Featured Image Credit: notmaru/Instagram
Topics: Food and Drink, Health, Mental Health
Callum Jones
Content warning: This article contains topics some readers may find distressing
A man who decided to have no food and only water for a month has detailed the impact it had on his body.
Of course, it's certainly not healthy to have no food for such long period of time, so such a challenge is advised against by healthcare professionals.
While factors such as sex, age, starting weight, and water intake all playing a role, experts have discovered someone who is starving themselves could die in 43 to 70 days.
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Twitter user @maru.eth decided to drink only water for a period of 42 days, but ultimately called it quits on Thursday (January 23) after 30 days.
Taking to Twitter on December 26, at the start of the challenge, he said: "Updating this thread with my 1000-hour (42 days) water fast progress that I started after Christmas dinner. I'll only drink water and supplement electrolytes (sodium, magnesium, potassium)."
The man explained how his weight on December 24 was 97.85kg (216lbs), while he was six-foot-four tall.
On Twitter for the past month, he has been posting regular updates about his progress, beginning by explaining how the first 72 hours were the 'toughest'.
"The first 72h are the toughest because your body is constantly signaling you to eat. it gets way easier after that initial period," he wrote.
After his first week, the man had dropped 92kg, which coincided with the New Year's celebrations.
"Spending NYE without any yummy snacks or drinks was tough, but I made it, I'm alive. slept pretty well and feeling good overall, but I can't shake off the feeling that this fast feels considerably different than my other ones... somethings up and I'm not exactly sure what," he explained.
Throughout his test, @maru.eth explained how sleep was never really a problem, but the mornings were usually 'rough'.
"I lose approximately 300g each day if I keep my sodium intake constant. I still lost actual fat but you don't see that on the scale because of increased water retention," he explained in a follow-up post.
One question many will be asking is how going for a number two is impacted by having zero food for such a long time.
The man explained how his stool was 'very long and that there's residue coming out even after 13 days of not eating anything'.
On January 17, he said how he had gone for his first poo in a whopping 12 days.
And after a gruesome month, he ended the fast this week with a weight of 82.95kg, a drop of 15kg.
"I'm finally done. 30 days without food, just water," he said. "I didn't quite reach the 1000 hour mark as I initially planned but I'm still proud I kept at it for so long. I did this to challenge myself and for no other reason! never fasting for so long ever again."
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article and would like to speak with someone in confidence, call the BEAT Eating Disorders helpline on 0808 801 0677. Helplines are open 365 days a year from 9am–8pm during the week, and 4pm–8pm on weekends and bank holidays. Alternatively, you can try the one-to-one webchat