What happens if you don't eat?

0098386 · Oct 19, 2005

Well... not through lack of food in the house, but lack of good food in the house I haven't eaten since 6pm yesterday which makes it around... 28 hours (I think, I've never been too good at maths) of no food.

I have been drinking lots of pure orange juice though. which is high in sugar so my blood sugar levels should be okay. I may not even be eating until breakfast tomorrow morning, where i'll only have cereal.

um. so yea, what happens if you don't eat? how long until I pass out

not that i'd want that. but im happy right now. strangely enough.

iSaint · Oct 19, 2005

ouch! This can't be good...

w_parietti22 · Oct 19, 2005

A person can live without food for quite some time, usually for many weeks.
The body will use its fat and protein stores (muscles) to help it survive.
If a person has a lot of fat stores (is very heavy), they will live longer than a
person who has very little fat (very thin), so how long a person can survive
depends a lot of the person. Of course, if you go without food for a few weeks,
you will be very weak since you have been using your own muscles for energy.

Water is a different story. A person will die within 3-4 days without water. The
size of the person really doesn't make much difference.

^^^

Go to the store before you lose you muscles!

Peterkro · Oct 19, 2005

If you don't eat you don't sh*t and if you don't sh*t you die.

scem0 · Oct 19, 2005

Your body gets in "ahhhh he's starving me!" mode and next time you eat it will store lots of fat. So, not eating is a bad way to lose weight and very bad for you in general.

_Emerson

EGT · Oct 19, 2005

ehh!? Go eat some food!

I know there are some radical diets out there but usually food is part of all of them.

Food is fuel. No fuel, no ... something.

Grey Beard · Oct 19, 2005

Peterkro said:
If you don't eat you don't sh*t and if you don't sh*t you die.

Curse you Peterkro, beaten by a couple of minutes.
Grey Beard

thedude110 · Oct 19, 2005

You lose credibility in other food related threads.

cheekyspanky · Oct 19, 2005

I don't know..keep on going and let us know...

*day 6* "Too weak...to...use....key..board...help...me..."*

Go eat something!

Jaffa Cake · Oct 19, 2005

thedude110 said:
You lose credibility in other food related threads.

Of which there are currently a shedload. Have a read through them, find something you like the sound of, and eat some of it.

Lacero · Oct 19, 2005

Sometimes fasting for a week is good for the body.

dubbz · Oct 19, 2005

I've gone through a couple (many, actually) of 24h++ periods without eating anything. You won't die or anything (yet). Don't delay it too long though. And DO drink. That's more important in the "short term".

Don't panic · Oct 19, 2005

raggedjimmi said:
so yea, what happens if you don't eat?

eventually, you die.

of course since this is true also if you do eat, it logically follows that eating is futile.

PlaceofDis · Oct 19, 2005

eh, i regularly go a few days here and there with no food in me. why? i dont know, partly because there is nothing appealing around, and partly because i just don't notice it.

i eat one full meal a day, snack a bit for the rest of the day if i am hungry.

i know that my eating habits are considered horrible, and that its not good for me, but i haven't lost any of my muscle mass, and i actually have more energy and feel better about myself than ever before, but i am no guide to go by on this.

the past 24 hours as an example:
last night i had some pizza for dinner, maybe some chips later on as a snack, and have had nothing to eat all day today, will be having some dinner in a bit when i get around to cooking.

thats everyday for me. eh im just wierd (being depressed doesnt help i suppose)

0098386 · Oct 19, 2005

well i gave in! 10 minutes ago I had a bacon butty, real butter, english muffins (god that sounds like its from a Carry On film) and yea. just nice

My mum said that not eating does some detox thing to your body and is recommended to fast for a day every so often.

my stats now are;
no sleep> 49 hours (i just wanted to beat 48

)
no food> 29 hours
no drink> probably 30 minutes

no football> a decade!

my usual eating habits are no breakfast, little dinner, huge tea. ive been exactly 10 stone for the past 5 years.

wdlove · Oct 19, 2005

I don't really remember going very long without food. The stomach growls and you feel hungry. Survivor training in the Air Force during Nurse Flight School, was a time of going longer without food. We had to scrounge for food.

skunk · Oct 19, 2005

Nothing wrong with fasting for a week at a time, as long as you drink.

Flenz · Oct 19, 2005

Don't panic said:
eventually, you die.

of course since this is true also if you do eat, it logically follows that eating is futile.

This actually made me laugh out loud

Flenz

Giaguara · Oct 19, 2005

Believe me, you dpn't want *MY* answer in this thread.

As long as you know how to play your cards, you are fine. When you lose your cards, you are gone. Weight is VERY limited concept in that. /forced smile.

rye9 · Oct 19, 2005

Nothing really will happen if u dont eat for a day. U will get hungry but ull be fine as long as u dont become anorexic.

Then u have a mental disorder. But in general, dont worry about not eating for a day ,it wont harm u one bit. Some of my friends arent anorexic but look it, its really gross. Their ribs stick out and everything.

EJBasile · Oct 19, 2005

You will...
Be Hungary
After a while though (4 days or so) your hunger pains won't be as strong
Lose Muscle because your body will "eat" it
Become weak
Possibly start to hallucinate

Make sure you drink a lot. You can only go 3-4 days without water, but much longer with out water. I remember I had a text book in Med School that said "Symptoms of Dehydration: 1) Thirst....." (haha, thirst?, really? I never would have guessed!)

Humans (and domesticated animals) are not really supposed to eat 3 times a day. If you look in nature, some animals go days with out eating. Ever wonder why a dog will eat and eat and eat and beg for food its because its instinct is telling it that there might not be food tomorrow for it to eat.

I don't know why you would want to not eat though. It is uncomfortable and unhealthy. Not eating one day is going to hurt you, two days no, three days your body will start to realize "hey I'm not getting any nutrients, better look somewhere else other than my small intestines". Day 4 your be tired and week, probably have lost a few pounds.

Not only do I know this from text books, but I've witnessed it first hand. I got food poisoning a couple years ago from some food at a wedding. The specific virus that I had was a really bad case of gastroenteritis, swelling of the stomach and intestines. Basically what ever I at I threw up and what ever old food and bile that was in my stomach was crapped/thrown up. This includes water so I was very dehydrated. I was sick for 5 days before I went to the hospital where I stayed overnight and got fluids and antibiotics. On the fourth day I had no energy, not even enought to stand up for very long. I hallucinated a little too and lost a little weight. If I had not recieved medicine I could have easily died.

True.B · Apr 17, 2007

Uhmm

Hey

Well i've got the same question.(Well about)
I cant talk to my real friends about this, so i thought that i might ask her and hope for an answer. the thing is that I've decided that i'm not going to eat for awhile, well its not me its just my body. I cant handle it anymore. Sometimes i stop eating and sometimes i start again.
Its just something that have started to happen over and over again. Im just 15 and I know that at this age people start to think about what they eat and that kind of stuff, but I dont really care. I try to ignore the tiny little voice that keeps telling me not to eat. Everyday, everymorning and everynight its just the same thing. I keep thinking about food food food, What Ive ate and whats going to happen.
I dont know what to do, i just need an good answer to what happens.

I saw some answers, but is it really impossible that I could die?:O

iBlue · Apr 17, 2007

True.B said:
Hey
Well i've got the same question.(Well about)
I cant talk to my real friends about this, so i thought that i might ask her and hope for an answer. the thing is that I've decided that i'm not going to eat for awhile, well its not me its just my body. I cant handle it anymore. Sometimes i stop eating and sometimes i start again.
Its just something that have started to happen over and over again. Im just 15 and I know that at this age people start to think about what they eat and that kind of stuff, but I dont really care. I try to ignore the tiny little voice that keeps telling me not to eat. Everyday, everymorning and everynight its just the same thing. I keep thinking about food food food, What Ive ate and whats going to happen.
I dont know what to do, i just need an good answer to what happens.
I saw some answers, but is it really impossible that I could die?:O

Why?

(really, what are you trying to accomplish?)

miloblithe · Apr 17, 2007

skunk said:
Nothing wrong with fasting for a week at a time, as long as you drink.

Perhaps if you're trying to get the British out of your country, but otherwise...

True.B · Apr 17, 2007

iBlue said:
Why?

(really, what are you trying to accomplish?)

I really dont know.
Its just something that keeps happening
Maybe it is becuase i was not comfortable with how i looked before, but now i really dont care and this wont go away.

What happens if you don't eat?

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