Risky experiment. What happens to the body if you don’t drink water for three days

Each of us knows that life is impossible without water. It contributes to good health and participates in many important processes in the human body. But few people can really imagine what it’s like to be deprived of precious liquid for a day, or even for several days. But Alexander Likhosherstov, a YouTube-blogger and one of the creators of the channel “Everything by Oil”, has experienced first-hand how such a risky experiment can turn out.

Why is drinking water so important for our body?

First of all, let’s understand why we need to drink enough water every day. Sports doctor Ibraim Chibichev told us about it .

Water is first of all an active transport for the human body. It both brings nutrients and removes all decay products and slags. With severe dehydration in the body is quite serious acidification: decay products are not removed, poisoning occurs. This leads to the fact that cells begin to actively die. Due to the fact that the body does not receive the right amount of nutrients, the same cells also die for the same reasons. That is, water is the basic element of our life, and on the background of it most physiological processes take place.

How much water should be drunk per day?

Previously, according to the standards of the World Health Organization, it was necessary to drink at least 2-2.5 liters of pure water per day – the general norm necessary for human life. But just two years ago, I read an article released by the WHO. Scientists found out that there are no definite figures, because for each person they are individual.

It is believed that you should drink as much water as you want. The main thing is not to replace clean drinking water with some drinks. A person may prefer to drink a few cups of coffee or tea and 1-2 glasses of water a day. This vector should be changed, drink as little as possible of all kinds of drinks, hot or cold, and still tip the scales in the direction of clean drinking water.

On average, it turns out that each person drinks 1-1.5 liters in a normal lifestyle. An athlete will naturally consume more. And there is no indicator of “need to drink”, the only thing is to quench thirst. In a normal training regimen, it is recommended to drink every 15 minutes 100-150 ml of water in small sips. This is a guarantee that the person will not get dehydrated. In cyclic sports – running, triathlon, swimming – it is mandatory to consume at least 0.5 liters at the end of training. And after the starts it is necessary to drink up to one and a half liters in one go. Naturally, not in big gulps, but gradually, within a short period of time.

72 hours without liquid: how did the YouTube-blogger’s experiment go?

Alexander Likhosherstov was not the first time he was subjected to cruel tests. Before that, for the sake of practical interest, he did not sleep for three days. Last year, a man and his friend decided to check what would happen to Alexander’s condition if he refused water for 72 hours. The rules of the experiment did not stop there.

The blogger had to spend three days in one room, within which he was allowed to do anything but drink. It was allowed to leave the bedroom three times, and for each such indulgence there was a punishment: swimming in the pool, a plate of crackers and running on the track. The only motivating bonus was three teaspoons of water, which Alexander could drink at any time at will.

At the same time, the blogger did not refuse to eat. In addition, every day he was measured blood pressure and body temperature, as well as conducted an attentiveness test and took a urine sample. Friends initially looked into all the possible effects of dehydration. Alexander knew he was very likely to get headaches, increased body temperature and high blood pressure.

Day one

Before starting the experiment, the man drank two liters of water at a time, and then measured all the indicators. His blood pressure at that moment was 114 over 69, pulse – 83 beats per minute, body temperature – 35.1, and the figure 78.8 on the scale. According to our expert, for the purity of the study, the same indicators should have been recorded before drinking a large amount of liquid in one approach, because it greatly affected the state of the body.

Ibraim: If you drink two liters of water at a time, you will increase the volume of circulating blood almost one and a half times. Due to this, the pressure drops, then, as a compensatory reaction, it starts to rise, because the active systems of the body are switched on to eliminate the excessive amount of fluid. A heart rate of 83 beats is high at these rates. And the temperature decreases because the balance of thermoregulation is disturbed. Water is a basic molecule that can both combine to retain heat and, conversely, break down to release heat.

In addition to measuring the indicators, Alexander took an attention test. To do this, he had to find the only panda in the picture with snowmen, which merged with them in color and outline. A normal person takes up to a minute to cope with the task. The blogger completed the task in 13 seconds.

On the first day, the man didn’t feel much discomfort. He was a little thirsty only after the first meal, because the food was salty.

Day two

On the morning of the second day, Alexander admitted that it was difficult for him to sleep at night. And when he woke up, his eyes began to water, and it became painful to blink. In order not to be so thirsty, the man decided to reduce the amount of food, so for breakfast he ate a banana, a couple of breads and yogurt. And after the meal he measured his vitals, and they changed slightly.

• Weight – 76.1 (the same two liters of water came out);
• temperature, 35.4;
• blood pressure, 157 over 92;
• attention test with the bucket – 1 minute 23 seconds.

On the second day, the blogger still wanted to go out and ask for a legitimate spoonful of water. As punishment, he received 15 minutes of swimming in a cold pool. According to Alexander, the task turned out to be not so cruel: the water was invigorating, but in the end incredibly thirsty.

That same day, the man left the room a second time and drank another spoonful, for which he had to eat a small plate of saltine crackers. The dehydration and discomfort caused him to start vomiting.

That’s disgusting. My mouth is dry, my lips are dry – all symptoms of being dehydrated. It’s like the effects of three days without sleep. Everything breaks, hurts: it’s hard for me to sit, stand, walk. And I’m getting that haze in my head again.

Day three

On the morning of the third day, Alexander felt very tired. According to the blogger, he did not want to do anything, wanted only water. The man felt extremely bad: he had no strength, constantly felt sleepy. Body indicators continued to change.

• Weight, 75.4;
• BP 143 over 73;
• temperature – 36.0.

Alexander looked sickly: his face turned very pale, circles appeared under his eyes, blood vessels burst. The blogger could not be in the room without water, so for the third time he asked for a teaspoon of liquid. For this he was obliged to run on the sports track in three coats.

After this, the man began to feel very dizzy and had difficulty breathing. The lack of water was felt by the whole body and reached a peak when the blogger got out of bed, bent to his backpack and abruptly stood up. Alexander lost consciousness, so the ordeal had to be urgently interrupted. His friend promptly called an ambulance, which took the man to the hospital.

To see how the experiment took place, you can see in the video.

What are the consequences of dehydration?

The bloggers’ test led to the fact that Alexander had to restore vital resources in a hospital bed, lying under an IV. We asked our expert what kind of vitals deteriorate in a person when they are severely dehydrated.

Ibraim: There is a drop in energy exchange, deterioration of general health and appetite, a sharp drop in strength, lack of stools, urine and sweating. Or, conversely, excessive sweating begins. There is also a decrease or increase in body temperature. That is, it is a total failure in the body, by and large. According to general studies by WHO and physiologists, staying without water for up to a week is fatal. According to some sources, on average up to 3-4 days can be without water. But, again, you need to consider your individual body and lifestyle.

We strongly discourage you from testing that very personal maximum. The dangerous experiment proved once again that it is important to maintain water balance and listen to the feeling of thirst every day. Without interruption for 24, 48 or 72 hours.