20 AMERICAN SURVIVAL GUIDE [OCTOBER 2019]
“THERE IS A BROAD GULF BETWEEN LIFE AND QUALITY OF LIFE.
GOING WITHOUT FOOD FOR A PROTRACTED PERIOD WILL MAKE
THAT DIFFERENCE PATENTLY OBVIOUS.”expect decreased performance for a few days
until your body acclimates.- You cannot train to resist the e ects of sleep
deprivation. - When badly sleep-deprived, expect momen-
tary unexpected periods of micro-sleep.
A TIMELINE TO DESTRUCTION
Physiological manifestations of the lack of
food, water, and sleep:
Day 2 Dehydration causes headache,
fatigue and irritability. Decreased attention
and speech impairments stem from sleep
deprivation.Day 3 Urine output decreases, and confusion ensues due to lack of water. Sleep deprivation
causes forgetfulness, depression and lack of motivation.
Day 4 Expect seizures due to sodium imbalance and possible death secondary to dehydration.
Unexpected micro-sleeps, paranoia, psychosis and hallucinations ensue due to a lack of sleep.
Day 5 The urge to sleep can become irresistible.
Day 6 Glycogen stores are gone. The body is breaking down fats as its primary energy source.
Day X Fat reserves are depleted. This obviously is driven by how much fat you started with.
The body starts breaking down critical proteins to meet its metabolic demands. This third phase
of starvation is characterized by withdrawal, apathy and listlessness. Disease susceptibility
skyrockets.
Day 21-70 Starvation severely impairs our immune systems. Most people die of opportunistic dis-
ease before they actually starve. The mechanism of death of true starvation is usually heart failure.
Note: These are generalizations. Actual timelines are driven by fitness, nutritional status,
exertion, environment and genetics.