Answer to Question #176391 in Chemistry for Fadi Sheikh

Question

Comment “Fatty acids are storage fuels”. The weight of a person ABC is 65 kg. About 11.5 kg of his weight is due to the fat deposits in the body. He went for a hunger strike. Can you explain how long he can survive? i. without water and food? ii. without food but with water? 

Answer 1

i) A person requires water for normal homeostasis. Lack of water impairs normal physiology. It is expected that a person can live without water only three days.

ii) A man with 65 kg body weight requires approximately 2,500 kcal per day. The oxidation of 1 g of fats releases approximately 9 kcal. As a result, oxidation of 11.5 kg of fat would release 11,500 g × 9 kcal = 103,500 kcal. From here, without food, the man would obtain the required amount of calories from fats. In this case, he can survive approximately 103,500 kcal / 2,500 kcal/day = 41.75 days. As a result, it can be assumed that the man could survive not more that 40 days without food.