Food is one of the most important aspects of one’s life. The food we eat is what makes us do our daily activities with renewed energy. Without food, no living being can survive on this planet earth. Food comes first in the list of three basic needs of a man- food, clothing & shelter.
The foods consumed may differ according to the species that the organisms belong to. When they go without food for a long time, living beings might die due to malnourishment and lack of energy to survive. So, food is a necessity for all living beings to do their basic and day to day activities.
Travelling is one thing that humans have to do, to get from one place to another for work, recreation or other purposes. When a person is traveling, there are different modes to choose from depending upon the distance one has to travel. Traveling, though an exciting activity, definitely makes one feel tired.
To get that tiredness out of one’s system people usually consume food which is either in the liquid or solid form. Humans can’t survive for a long time without the consumption of food. Being deprived of food for a long time makes the human body to collapse without any energy.
Traveling Without Food
Travel is something a lot of people do daily. Some people travel to different places to experience a different atmosphere and way of living while some people travel for pleasure. Regardless of the purpose, traveling is incomplete without food to munch on. People eat while traveling when they get tired or bored of just sitting in a vehicle.
Traveling is much more fun when there is food involved. However, some people tend not to eat while traveling as they are prone to motion sickness. People with motion sickness are highly advised not to eat a lot or anything at all when they are traveling, as they can get sick and get uncomfortable.
At times, you may experience a critical solution where you are bound to go without food for a long time. Don’t worry, such critical problems have exclusive solutions as well. Luckily, the human body is blessed to go without food for a certain period. Let us find out more about this in these sections. The human body can go without food for many hours. However, that doesn’t mean you should starve for a long time. Your body can withstand the lack of food only for a few hours. You cannot become unconscious while traveling, so you should need some kind of food intake to stay steady and conscious.
How Long Until The Body Reacts?
When a person does not eat for hours together, the body will start to act differently. This won’t happen instantly, it will take as much as 8 to 10 hours of starvation for the body to notice the change in the pattern of food intake. In those 8 hours, the body will function normally.
Once it notices the change, it will start to adapt to changes for the pattern of food intake. It will start burning the energy in a very slow manner as there is not much food to get enough energy.
When there is food intake the body diffuses energy by transforming food into glucose. This glucose will be transmitted to every part of the body, thus helping the body to function in a normal way. When there is food intake all the organs do the duties that they are supposed to do and get the energy that they are supposed to get. Unfortunately, that is not the same when a person is starving.
What Happens When The Body Doesn’t Get Food?
When there is no food intake by a person for 8 to 12 hours, the body starts to look for other options within itself to create energy. The first thing that the body will convert into glucose and then to energy is a substance called glycogen that is found in the liver and muscles. The glycogen from the liver and muscle is taken and converted into energy to be sent out to different parts of the body.
Once the body is done using all the glycogen it will start using amino acids present in the body to create energy. A normal human body can create energy from amino acids for 3 days when they are starving. The amino acids found in the body are used thoroughly for the body to survive the starvation period without giving up. Once the amino acids are fully used the body starts to look for another source to create energy.
The next and almost the last source for the body to use to get energy are the fat stores. The more the fat stores, the more days or hours the person can survive. The body will create ketones from the fat stores to create energy for the human body to survive. This process of creating ketones is called ketosis. This is the process during which the body shows external differences. During the ketosis, process body loses a lot of weight which might even be equal to 10% of the body weight. During this period it is always advised to drink a lot of water to avoid permanent damage to the body.
While traveling one can travel for up to 3 days without having any food and can survive without totally blacking out. In these 3 days, the body produces energy from sources and through the processes mentioned above. However, it is always advised to eat something while traveling to sustain it. No one wants to feel tired, exhausted and irritated while traveling so it is always practical to eat something to be energetic. The food needs not to be even a proper meal; it can be light food like cut vegetables and fruits, string cheese, chips, and hummus, etc.
Conclusion
A human body can survive for over a week without food. However, it is not healthy for the body to go on for longer periods without consumption of any food, as it can affect the body drastically and can cause permanent damage to different organs of the body. Starving for a long period can have side effects that can change the lifestyle of the individual and affect him permanently.
It is always advisable to drink plenty of water and eat the necessary foods to keep the body healthy and fit. So, while traveling people can have foods that are light and have high nutrient value than choosing to avoid food completely.
Written By Boyan Minchev