Not drinking water at all, how long can we survive?

Nearly about 70 percent of the human body consists of water. Water plays an important role to support all body functions so that it can continue to work optimally. This is why humans really need water to survive. Have you ever wondered how long the body can survive without water intake? You may survive several weeks without food, but what if you don't drink water at all? Find out the answer in this article.

How long can the body survive without water?

Normal people can only live for 100 hours, aka about three to four days, if they don't drink water at all. But in the real world, dehydration can happen much faster than the theory says.

Basically, how long you can survive without water can be influenced by various factors. For example, age, health conditions, weather, and physical activity of a person.

Quoted from the Live Science page, a biologist from George Washington University named Randal K. Packer said that in hot weather, a normal adult can lose 1-2 liters of sweat in an hour if he does not drink at all.

When you are physically active or do vigorous exercise on very hot days, you can become severely dehydrated and die within hours without drinking any water.

So, what happens to the body if you don't drink water at all?

When you start to feel thirsty, you are already slightly dehydrated. This condition generally presents two distinctive signs, namely dry mouth and dark yellow urine accompanied by a strong urine odor. This is the body's way of trying to conserve more fluids.

Once the body's water levels fall below normal levels, a series of other symptoms of dehydration will follow. Starting from thirst, dry skin (does not bounce back after pinching), fatigue, weakness, dizziness, lightheadedness, confusion, dry mouth, fast heartbeat, to fast and shallow breathing.

According to the 2009 National Health Service guidelines in the UK, severe dehydration occurs when the body loses about 10 percent of water weight from its total body weight. When water levels drop dramatically in the body, these fluids are diverted to fill vital organs with blood. This causes cells throughout the body to shrink.

The kidneys are usually the first organs to fail among other organs. A day to two days of not drinking water at all, the frequency of your urination will decrease and even stop altogether. Therefore, the kidneys stop cleaning waste because of the shrinking blood supply. As brain cells are depleted of their water supply, the brain can swell and the blood vessels in the skull can burst.

At this stage, you begin to lose consciousness and a severe decline in brain function. You'll also have difficulty swallowing, suffer muscle spasms, and be more likely to experience nausea.

After that, other organs will follow the failure to work. Your body temperature will increase dramatically and start to appear a bluish color on your skin. The next day, your vital organs and brain can no longer function.

The importance of meeting your daily fluid intake

As mentioned above, if you stop drinking water altogether for days, your body will experience its harmful effects. It can even cause death.

This is because dehydration can affect many parts of your body. Some of them cause excessive fatigue, decreased blood pressure, indigestion, skin moisture, mood problems, and also have an impact on cognitive function. That is why it is important for you to pay attention to your fluid intake.

However, you must understand that there is a water requirement for each person depending on the age and the activities undertaken.

So, you don't need to insist on drinking 8 glasses of water per day as many experts recommend if your body feels hydrated enough. And you also don't need to hold back if you still feel thirsty even though you have been drinking 8 glasses of water all day.

Most importantly, drink it whenever you feel thirsty, so that your water needs can always be fulfilled properly.