---
title: "Could you survive — going without something"
description: "12 questions about surviving going without something, each with what happens physiologically and in what order."
url: https://atoneplace.net/could-you-survive/deprivation/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Going without something

12 questions in the going without something category.

| Question | Answer |
| --- | --- |
| How long can you survive without water? | About three days in mild conditions — but under a day in desert heat, and up to a week at rest in the cold. |
| How long can you survive without food? | Weeks rather than days — one to three weeks is typical, and water runs out long before calories do. |
| How long can you survive without air? | Consciousness goes in about a minute and brain injury begins around four to six minutes. |
| How long can you survive without sleep? | No one has died of sleep deprivation alone; the record is 11 days, and severe impairment arrives within two. |
| How long can you survive without food and water? | About three days — water sets the limit and food barely enters into it. |
| How long can you survive without sunlight? | Indefinitely, provided vitamin D comes from food or a supplement — sunlight itself is not a requirement. |
| How long can you survive without human contact? | Indefinitely in the direct sense — but isolation measurably raises the risk of dying early. |
| How long can you survive without gravity? | Indefinitely with exercise countermeasures — the record for one continuous flight is 437 days. |
| How long can you survive without salt? | Weeks to months at rest — kidneys are very good at conserving sodium — but days if you are sweating heavily. |
| How long can you survive without vitamin C? | Scurvy appears after roughly one to three months of near-zero intake, and is fatal in a few months more. |
| How long can you survive without protein? | Months, because the body cannibalises its own muscle — which is exactly why it eventually kills you. |
| How long can someone with type 1 diabetes survive without insulin? | Days. Missing insulin in type 1 diabetes is an emergency, not an inconvenience. |

- [How long can you survive without water?](https://atoneplace.net/could-you-survive/without-water/) — About three days in mild conditions — but under a day in desert heat, and up to a week at rest in the cold.
- [How long can you survive without food?](https://atoneplace.net/could-you-survive/without-food/) — Weeks rather than days — one to three weeks is typical, and water runs out long before calories do.
- [How long can you survive without air?](https://atoneplace.net/could-you-survive/without-air/) — Consciousness goes in about a minute and brain injury begins around four to six minutes.
- [How long can you survive without sleep?](https://atoneplace.net/could-you-survive/without-sleep/) — No one has died of sleep deprivation alone; the record is 11 days, and severe impairment arrives within two.
- [How long can you survive without food and water?](https://atoneplace.net/could-you-survive/without-food-and-water/) — About three days — water sets the limit and food barely enters into it.
- [How long can you survive without sunlight?](https://atoneplace.net/could-you-survive/without-sunlight/) — Indefinitely, provided vitamin D comes from food or a supplement — sunlight itself is not a requirement.
- [How long can you survive without human contact?](https://atoneplace.net/could-you-survive/without-human-contact/) — Indefinitely in the direct sense — but isolation measurably raises the risk of dying early.
- [How long can you survive without gravity?](https://atoneplace.net/could-you-survive/without-gravity/) — Indefinitely with exercise countermeasures — the record for one continuous flight is 437 days.
- [How long can you survive without salt?](https://atoneplace.net/could-you-survive/without-salt/) — Weeks to months at rest — kidneys are very good at conserving sodium — but days if you are sweating heavily.
- [How long can you survive without vitamin C?](https://atoneplace.net/could-you-survive/without-vitamin-c/) — Scurvy appears after roughly one to three months of near-zero intake, and is fatal in a few months more.
- [How long can you survive without protein?](https://atoneplace.net/could-you-survive/without-protein/) — Months, because the body cannibalises its own muscle — which is exactly why it eventually kills you.
- [How long can someone with type 1 diabetes survive without insulin?](https://atoneplace.net/could-you-survive/without-insulin/) — Days. Missing insulin in type 1 diabetes is an emergency, not an inconvenience.