starvation physiology

Question
if a healthy young adult is taking lime water with little salt for long duretion . what changes in his physilogy will occur . how long one can serviwe on lime water with salt .is keton bodies in urine is dangerous sign

Answer
Dear Vijayverm,

I am afraid I cannot give you a medically accurate, physiological prognosis on this (hopefully) hypothetical situation. From my experience with fasting and healthy nutrition, I can only comment that this would be a dangerous and completely irresponsible experiment if it is meant to approximate starvation levels.
Ketone bodies in urine can be a bad sign. The brain and the heart need the ketones and they should be delivered there, but starvation is one of the causes of Ketosis where too many ketone bodies accumulate and are exhaled or passed in urine.
Survival is possible under many harsh and unhealthy circumstance but some kind of organ damage or failure is likely to happen after only short periods of such physical stress/abuse. The metabolism is easily set off balance and very hard to rebalance, if such extreme fasting takes place for anything over a week. It won't be easy to regain a healthy appetite without strict dietary advice and sudden weight gain may occur (or the opposite of continued weight loss is also possible if the thyroid has suffered at all).
The main physiological symptoms will be similar to those of most fasters. Your mind will become weak and weary, you will become apathic and lethargic, suffer from cold and fatigue after already one week. If the climate is taxing (very cold or very hot) even sooner. In the second week the lack of any carbohydrates will really start to wreck you if you have even to undertake a  minimal amount of physical activity. Concentration levels will fall to below zero. You will be sleepy but your sleep may well be fitful. It is not for nothing that hospitals give you glucose and saline drips even if you are in a coma. You may be able to pep yourself up into survival mode, but such a (non-) diet will ruin your body gradually but surely.
A healthy person might only contemplate a lime-water fast for a maximum of three days if they can be properly advised on the risks and benefits to themselves personally by a healthcare practitioner. The fast could be extended for up to a maximum two weeks in very exceptional cases BUT with the addition of vegetable cocktails and fruit juices. Otherwise no health benefits can be expected. Coming off such a fast may prove problematic to the average person. Another risk is a kind of auto-intoxication, as you detox too rapidly, releasing too many "waste products" into the bloodstream. You may develop bad acne, eczema, nose bleeds, boils, brittle nails (even after you have resumed normal eating). Your body will not find it easy to play "catch-up".
I hope I have given you some useful information, notwithstanding my little expertise in medical facts. I also hope you don't know anybody who really is contemplating going on such a fast for any duration without expert medical assistance.
with kind regards
Evelyn

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