# Staying alive without eating



## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

That got your attention, didn't it?

I was reading my latest copy of Off-Grid magazine and found an article explaining the reactions the human body goes through during fasting and starvation.
It explained what happens to your fat cells, muscle, and brain tissue during a long period without food.
I'll skip the scientific stuff and get down to the point of the article. They were making the case for what would be better during a bug out situation where carrying two weeks of food per person would be impractical. It boiled down to, all your body really needs to keep from metabolising muscle and protien is to have stored fat and keep the brain supplied with glucose. Vitamin C is needed to keep scurvy at bay, and B1 (thiamine) is needed to keep the metabolism funcrioning off of fat and not protien.
The point was, packing weeks worth of glucose tabs and multivitamins would be better than packing weeks worth of food, and as long as you kept fluid in you and had extra fat, you could survive long periods of time without eating a single meal.
I was curious what you folks thought about this.

And to the medical folks, the question I'm sure you dread, could this be a diet for weight loss if managed carefully?


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## Jeep (Aug 5, 2014)

Sounds plausible to me, although the hunger would still suck


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## Seneca (Nov 16, 2012)

I think carrying a few extra pounds of fat is fine. Having watched a few episodes of Naked and afraid, which is pretty much a show about two people without any clothes starving for 3 weeks. They do a head shot clip that shows how each persons face changed over the 3 weeks. The changes in their appearances are pretty dramatic.


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Kauboy said:


> That got your attention, didn't it?
> 
> I was reading my latest copy of Off-Grid magazine and fond an article explaining the reactions the human body goes through during fasting and starvation.
> It explained what happens to you fat cells, muscle, and brain tissue during a long period without food.
> ...


Yes. I believe it would work in a health individual. When you start talking medical conditions and medications I would definitely consult a physician. If there are any chiropractors out there, they are big nutrition guys and great sources of info also. Be sure to monitor your vitals and stay hydrated. If things go off track stop the diet. Its just like getting ready for a colonoscopy but longer.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

See, the trouble I always have with diets is the food. It either tastes bad because I've conditioned myself to like good tasting but unhealthy food, or staring at the clock until the next time I can cram something in my mouth drives me insane.
With this, it would remove the prospect of food altogether. I've really started to notice lately how much control food has on me, and I don't like it.
I've also heard of a lesser extreme to this that is intended to "reset" your pallette. After not consuming any food for a few days, even the most bland lettuce leaf becomes a euphoric experience to taste. It is supposed to put you back on course to eat healthy foods instead of processed ones.

As always, clean fresh water should be in abundance and consumed regularly, but not overdone.

If I gather the strength to start this, I'll report my results regularly. Still researching for now, and getting reaction thoughts first.


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

Would'nt you first need to know if your health enough to do this? Sometimes weight gain is due to an under active thyroid condition, diabetes, or even fluid build up from heart disease.


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## SARGE7402 (Nov 18, 2012)

think if you look at the military survival bars or iron rations you'll find a lot of "Candy" as part of a daily survival pack. Emergency Supplies - 3600 Calorie Emergency Food Bar

And cheap = $5/three days


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

BagLady said:


> Would'nt you first need to know if your health enough to do this? Sometimes weight gain is due to an under active thyroid condition, diabetes, or even fluid build up from heart disease.


That would certainly be recommended before doing this intentionally. 
As for myself, aside from unhealthy eating habits, I don't suffer from any health conditions, nor have a history of issues. The only thing I have in my family is diabetes, but I've never been diagnosed with it.


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

I've heard Buddhist people do this for weeks at a time. Not for survival but they believe it has some sort of health benifit? Another consideration is you will have to ease back into eating normal food or you will get sick.


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