How long can someone survive without food?

[amdforever2]

Assuming someone continued to drink things, how long does starving to death take?

 

[Oceandevi]

how fat are they?

 

[dartworth]

2 - 8 weeks...

depends on the person...

 

[waggy]

i would think depends on what they are drinking.

 

[Heisenberg]

~ 3 weeks. There's a "3" rule of thumb for survival - 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food.

 

[amdforever2]

So could someone starve to death while still being overweight?

Shouldn't one of those thousand pound people be able to survive for months?

 

[FoBoT]

the two things that will kill you fast are heat/cold (apart from suffocation of course)
next comes dehydration

food is down the list a ways, what Heisenberg says makes sense. although 3 days in a desert without water is pushing it

 

[amdforever2]

If someone weighed a thousand pounds and kept drinking water though surely they could exceed three weeks?

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
~ 3 weeks. There's a "3" rule of thumb for survival - 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food.

Exactly.

Of course YMMV depending on the situation.

Fern

 

[neutralizer]

Try it out yourself and write on your myspace.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
the two things that will kill you fast are heat/cold (apart from suffocation of course)
next comes dehydration

food is down the list a ways, what Heisenberg says makes sense. although 3 days in a desert without water is pushing it

Well the deserts a bit different...usually it is 24hrs within a desert and your f0cked...

The 3 rule of thumb for survival is cool :thumbsup:, thanks!

Koing

 

[LS20]

if youre cold your body "consumes itself"... fat dudes can last longer in the cold.. not sure it works the same way in pure starvation situation, though. probably last longer than someone skinny but not appreciably....

anyway, i probably couldnt last more than 18 hours

 

[JoeKing]

I call it my ice age survival roll, just wait you skinny people until the next ice age rolls around?! :|

<--- still gotta get rid of his holiday fat

 

[Perknose]

Well, Paris Hilton has had a longer career than Joe Piscopo or the late Tony Romo, if that's any measure.

 

[Kwaipie]

All bets are off for Bear Grylls though.

 

[ta8689]

Hah, a friend of mine who weighs about 275 pounds (which is AFTER he lost some weight for wrestling) went to his doctor, and was told he could survive 2-3 months with noting but water.

 

[Martin]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
~ 3 weeks. There's a "3" rule of thumb for survival - 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food.

I've heard the same thing, but it doesn't work out mathematically. A pound of has 3500 calories, and the average person needs 2000/day.

But what if you have a very overweight person, say someone that weighs 350lb, with 150lb mean mass. Does that mean that they can survive 350 days without food? It doesn't seem right.

 

[imported_Tick]

The problem with some of these numbers is that you can't burn pure fat. At some point, when you run out of stored carbs, your body can't use the remaining fat effectively.

 

[Fern]

How long can someone survive without food?

Ask Nicole Richie

 

[chrisms]

Originally posted by: Martin

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
~ 3 weeks. There's a "3" rule of thumb for survival - 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food.

I've heard the same thing, but it doesn't work out mathematically. A pound of has 3500 calories, and the average person needs 2000/day.

But what if you have a very overweight person, say someone that weighs 350lb, with 150lb mean mass. Does that mean that they can survive 350 days without food? It doesn't seem right.

There are nutrients and many other variables involved as well.

 

[Chunkee]

if you are watching Ferngully, then it is around 9 days

jC

 

[Scarpozzi]

I'd say the environmental factors will have a lot to do with it as well. The warmer or colder the body is, the higher the metabolism is as it regulates its the body temp.

 

[BrownTown]

Yes, first off you can't live on pure fat, so being fat will help you some, but at some point you will die of lack of nutrients even if you still have a hudred pounds of fat left to burn. Also, for anyone considering that course of action to lose weight, rapid losses in body fat can be really bad for you, hydrophobic compunds get trapped in the body fat, and if you lose weight too quickly these compounds will rapidly enter you blood stream overwhelming your liver and kidneys.