How long can a person survive without food?

While food is essential to the daily functioning of human beings because it gives energy, the truth is human beings can still survive without food for some days. However, there may be variation between people as to how many days they can go without food. It has been widely researched that human beings can live without food a period of 8 - 21 days and even more. However, elongating this period beyond this can be life-threatening.

It should be noted that a lot of things are contributing to how far someone can go without food. Factors like fat content, activities of an individual during this period. During this period, a person with high-fat content may live longer than others, because the body will be acting on the fat and use it for the various reactions in the body. It has also been researched that drinking of water during a period can increase your chance to live more during starvation.

The human body will always need to consume food and water so that it will continue living. Without food and water, the vital organs of the body will not have enough strength to continue, which means that they will shut down one by one. A human being will be able to survive without any food for about three weeks.

There are some people who are able to do fasting for weeks, and they usually feel more cleansed. It can be different whenever people would be asked if they can survive without water. Most people can die because of the lack of water just after a few days.

Food and water are essential for our survival. Many people can go several days with food or water but starving for 30 to 40 days can be life threatening. Your body needs food and water to continue function and if this is not available, death would be knocking on the door.

This is because of the many dangers that can arise from starvation. It is believed that the average person’s body can go up to 3 weeks without food but the body cannot go without water for about a week. With water, a person can survive longer periods without food. In Maze prison in 1981, many IRA hunger strikers survived between 46 to 73 days with only water without food.

A man can still survive a few days without taking food. But if one is still alive till between the thirtieth and forty-fifth day of starving, death is already knocking at the door. It is observed that death is more likely to occur around the fortieth day of starving from food. Most certainly, the body will not be able to bear it anymore on the sixtieth day, and death is most likely to happen any time soon after the sixtieth day. Nevertheless, our body is different from themselves, and bodies have a different level of tolerance or endurance.

The extent to which a man lives after the absence of food is also determined by the nature of the person’s body –how strong or endurable the body is. Another factor to be considered is the intake of water. A consistent intake of water will also enable longer living days without food. Hardly can anyone bear it beyond a week without food and water.