Food and water are basic needs. So, can you ever imagine living without them? However, there are instances when you are left with no choice, like being trapped in an abandoned place after a catastrophe or finding yourself lost in a desert.
But do you know that some are also transitioning into a new lifestyle? Real-life barbie Valeria Lukyanova has decided to stop eating and drinking and only live through sunlight and air. Apparently, she wants to be a Breatharian. However, Trace Dominguez of the Seeker argued that it is impossible as no one lives without food and water for long.
But if you are stuck without any choice and need to go on without food or water for days, here are some things you can do, according to What If.
How to Live Without Food or Water for Days?
If you are stranded in an isolated and unfamiliar place and have no choice but to live without food or water, here are the things you can do to keep your chances of survival high.
1. Find a Shelter
Keeping yourself safe from dangerous animals and elements, including cold and hot weather, would be best. So, the first thing you need to secure is a safe place to rest and shield yourself from intense environmental factors from your surroundings.
2. Keep in Mind the Rules of 3
There is a certain survival Rule of Threes. It would be best to familiarize yourself with these to ensure what must be done first.
A person can survive for three minutes without oxygen or in icy water. A person can survive for three hours without shelter in a harsh environment.
A person can survive for three days without water and three weeks without food.
So, food is not your priority.
3. Find a Drinkable Water
Again, no one survives without food and water for their whole life. So, you have to start looking for a possible source of drinkable water.
Explore the area. You need to find a water source before your body becomes dehydrated; you have at most five days to do that.
Our body is made up of 65% water. Adults can survive for 3-5 days without water, depending on their health. However, prolonged lack of water will result in a lack of saliva and urine, dry mouth, sunken eyes, rapid heartbeat, vomiting, and diarrhea, Dominguez said. A week later, when the human body is in full-blown dehydration, it dies in shock.
Even without food, your body will survive because it has stored fat and calories to burn for the first couple of hours or potentially days. When your body has not had food for eight to 12 hours, its glucose storage will deplete, and it will use your amino acids for energy.
To prevent muscle loss, the body will rely on its fat stores to create ketones for energy, which results in significant weight loss. This happens when one fast for long hours.
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Several Factors That Will Affect Your Survival
Different reports show how long one can survive without food and water. According to the National Library of Medicine website, one can survive between 8 to 21 days. The number of days may depend on your health, USA Today reported.
Julia Zumpano, a registered dietitian in the Department of Preventive Cardiology from the Cleveland Clinic, said the body would turn to the reserved energy from food stores. However, dehydration causes kidney problems that may happen in a few days.
Zumpano cited a 2010 study by Nutrition Reviews about the impact of dehydration, noting that humans can only survive for days without water.
However, how long you will survive depends on the complex mechanisms behind water homeostasis, the effects of variation in water intake on health and energy intake, weight, and human performance and functioning.
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