How Long Can a Person Live Without Food

Food is one of the basic needs of human beings. It is necessary for healthy growth and normal functioning of the body. We can get all the essential nutrients including proteins, fats, carbohydrates, sugar, vitamins, minerals, etc. through food. You might also be wondering 'how long can a person live without food?' How long a person can live without food varies from person to person. It generally depends upon the quantity of daily consumption of food and the body weight of the person. A healthy person can live for several weeks, possibly up to 2 months without food. An example is that of hunger strikers surviving without food for 40-70 days.

Answering the question ‘how long can a person live without food?’; well, it depends on four major factors such as general health of the individual, weight when fasting starts, amount of water or other liquids ingested and the person’s mental desire to live. Amount of muscles and body fat, metabolism rate, amount of work and environmental temperature contribute a lot towards a person surviving without food.

When you are living without food, your body will use its protein stores (muscles) and fat reserves for survival. If a person is obese with lot of fat stores, then he would live longer as compared to a thin person. If you continue without food for a few weeks, you will become very weak, as your muscles are used in order to get energy and keep your body functioning. In this process, plenty of body weight is lost and a person becomes very thin. If food starvation continues for a prolonged time, then it may result in death of a person. Hence, proper nutrition and healthy diet is very essential for healthy body functioning.