How Long Can You Live Without Food?
Having a premade
stock of survival foods that you can rely upon to see you through
is important. During many survival
situations living without enough food becomes a real problem. With
grocery stores and restaurants readily available we may not normally
think much about where our next meal is coming from. But when food
supplies have been destroyed, are unavailable due to civil unrest,
or are not geographically within our reach (as in you are lost,
injured, in a remote area, or even imprisoned) we are quick to feel
the lack of food and finding our next meal will become a priority.
Symptoms
of Inadequate Food Consumption
Although not
as critical as going without water, missing even just a few meals
can cause a host of undesirable complications for the would-be survivor.
Although we will not starve while going without food for several
days or even a week, being underfed for even just one day can cause:
- Irritability
- Low moral
- Lethargy
- Physical
Weakness
- Confusion
and disorientation
- Poor judgment
- Weakened
immune system
- Inability
to maintain body temperature which can lead to hypothermia, heat
exhaustion, or even heat stroke.
These symptoms
can adversely affect your ability to survive as weakness, sickness,
accidents, and mistakes take their toll.
Only a well
fed survivor with a full stomach can take on the challenges adversity
will throw in his way.
Factors
Affecting How Long You can Live Without Food
Though there
can be no exact numbers, experience has shown there are limits to
how long humans can go without food before unmistakable signs of
starvation set in.
How long you
can live without food depends upon a host of factors including:
- Initial
state of health. Those who are physically healthy and have been
consuming plenty of good nutritious food have an advantage. During
the start of a food shortage their systems are fully stocked to
begin with. During food shortages your body can draw from this
supply of nutrients and extend the length of time you can live
without eating.
- Amount of
muscle on the body. Muscle is broken down by a starving body and
used for both fuel and nutrients. On the other hand, even at rest
lean muscle burns calories.
- Amount of
body fat. Each pound of body fat contains about 3600 calories,
enough energy for the average person for about a day and half.
During a survival situation when there is not enough food to eat,
a few extra pounds can come in handy. Indeed, gaining weight when
food is plentiful is an important survival mechanism.
- Your metabolism
will be a factor in determining how long you can live without
food. Individual metabolisms vary. As you go without food your
metabolism will naturally slow, but those people who are already
starting from a lower baseline will have an advantage in using
less calories and therefore living longer.
- The amount
of work we are performing while going without food. Being active
requires increased amounts of calories and nutrients. If you are
forced to live without food, the less active you can remain the
longer you will last.
- The temperature
of your environment has a direct bearing on how long you can live
without food. Below a comfortable temperature your body will be
expending additional calories as it attempts to stay warm. In
hot environments your body will expend additional calories in
trying to say cool, and your body will be loosing precious electrolytes
via your sweat. When stressed by lack of food you are more susceptible
to heat
exhaustion and heat
stroke.
- If you can
stay
adequately hydrated you can live without food for a longer
period of time than if there were shortages of food and water
together.
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the rest of the article
March
9, 2010
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© 2010 Survival Topics
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