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How Long Can A
Human Survive Only On Water Alone?
After
one week of not drinking water, your body will stop to sweat. Then, the body
temperature will increase. It will be impossible to facilitate digestion
because of the lack of intestinal juices and saliva. Thereafter, blood pressure
will decrease because of the reduction of blood volume. With this feeble body
issue, death is possible.
The Berkey
It
is normal to be thirsty since it’s the body’s way to survive.
Indeed,
water is an important nutrient in our body and we need it just like any other
being.
Water
can aid in our digestion and regulate body temperature. It is essential in the
disposal of body wastes to be healthy.
Furthermore,
the brain must acquire water to produce neurotransmitters and hormones.
Water
makes up around 65% of the body liquid and it is considered as an abundant
molecule.
As
your body uses the water from outside sources, it will use the water in the fat
cells to quench the thirst.
This
is the same mechanism used by camels to survive for many days under the
scorching heat of the sun. They extract the water stored from the body fats.
However,
the human body does not have this much storage capacity just like the camels
do.
After
one week of not drinking water, your body will stop to sweat. Then, the body
temperature will increase.
It
will be impossible to facilitate digestion because of the lack of intestinal
juices and saliva. Thereafter, blood pressure will decrease because of the
reduction of blood volume.
With
this feeble body issue, death is possible. Without water, you can disrupt the
body’s balance to gain and lose body water. Survival rate can be minimized due
to sweating and urinating.
As
such, in this article, you will learn the facts about how long can a human
survive without water.
We
will discuss the facts and science behind this myth. Moreover, we will tackle
the fad about water diet and why is it getting popular today.
How
Long Can a Person Live Without Drinking Water?
In
general, you can survive without drinking water for up to 3 days. But there are
claims that they have survived 8 to 10 days even a drop of any fluid.
You
can stretch the amount of time to survive depending on external factors.
Examples of these are the humidity, temperature, and your general health.
Athletes
who are exercising intensely under the heat of the sun can become dehydrated
and die after a few hours only.
Meanwhile,
there is a prisoner who has reported to survived 18 days without water inside
the jail. This has been stretched because he was indoors away from the heat of
the sun.
Indeed,
one can survive without no fluid indefinitely. This is true if you have
consumed enough foods filled with water to replace the fluid lost by your body.
The
human body does not necessarily need to consume pure water. What it needs are
nutrients and electrolytes from the aqueous solution to be absorbed by the
body.
According
to history, a Chinese sailor named Paoon Lin has survived 133 days without
water when his ship sank in 1942. He was left stranded in the open ocean in a
raft.
Because
of the incident, he ran out of supplies and left him without no freshwater for
three months.
He
survived by eating fish and drinking the blood of a shark or seagull. This
might be repulsive but the idea made him survive.
Sources
of Water
The
best source of body fluid is by drinking water. However, you can still get it
from eating food such as fruits and vegetables.
To
keep your body hydrated, you can also drink beverages like milk or fruit
juices. Stay away from drinking alcoholic beverages because this will only lead
the body to lose more liquid versus the normal process via urination.
Understanding
What is Water Diet
Now
that we have understood what will happen to our body after a few days without
drinking water, it’s time to discuss water diet. This is the newest fad among
many millennials who are concerned about their weight.
You
need to understand that there are two types of a diet which are the unhealthy
and healthy diet.
A
good diet can help you adopt a healthy lifestyle. It will make you active, help
you eat the good foods, and does not allow you to cut off the important
nutrients that your body needs.
An
unhealthy diet will promise you a quick weight-loss effect but you will only
gain the weight back. This is true with the water diet.
This
is one of the many trending diets today which is extreme. The idea is you don’t
eat any foods at all but only drink water.
In
some diet variations, they let you drink water for some days and add fruits and
vegetables as you begin to shed off some weight. Whereas there are those
variations that let you have apples in your water.
This
diet is another name for fasting. If you are healthy, a few days of fasting
will not affect you. But this is still a bad idea to lose weight.
You
will starve and you will have to eat according to your normal eating patterns.
With this, you will only gain back the weight that you have lost.
Cold
Water Diet
This
idea is not a diet in actuality since there is no restriction on what you eat.
The only thing that you have to do is to drink cold water.
When
you drink cold water, the body will heat to the normal body temperature of
around 98.6 degrees. As such, the colder the drink is, the more calories are
burned by your body.
Moreover,
drinking more cold water will make you feel full for a longer period of time
which makes you less likely to eat. Finally, water can flush out the toxins
from your body.
How
Do You Water Fast?
There
are no scientific rules on how to begin water fasting.
However,
you have to take note that there are groups of people who are not recommended
to fast without consulting a doctor.
This
includes patients with diabetes, gout, eating disorders, kidney disease,
elderly, pregnant women, and children.
If
you have never tried water fasting in the past, it will be best to try three to
four days to prepare your body.
Try
surviving these number of days without eating any food. Moreover, you can also
start eating smaller portions only or by fasting for a day.
Pros
and Cons of Water Fasting or Water Diet
Fasting
is a method of restricting the intake of food which has been practiced since
time immemorial.
In
water fasting, it restricts everything except for the intake of water. Today,
this idea is becoming popular to lose some weight.
Meanwhile,
research provides that water fasting or water diet can actually provide the
body with some benefits.
However,
there is a limited resource or study with regards to water fasting.
Remember
that this diet comes with various health risks and it is not recommended for
everyone. Here are its top benefits:
Promotes
Autophagy
Going
into water diet can help promote autophagy. This is a natural body process
where old cells are broken down and used once again.
Several
studies conclude that autophagy can help the body fight against heart diseases,
Alzheimer’s, and even cancer.
This
is because autophagy can avoid further damage to the cells which is a risk
factor among cancer patients. With this, it can aid in preventing the cancer
cells from growing.
However,
further studies are needed to be conducted to support water fasting’s benefits
and autophagy.
It
May Help Lower Blood Pressure
Experts
have claimed that people who have high blood pressure can undergo long water
fasting in order to lower their blood pressure.
It
is said that as long as the fasting is medically supervised, then their blood
pressure will surely lower down to healthy levels.
One
study has shown that 56 out of 68 persons saw the levels of their blood
pressure lower down to 120/80 mmHg. Significantly, the average drop was 7mmHg
for diastolic or lower value and 20 mmHg for the systolic or upper value.
In
another study, 157 out of 174 persons who have undergone the said fasting for
10 to 11 days have dropped their blood pressure lower than 140/90 mmHg. And in
addition, the average decrease of the systolic blood pressure was 37 mmHg.
Although
studies have shown great results, there still are no human researches that
examine the connection between the short-term water fasts, which lasts for
24-72 hours, and the blood pressure.
It
May Develop Insulin and Leptin Sensitivity
Studies
have shown that through water fasting, the body becomes more sensitive to
insulin and leptin. These two are the important hormones that affect the
metabolism of the body.
The
insulin stores the nutrients that came from the bloodstream while the leptin
makes the body feel full. Thus, the said hormones will become more effective
depending on how sensitive they are.
For
instance, if one’s body is more efficient at decreasing the levels of blood
sugar, then the body is insulin sensitive, and on the other hand, if one’s body
is more efficient in processing hunger signals, then it is leptin sensitive.
In
addition, being leptin sensitive means that a person has a lower risk of being
obese.
It
Lessens the Risk of Some Chronic Diseases
Studies
have shown that people who have undergone water fasting may have a lower risk
of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and other chronic diseases.
One
instance is where 30 healthy adults have decreased their levels of cholesterol
and triglycerides after undergoing the said fasting for 24 hours.
Indeed,
cholesterol and triglycerides are two of the main factors of heart disease.
There
were also some animal studies that have proved that the heart could be
protected against the damage from the free radicals, and the genes that help
cancer cells grow could be suppressed just by undertaking water fasting.
Free
radicals are known to play some major role in many chronic diseases due to the
damage it could cause in some parts of cells.
Before
making recommendations, always remember that there is still not enough evidence
to show the good effects of water fasting in humans.
Threats
and Risks of Water Fasting
Water
fasting does have some health benefits, but having too much may cause some
health risks. Here are some of the risks and dangers of undergoing water
fasting.
You
May Shed the Wrong Weight
Studies
have shown that water fasting restricts the calories, thus undergoing the said
fasting for 24-72 hours could help a person lose up to 2 pounds of weight.
Unfortunately,
most of the weight a person would lose may come from carbs, water, and even the
muscle mass.
Become
Dehydrated
Not
all of the water in a person’s body came from their drinks, roughly 20 to 30%
came from the food they eat.
Thus,
there’s still a possibility of dehydration when person water fast. A dehydrated
person may feel dizzy, headaches, nausea, constipation, low productivity, and
low blood pressure.
If
a person drinks a constant amount of water without eating any foods, then their
bodies won’t be getting enough water. Therefore, a person must drink more than
the usual amount.
You
May Grieve From Orthostatic Hypotension
Orthostatic
hypotension is the dropping of the blood pressure that usually happens when a
person suddenly stands up, it then leaves the person lightheaded, dizzy, and
might be at the risk of fainting. This is usually common for people who fast.
It
is strongly advised that a person should avoid driving or operating any heavy
machinery if he or she happens to have orthostatic hypotension.
Also,
if this phenomenon happens then the person should consider not stopping the
fasting.
Water
Fasting May Aggravate Some Medical Illnesses
Although
water fasting may seem no harm, it is still not recommended to some people
without any proper medical supervision. Such examples of medical conditions are
gout, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, eating disorder, and heartburn.
People
who suffer from gout are not advised to water fast because it would increase
their uric acid production which is a risk factor for gout attacks.
Diabetics
are also not allowed because fasting could increase the risk of side effects in
the 2 types of diabetes. While persons who have chronic kidney diseases may
cause further damage to their kidneys if they water fast.
People
may also experience heartburn because the stomach produces more acids due to
not having food to digest. Moreover, water fasting could encourage eating
disorders like bulimia to teenagers as per the studies have shown.
The
Hazard Of Dehydration
Since
the body constantly loses water, a glass of liquid is not enough to replenish
the body. A person loses water when sweating, peeing, and even exhaling.
An
adult could even lose up to 1.5 liters of water per hour in under extreme
conditions.
And
if the water that’s lost was not replaced, then the volume of one’s body fluid
could decrease rapidly and could even cause the dropping of blood volume.
Having
a minimal volume of blood circulating the body could be fatal for a person
because the blood pressure decreases to lethal levels.
The
temperatures of the body would also increase especially when a person stops
sweating.
Thus,
if symptoms occur, better to administer to the nearest hospital because if the
body loses water more than 10% of one’s weight it could be very dangerous and
could even lead to death.
Welcome to The Berkey.
We strive to provide the clean, fresh and pure, healthy drinking water available because next to air, water is the most important element for our lives. The essence of good health starts with clean air and water.
The Berkey water filters consistently outperform all other water filters in its class at a fraction of the price.
This is all possible because we are determined to improve the quality of your day-to-day drinking water for your family.
Our focus is to provide exceptional products and service through integrity, commitment to our customers, teamwork, the most rigorous testing in the industry and continuous quality improvement.
We strive to provide the clean, fresh and pure, healthy drinking water available because next to air, water is the most important element for our lives. The essence of good health starts with clean air and water.
The Berkey water filters consistently outperform all other water filters in its class at a fraction of the price.
This is all possible because we are determined to improve the quality of your day-to-day drinking water for your family.
Our focus is to provide exceptional products and service through integrity, commitment to our customers, teamwork, the most rigorous testing in the industry and continuous quality improvement.
Should you have any question,
please feel free to contact us.
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