It is normal to be thirsty since it’s the body’s way to survive. Indeed, water is an essential nutrient in our body, and we need it just like any other being.
Water aids digestion and regulates body temperature. It is also essential for disposing of body waste, which is essential for health.
Furthermore, the brain must acquire water to produce neurotransmitters and hormones.
Water is an abundant molecule, accounting for around 65% of the body's liquid. When the body uses water from outside sources, it stores it in fat cells to quench thirst. Camels use this same mechanism to survive many days under the sun's scorching heat. They extract the water stored in the body's fats.
However, the human body does not have this much storage capacity, just like camels.
After one week of not drinking water, your body will stop sweating, and your temperature will increase. Without intestinal juices and saliva, digestion will be impossible. The reduction in blood volume will cause blood pressure to decrease.
With this feeble body issue, death is possible. You can disrupt the body’s balance to gain and lose body water without water. The survival rate can be minimized due to sweating and urinating.
As such, this article will explain how long a human can survive without water. We will also discuss the facts and science behind this myth, tackle the water diet fad, and explain why it is becoming popular today.
How Long Can a Person Live Without Drinking Water?
You can generally 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.
The amount of time it takes to survive depends on external factors, such as humidity, temperature, and general health. For example, athletes who exercise intensely under the sun's heat can become dehydrated and die after only a few hours.
Meanwhile, a prisoner reported to have survived 18 days without water inside the jail. This time was extended because he was indoors, away from the sun's heat.
Indeed, one can survive without any 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. It needs nutrients and electrolytes from the aqueous solution to be absorbed by the body.
According to history, a Chinese sailor named Paoon Lin had 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 was without fresh water for three months. He survived by eating fish and drinking the blood of sharks or seagulls. This might have been repulsive, but it helped him survive.
Sources of Water
Drinking water is the best source of body fluids, but you can also get them from eating fruits and vegetables.
You can also drink beverages like milk or fruit juices to keep your body hydrated. However, avoid drinking alcoholic beverages, as they cause the body to lose more liquid than it normally does through urination.
Understanding What is Water Diet
Now that we understand what happens to our bodies after a few days without drinking water, it’s time to discuss the water diet. This is the newest fad among many millennials concerned about their weight.
You need to understand that there are two types of diet: unhealthy and healthy. A good diet can help you adopt a healthy lifestyle. It will keep you active, help you eat good foods, and not allow you to cut off the important nutrients that your body needs. An unhealthy diet promises a quick weight-loss effect, but you will only regain the weight. 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 food at all but only drink water. Some diet variations let you drink water for some days and add fruits and vegetables as you begin to shed some weight. There are those variations that allow you to 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 it is still a bad idea to lose weight. You will starve, and you will have to eat according to your normal eating patterns. This will only cause you to gain back your lost weight.
Cold Water Diet
This idea is not a diet since there is no restriction on what you eat. The only thing you have to do is drink cold water.
When you drink cold water, your body heats up to its normal temperature of around 98.6 degrees.
As such, the colder the drink, the more calories your body burns. Moreover, drinking more cold water will make you feel full for longer, making you less likely to eat. Finally, water can flush out toxins from your body.
How Do You Water Fast?
There are no scientific rules for beginning water fasting. However, it is recommended that some people, including those with diabetes, gout, eating disorders, kidney disease, the elderly, pregnant women, and children, consult a doctor before fasting.
If you have never tried water fasting before, it is best to do so for three to four days to prepare your body. Try to survive these days without eating anything.
Moreover, you can also start eating smaller portions only or fasting for a day.
Pros and Cons of Water Fasting or Water Diet
Fasting is restricting food intake, a practice that has existed since time immemorial. Water fasting restricts everything except water intake. This idea is becoming popular among people who want to lose weight.
Meanwhile, research shows that water fasting or a water diet can benefit the body. However, there is a limited resource or study about water fasting. Remember that this diet has various health risks and is not recommended for everyone. Here are its top benefits:
Promotes Autophagy
A water diet can help promote autophagy, a natural process in which old cells are broken down and used again. Several studies have concluded that autophagy can help the body fight against heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and cancer.
This is because autophagy can avoid further cell damage, a risk factor among cancer patients. It can also help prevent cancer cells from growing. However, further studies are needed to support the benefits of water fasting and autophagy.
It May Help Lower Blood Pressure
Experts have claimed that high blood pressure can undergo long water fasting to lower their blood pressure. If fasting is medically supervised, their blood pressure will surely lower to healthy levels.
One study showed that 56 out of 68 people saw their blood pressure levels lower to 120/80 mmHg. Significantly, the average drop was 7 mmHg for the diastolic or lower value and 20 mmHg for the systolic or upper value.
In another study, 157 out of 174 persons who have undergone fasting for 10 to 11 days have dropped their blood pressure lower than 140/90 mmHg. In addition, the average decrease in systolic blood pressure was 37 mmHg.
Although studies have shown great results, no human research still examines the connection between short-term water fasts, which last 24-72 hours, and blood pressure.
It May Develop Insulin and Leptin Sensitivity
Studies have shown that water fasting makes the body more sensitive to insulin and leptin. These two important hormones affect the body's metabolism. Insulin stores nutrients from the bloodstream, while leptin makes the body feel full.
Thus, depending on their sensitivity, the hormones will become more effective.
For instance, if the body is more efficient at decreasing blood sugar levels, it is insulin-sensitive.
On the other hand, if one’s body is more efficient in processing hunger signals, it is leptin-sensitive. In addition, they are leptin-sensitive, meaning 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 example is 30 healthy adults who decreased their cholesterol and triglyceride levels after fasting for 24 hours. Indeed, cholesterol and triglycerides are two main factors in heart disease.
Some animal studies have proved that the heart could be protected against damage from free radicals, and the genes that help cancer cells grow could be suppressed just by undertaking water fasting. Free radicals play a major role in many chronic diseases due to the damage they can cause in some parts of cells.
Before making recommendations, remember that there is still insufficient evidence to support the beneficial effects of water fasting in humans.
Threats and Risks of Water Fasting
Water fasting does have some health benefits, but too much may cause health risks. Here are some of the risks and dangers of water fasting.
You May Shed the Wrong Weight
Studies have shown that water fasting restricts calories. Thus, fasting for 24-72 hours could help a person lose up to 2 pounds. Unfortunately, most of the weight a person loses may come from carbohydrates, water, and even muscle mass.
Become Dehydrated
Not all the water in a person’s body comes from their drinks. Roughly 20 to 30% came from the food they eat.
Thus, dehydration is still possible when a person waters fast. A dehydrated person may feel dizzy, have headaches, experience nausea, have constipation, experience low productivity, and have low blood pressure.
If people drink constant water without eating food, their bodies will not get enough. Therefore, they must drink more than the usual amount.
You May Grieve From Orthostatic Hypotension
Orthostatic hypotension is a drop in blood pressure usually occurring when a person suddenly stands up. It can leave the person lightheaded and dizzy and put them at risk of fainting. This is usually common for people who fast.
It is strongly advised that people with orthostatic hypotension avoid driving or operating heavy machinery.
Also, if this phenomenon happens, the person should consider not stopping fasting.
Water Fasting May Aggravate Some Medical Illnesses
Although water fasting may seem not harmful, it is still not recommended to some people without proper medical supervision.
Such medical conditions are gout, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, eating disorders, 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. People with diabetes are also not allowed because fasting could increase the risk of side effects in the two types of diabetes.
At the same time, 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 in teenagers, as the studies have shown.
The Hazard Of Dehydration
Since the body constantly loses water, a glass of liquid cannot replenish it. People lose water when sweating, peeing, and even exhaling.
Under extreme conditions, an adult can lose up to 1.5 liters of water per hour. If the lost water is not replaced, the volume of one’s body fluids could decrease rapidly, even causing a drop in blood volume.
Minimal blood circulation in the body could be fatal, as blood pressure decreases to lethal levels. The body's temperature also increases, especially when a person stops sweating.
Thus, if symptoms occur, it is 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 even lead to death.
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