It’s quite difficult to predict if you don’t eat for three days, but nothing critical.
What will happen to the body if you don’t eat for 3 days
So that we do not immediately die without food, the body is able to store a certain amount of different substrates from which energy can be obtained.
Initially, the body will begin to use up glycogen stored in the muscles and liver 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 as backup nutrition, their destruction does not harm us. Therefore, most likely, nothing will happen to a healthy adult body in three days. Problems usually begin later.
What will happen to your health if you don’t eat for 3 days
It is difficult to guess in advance. Someone complains about lethargy, headache and irritability. This is how the brain reacts to fasting . And the symptoms may occur not after 3 days, but much earlier.
Some people, on the contrary, experience a surge of energy and euphoria. Because some ketone bodies are isomers (i.e. substances with the same composition and number of atoms, but a slightly different structure) of hydroxybutyrate, a banned narcotic substance from the group of euphorics.But even if this theory is not true, ketosis 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 your doctor in advance whether a particular person can go hungry.
Who should definitely not go hungry
Some people can’t go hungry for a single day. It’s hard to say at what point they will start having problems (because no one has conducted such experiments), but it’s dangerous:
- for children, because their bodies spend a lot of energy on growth;
- people with carbohydrate metabolism disorders, such as diabetes
- people with sickle cell disease because they have higher protein requirements;people with sickle cell disease because they have higher protein requirements;
- people with gastrointestinal diseases, because they may not have the necessary supply of nutrients, and therefore, symptoms will appear earlier.
