How long can people go without eating and still be alive?
The general rule is 3 weeks or so.
General rules:
3 minutes without air
3 days without water
3 weeks without food (less activity, may increase this)
well, there were a bunch of venezuelans who went about 2 months without food in the mountains of Chile...
I had a nose and throat surgery that left me unable to eat anything for 3 weeks. For the first 4 days, I could barely tolerate the pain of drinking water or even taking the pain meds (liquid cocaine). Lost 21 lbs and while an effective weight lost plan, not one I would recommend.
That works out to 7 lbs per week on average. Assuming that continues at the same rate and figuring my fat stores prior, I could have easily lasted 10 to 12 weeks. After that, I would have been real trouble.
You can last a long time without food, particularly if you have fat stored (I didn't click on the article, so I don't know the situation). Lack of water, on the other hand, will kill you in 3 or 4 days.
“How long can people go without eating and still be alive?”
An average person can survive about two weeks without food or water. Since she was in the bathroom she did have water to keep her alive. If she was overweight? She could survive for a while being that she had water.
GeronL I just have a hard time believing that she lived in an apartment and no one heard her. That is unreal. They say they heard the banging, but no one heard her scream? After two or three nights of the banging I would have gone to the building manager and asked “what is that about?”. Must be what Glenn Beck said, French people are rude, and I thought my neighbors were bad!