How long it would take to die if you don't eat after man managed to fast for over a year

In June 1965 a morbidly obese man stopped eating food for more than a year.

Angus Barbieri wanted to overcome his addiction to food and lose weight, so he started a 382 day period of fasting which started on 14 June, 1965 and lasted until 30 June, 1966.

During this time he had no solid food, consuming only yeast, vitamins, electrolytes, black coffee, tea and sparkling water.

In that time his body weight went from 207kg to 82kg, but his year-long fast is not something you'd want to replicate in a hurry.

This is the 'before picture'. (Wikimedia Commons)

How long can you survive without drink?

The general rule of thumb is three minutes without air, three days without water and three weeks without food.

However, you can live slightly longer than three days without a drink depending on your body, but it really won't be a pleasant or healthy experience.

Some people can make it up to five or six days, but going without water for any period of time is going to take a catastrophic toll on your body as it begins to shut down, leading to brain damage and organ failure.

So don't go without having a drink.

Going without water is even deadlier than starvation. (Getty Stock Photo)

What happens in your body when you stop eating?

Nothing good.

Starved of energy, your body begins to experience all sorts of problems as your organs start to do less and attempt to conserve energy.

Your brain will begin to struggle without nourishment, your blood pressure will drop, your heart will eventually fail and your body may lose the strength to properly operate the digestive system.

Your bones can weaken, your skin flakes off and your hair begins to fall out.

Obviously once all of this is happening you then die.

Not eating when you're hungry is a very dangerous thing to do. (Getty Stock Photo)

How long can you survive without eating?

As long as you have water to drink, experts reckon you can survive for about three weeks without eating anything.

There is no strict timetable to dying of starvation, as it works differently depending on the body going through it.

Scientists can't exactly test this one in a series of experiments - as the ethical ramifications of starving people to death are quite clear.

According to a study from the British Medical Journal, people who have gone on hunger strike and died of starvation have tended to die between 45 and 61 days, so it appears as though a person could live up to two months without food.

Again, this would be medically inadvisable.

This was Angus after his fast. (Wikimedia Commons)

How was Angus Barbieri able to survive for more than a year?

That really is the big question, since he went without solid food for a whopping 382 days.

First things first, he spent a lot of time in hospital where doctors could monitor him and make sure he was alright during his fast.

He was also provided with nutritional supplements to ensure his body wasn't missing out on some of the more vital things it takes in, and Angus also had a lot of fat reserves his body could burn for energy.

Angus wasn't able to just jump back into eating like normal again afterwards either, as he had to slowly retrain himself to eat.

Had he returned to eating normally after his year-long fast he might have died.

Instead he started himself on a black coffee with a boiled egg and a slice of buttered toast.

Topics: Health, Food And Drink, Science

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker