Starvation has several stages. Our bodies are fantastically well
adapted to deal with less than adequate amounts of
food. The
strategy the
body adopts for
surviving is dependant on the rate of starvation. If the starvation is slow enough the body will
deplete nearly all of the
fatty tissues before breaking down the
liver and
muscle fiberes for energy. If the starvation is sudden (ie no food at all) the body simultaneously breaks down the fat and the muscle/liver tissues after about a week.
When food is
limited the body slows down requiring less food. After you enter stage one you lose your
appetite (possibly a measure to make searching for food easier as the
hunger pains are extremely distracting) Once in stage 3 it is unlikely that the person will recover even if given food, the body is not strong enough to
break down the food to recover the
energy from it to
live.
Metabolic Stages of Starvation
Stage 1 Liver & muscle
glycogenolysis
Stage 2
Gluconeogenesis (Liver & muscle
glycogen stores depleted)
Stage 3
Terminal phase =
Protein degradation (
Lipid stores
depleted)