Sure, by that logic your body functions start breaking down when you’re born.
My point is, the feeling of hunger, no matter how intense, is caused by hormones rather than any actual damage of body functions breaking down.
That’s also why you won’t feel that hungry anymore after a day or two of not eating; because your body stops producing those hormones. Still, your body hasn’t taken any damage and you’re still as healthy as you were before, only a little bit lighter from the burnt fat.
Only after a longer time, potentially weeks, will your body functions actually start breaking down. I’m no expert, but I’d assume at that point you’ll feel more fatigued than just hungry.
Your body knows not to start with important organs. It does take a while before it leads to damage (measurable shortened lifespan or lowered health / quality of life). If you have fat reserves, the most important thing is covering the nutrients our body can’t produce (salts, some vitamins, etc)to avoid actual damage if fasting for a week or more.
Not really, you can easily go several days or even weeks without eating anything and your body still functions well.
Drinking, on the other hand, is different. When you’re dehydrated your body functions actually start to break down.
Starting to do a thing is not finishing said thing.
Sure, by that logic your body functions start breaking down when you’re born.
My point is, the feeling of hunger, no matter how intense, is caused by hormones rather than any actual damage of body functions breaking down.
That’s also why you won’t feel that hungry anymore after a day or two of not eating; because your body stops producing those hormones. Still, your body hasn’t taken any damage and you’re still as healthy as you were before, only a little bit lighter from the burnt fat.
Only after a longer time, potentially weeks, will your body functions actually start breaking down. I’m no expert, but I’d assume at that point you’ll feel more fatigued than just hungry.
Autophagy appears to start after not eating for a single day. Your body goes into emergency mode quite fast.
Your body knows not to start with important organs. It does take a while before it leads to damage (measurable shortened lifespan or lowered health / quality of life). If you have fat reserves, the most important thing is covering the nutrients our body can’t produce (salts, some vitamins, etc)to avoid actual damage if fasting for a week or more.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-025-02035-4