What happens if you don't eat for 3 days

What will happen to the body if you do not eat for 3 days

So that we do not immediately die without food, the body is able to stockpile some amount of different substrate from which energy can be obtained.

First, the body will begin to use glycogen, which is stored in the muscles and liver. When broken down, it will produce glucose, which will nourish the body for some time.

When glycogen runs out, fat will be used. By about 2-3 days, the body will begin to break it down in order to produce ketone bodies from the released fatty acids. Like glucose, they can be a source of energy for the body.

Since both glycogen and fat are needed precisely as a backup food, their destruction does not harm us. Therefore, most likely, nothing will happen to a healthy adult body in three days. Problems usually start Later.

What will happen to your well-being if you do not eat for 3 days

It's hard to guess ahead of time. Someone will complain on lethargy, headache and irritability. How the brain reacts

starvation. Moreover, symptoms may appear not after 3 days, but much earlier.

Someone, on the contrary, will experience a surge of strength and euphoria. Because some ketone bodies are isomers (that is, substances with the same composition and number of atoms, but a slightly different structure) of hydroxybutyrate, a prohibited narcotic substance from the group of euphoretics. But even if this theory is wrong, ketosis is still changes the balance of mediators that regulate nerve transmission in the brain. This helps with depression and some other disorders.

In any case, it is better to discuss with the doctor in advance whether it is possible for a particular person to starve.

Who Shouldn't Starve?

Some people can't go hungry even for a day. It's hard to say exactly when they'll start to have problems (because no one has done such experiments), but it's definitely dangerous:

• for children, because their bodies spend a lot of energy on growth;
• people with disorders of carbohydrate metabolism, for example with diabetes;
• people with sickle cell anemia because they have higher protein requirements
• people with gastrointestinal disorders, because they may not have the right supply of nutrients, and therefore symptoms will appear earlier.