Suppose, for whatever reason, a person stops eating. He is still drinking water, but that’s it. How soon will there start to be negative consequences, and what would the first consequences be? Assume that his activity level is average.
And what supplements could he take to counteract these consequences? How long could he continue fasting, with supplements, and remain relatively healthy?
It depends on the state of the person to begin with. Most estimates I’ve seen are for about a month without food and only water. I recall reading about one of those morbidly obese people that was bedridden and he lost the weight. And he basically was in a hospital and lived for 26 weeks on water, and like a broth with some vitimains and electrolytes and minerals thrown in.
Here’s a related article on Inedia, the supposed ability to live without food.
The obvious answer is that fasting excessively can lead to malnutrition;
"Malnutrition can have negative effects on your body, so you may notice that your body slows down or does not work as well as usual:
* It can take longer for wounds to heal and to recover from infections,
* it can become harder to stay warm, and
* you may feel tired and/or depressed."
There’s also the assorted risks of not getting your required RDA in vitamins, the symptoms of which are listed here.
Not sure about the second part of your question, I suppose vitamin supplements would help with the above. But without protein, carbohydrates and whatnot I imagine the symptoms of malnutrition will become more and more severe until you eventually peg out.
I have some personal experience with this. I was an athlete in my first year of college, (football). My playing weight was 220. I had a severe knee injury at the age of 18. A year of depression, beer and the munchies led to 295 lbs and a 39 inch waist.
I finally decided to get off the booze and pot and get back in shape to see if I could resume my football career. I was such a mess, I felt that drastic measures were needed.
I didn’t eat solid food for 6 weeks, all the while walking a minimum of 5 miles per day. My family was putting pressure on me to start eating again, after 2 weeks. It was the six week mark that I noticed a lot of hair coming out in the shower. that prompted me to start eating again. Started back with chicken, broccoli and salads.
Long story short. I lost about 35 lbs in my first 3 months. It plateaued for about 3 weeks, then I started losing weight again at a pretty rapid pace. Nine months after I started, I wound up pretty physically fit, and 175 lbs. It took me another year to build up my lost muscle mass and get back on the team.
I pretty much raised myself as an athlete, and had the vital signs of one even when I was obese. The only physical signs present from fasting, other than weight loss, was the hair falling out. I believe the rapidity of the weight loss was due to the fact that I hadn’t been fat for very long, so it didn’t have time to become fibrous.