Surely many times your stomach has roared at mid-morning or mid-afternoon and it has seemed eternal the time you have taken to get something to satisfy your hunger. You will also know the sensation of intense thirst, that which arrives without warning the first days of heat and that is so annoying. Fortunately, on a day-to-day basis, these situations can be solved in a matter of hours, but if you could not, you know how long you could live without food or water ?
Surely the previous question has come to your mind, especially if you plan to travel to a desert and, without being able to avoid it, you pose the most difficult situations that the environment can give you. Then we will answer your questions, but always remember that each body is a world and what applies to most people can be a little different for others.
How much time can you live without food or water?
The question of how long you can be without food depends on many factors, including the Will and the determination They play an important role. This can be seen in the people who go on hunger strike or in the voluntary fasts that some people do for various reasons, including religious.
For example, once we present the case of some human beings who claim to be autotrophs , that is to say that they ensure to survive without consuming anything: neither drink nor food. Also the one of Angus Barbieri, who to lose weight decided not to eat solids for a year. Although these cases exist and are really curious exceptions, we will approach the time that can be lived without food or water from a point of view as objective as possible, from scientific sources.
How much time can you live without food?
Medically speaking, most doctors agree that healthy human beings can pass up to eight weeks without food as long as they have Water.
Being strong and in good physical shape helps you survive longer, but also makes you have more more fat in your body. The body stores the energy needed to live in the form of fat, carbohydrates and proteins. Carbohydrates are the first thing that will be used to obtain energy, and then fat and finally proteins. When the body has to start burning the proteins for energy, it enters a worrying state.
The metabolism It also plays an important role, since it is responsible for turning food into energy. People with a slow metabolism will spend more time without having to eat and, in the absence of food, that metabolism will adjust accordingly and stop by itself.
The weather It is an important factor too. Heat implies faster dehydration and cold implies a greater need for energy to maintain body temperature.
How long can one live without water?
Live without water It is very different from living without food. It is much more complicated. Although it is possible to spend weeks without food, in hot conditions and without water, dehydration can come in less than an hour and you can die in a few hours, if you do not remedy the situation.
Humans need water to live , so simple and at the same time terrible. Think that we lose water through sweat, urine, feces and regular breathing. This water must be replaced so that our organs continue to function properly. In situations of intense heat, an adult can lose up to 1.5 liters of water in one hour through sweat. So it's very important that we go hydrating each time so that our body fulfills its functions without problem.
The main risk to be without water when it is very hot is that the body temperature will go up to suffer a heatstroke . Water is necessary to regulate body temperature and, ultimately, to survive.
So, How much time can you live without water? Being in good shape and in conditions of pleasant temperature, without cold or heat, a person could Survive between 3 and 5 days without water.
What do you think about these data about the time it is possible to live without food or water? Did you imagine that you could survive so many weeks with food but without water and so little time without water? Undoubtedly, the importance of this is essential for humanity to survive. That's why it's so worrying climate change and progressive desertification of the planet. If we do not take care of it, we could eventually exhaust the freshwater reserves and, then, this resource would become the reason for even wars. It is important to take care of the Earth and what it offers us, because it depends on us to survive.
If you have been interested in knowing what can happen to you when living without food or water, you may find it interesting to read about these extreme situations: " Can we die drowned in quicksand? " Y " 10 Characteristics of disaster survivors "