Overview
Starvation is an extreme form of malnutrition. If your body doesn't get the nutrients it needs, it won't be able to maintain itself, grow properly and fend off disease. If you don't eat, your body will deteriorate. First, your mental and physical performance will suffer. Eventually, your body's systems will begin to shut down to conserve energy.
Beginning Stages
The extent, type and timeline of damage you will experience depends on how much you currently weigh, whether you eat insufficient food or nothing at all, your age, medical condition and many other factors. Generally, during the beginning stages, you'll experience fatigue, dizziness, dry or scaly skin, and weakness. You'll also feel intense hunger. Your body is responding to the lack of food, which it needs for energy, by signaling your brain to do something about it.
Your mental performance will degenerate. Like every other part of your body, your brain needs nutrients and energy to function properly. Infants who starve might never develop proper brain function. People over the ages of 2 or 3 might experience temporary poor cognitive function, but recover once they receive nourishment. Your mood likely will change as you become preoccupied by thoughts of food. You also might feel anxious, irritable, angry, withdrawn and depressed.
Middle Stages
Your lack of nutrition might lead to gastrointestinal disturbances, feeling cold, hypersensitivity to noise or light, water retention and decreased libido. Your immune system won't be able to produce sufficient antibodies to fight infection, so you'll get sick more often. Your gums might swell and bleed. Your rate of metabolism will decrease as your body tries to conserve as much energy as possible. You will lose weight as your body depletes your fat stores, then begins to burn other tissues, such as muscle.
Final Stages
Eventually, your failure to get sufficient nutrients will lead to permanent damage. Your teeth will decay, and your bones will weaken due to insufficient calcium. Your hair will fall out. Your organs will begin to shut down due to the lack of energy and nutrients necessary for maintenance. Your heart muscles will weaken. The end result is complete system failure, or death.
Underdeveloped Countries
Starvation and malnutrition are an epidemic in some underdeveloped countries. Children experience the most damage because they need proper nutrition to develop properly. Even if they survive long periods of starvation, they might experience abnormal growth and other forms of permanent damage. For example, nearly all bone development happens before adulthood, so children who fail to get sufficient calcium in their diets are likely to experience osteoporosis or other bone composition problems later as adults.
Developed Countries
People with eating disorders sometimes use starvation techniques to lose weight. For example, bulimics force themselves to throw up after meals, which can result in malnutrition and starvation. People with anorexia avoid eating whenever possible. The specific effects of these conditions depend on the severity of the problem, but extreme cases can result in permanent damage -- such as low bone density, tooth decay or gastrointestinal problems -- and death.
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