is make it feel like your thirst is quenched by wetting your mouth.

Another thing to take into account is that you can drink your urine in a survival situation. You soon get to a point of diminishing returns, but until then.. it certainly isn't going to hurt you.

 

[yowolabi]

but we were talking about surviving. i probably am moderately dehydrated, but my body can get enough water out of that stuff that i've survived for years like that.

 

[yowolabi]

http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_ques...-93EC-1DEF-A838809EC588F2D7&catID=3&topicID=3

another link.

If you survive two weeks without water, you will have outlived most people in your situation.

 

[LongCoolMother]

i heard they could live for 1 month with water. however, without water, theyd die in a few days.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: yowolabi
but we were talking about surviving. i probably am moderately dehydrated, but my body can get enough water out of that stuff that i've survived for years like that.

What's your point? Yeah.. you're alive. So? I am sure you could keep someone alive on an oz of water a day for quite a long time.

It's quality of life that is the concern. Drink some water, you'll feel better. May seem like a strange question, but how often do you go to the bathroom(#2)? If it's less than once per day, you NEED more liquids(and fiber).

Your body is 70% water, not 70% Coffee and Carbonated sugar water.

 

[yowolabi]

my quality of life seems pretty good to me. I always feel good. Of course, that might just be the caffeine and sugar...

 

[DrumminBoy]

Theres a girl at my school thats currently fasting the whole month of january to show her faith in god. She has 1 protein shake in the morning to make sure she gets her essentials, and has nothing the rest of the day besides water. Seems a little extreme to me, but she claims that if she has enough faith in god he will keep her from starving. (i hope i didnt just start a flame war)