What will happen if you don't eat or drink for a day

Many people are particularly blind when losing weight. They think that the most effective way to lose weight is to diet. But in fact, this way of losing weight is very easy to relapse, and the rebound effect will be very obvious. If we don’t eat or drink for a day, our body will become thinner, and the stomach will feel uncomfortable. So what will happen if we don’t eat or drink for a day?

How much weight can you lose by not eating for a day

1. Not eating or drinking can theoretically help you lose 3-5 pounds. A person eats about 3-5 pounds of food a day, part of which will be digested and absorbed by the body, and the other part will be excreted as feces. If you don't eat for a whole day, your stomach and intestines will be emptied. Theoretically, you can lose 3-5 pounds.

2. Not eating but drinking water can help you lose 2-3 catties. A person eats about 3-5 catties ​​of food a day, part of which will be digested and absorbed by the body, and the other part will be excreted as feces. If you don't eat for a whole day, your stomach and intestines will be emptied. Theoretically, you can lose 3-5 catties. However, people will drink water, and the stool may not be completely discharged, so generally they can only lose 2-3 pounds.

3. Only 0.5 catties of fat is actually lost. The basal metabolic calories of a person per day are 1500-2000 kcal, and one kilogram of fat can provide 7700 kcal. That is to say, if you don't eat or drink for a day, you only need to consume 0.38-0.51 catties of fat. The rest of the weight loss is caused by dehydration or reduction of stool.

Note: This way of losing weight is not only harmful to your body, but it only reduces your water content, giving you signs of weight loss. But one day you will have to end the days of not eating to lose weight. By then, your body will need to consume several times more than before in order to restore its normal functions, and your appetite will naturally increase exponentially. After dieting, you will inevitably binge eat. This is why almost everyone who diets will gain weight back. Unless you don't eat, you would have starved to death long ago.

Not eating to lose weight can easily lead to a series of problems such as endocrine disorders (and thus irregular menstruation), liver damage, amenorrhea or infertility, and osteoporosis. Not eating for a short period of time can indeed help to lose weight, but few people know that skipping meals to lose weight is a complete misunderstanding.

What happens if you don't eat or drink for a day?

1. Dry mouth

People need 2500 ml of water a day. If you don’t drink water for a day, you will feel dry mouth and sticky saliva in your mouth, which is very uncomfortable. A person can survive for a maximum of one month without eating and relying only on the nutrients stored in the body or consuming his own tissues. But without drinking water, it would be hard to get through even a week. Losing 10% of water in the body threatens health, and losing 20% ​​of water can be life-threatening. This shows how important water is to life.

2. Slowed metabolism

Water is involved in all metabolic activities. Lack of water will slow down metabolism, affecting the excretion of pigments and waste products in the body. For example, people who don’t like to drink water often suffer from constipation and pigmentation.

3. Hyponatremia

If you don't eat or drink for a day, the body will lose a lot of sodium and potassium, which can easily cause hyponatremia. Patients often show symptoms of fatigue, indifference, listlessness, and easy fainting when standing up. In severe cases, they may experience nausea, vomiting, and a sharp drop in blood pressure.

4. Hypoglycemia

If you fast for too long without eating or drinking, your blood sugar will drop sharply, and your autonomic sympathetic nerves will become overexcited, causing sweating, palpitations, tremors, pale complexion, etc.