How Long Can a Person Live Without Food?

How Long Can a Person Live Without Food?: "How Long Can a Person Live Without Food?
The length of time a person can survive without food is dependent on numerous factors which includes total weight, genetic makeup, adequate or inadequate levels of hydration, and so on. Generally, however, most medical experts believe the average individual can survive without food for 4 to 6 weeks! Astoundingly though, without water, a human being would be hard pressed to live for more than a few days!
An impressive historical example is that of Mahatma Gandhi, the famous proponent for India's independence. While protesting the oppression of the British, Gandhi (74 years old at the time) survived for twenty-one days of total fasting, subsisting only on sips of water. Other people who have gone on hunger strikes throughout the ages have been documented to have survived up to 40 days without food. Generally though the deprivation of food beyond 45 days, even in the presence of adequate hydration, leads to death by starvation. If one is taking about near-starvation though, either under duress or medically supervised, it is quite possible that a human being may survive for several months or even years. Victims of Nazi concentration camps during World War II Germany, are a good example. The body has a remarkable ability to adapt to states of low nutrition by altering normal metabolic function to conserve energy. "