Metabolism of starvation made simple, Survivor Philippines-style.

I have been told that there are queries on how it was possible that Nikki gained weight on the island and how it was that metabolism messed up with their system.

The following is an attempt to explain the metabolism during starvation made ridiculously simple, Survivor Philippines style.

IN THE BEGINNING

To understand this better, let’s continue to have Nikki in mind.

The first few hours are no different from your nightly fast between dinner and breakfast. For her organs to function normally, she needs glucose and she can have this because the liver breaks down carbohydrates into glucose. Circulating amino acids can also be converted into glucose.

After about 12 hours, the battle to maintain a constant supply of blood glucose exhausts nearly all carbohydrates. This is because the amount of carbohydrates stored in our bodies is enough to supply energy for perhaps half a day.

As a result, over the next few days, fat and protein are the primary fuels. To preserve structural proteins, especially muscle mass, Nikki’s body first turns to free amino acids because they are easily metabolized. It uses some to produce ATP (which is the body’s energy currency) and glucose.

THE EARLY WEEKS

As the days progress, Nikki’s body will resort to several ways to conserve enegry. To do this, her body temperature lowers, as well as her pulse rate, her blood pressure and her resting metabolism. Thus, you will expect her to become lethargic to reduce the amount of energy expended in an activity.

Niña agrees. “Not having enough nourishment would naturally cause overall weakness, so we conserve energy by exerting minimal effort – sit, sleep, reflect.”

If Nikki’s body continues to rapidly break down protein, she would survive only less than 3 weeks. So to survive, her body doubles the rate of fat breakdown. This continues with more biochemical reactions (which are too boring to even explain). Bottomline is: the body utilizes its fat stores for energy during this time because of limited carbohydrates available, so as to provide Nikki with the energy she needs.

Thus, by this time, you will see that Nikki was able to participate in challenges and contribute to camp life.

Moreover, if you have an ample amount of starting percentage of body fat, it will prolong your survival. Case in point: Marlon.

But women also have an advantage since women have more body fat than most men.

SEVERAL WEEKS OF FASTING

The average person has about three weeks of fat stores, and the rate of fat depletion is fairly constant. There will come a time that the body will eventually exhaust the final stores of fat and the only remaining source of energy is protein. When this happens, the body again turns to protein to produce fuel or energy.

In severe cases of accelerated protein breakdown, you will see this as people with swollen limbs and bulging stomachs. Think malnourished kids in Africa.

THE FINAL STAGES

Although we haven’t seen this (and we wouldn’t allow it anyway), let’s see what happens if starvation continues.

Because protein is important for maintenance of cellular function, death ordinarily ensues when the protein of the body has been depleted to about ½ of the normal level.

In the final stages, the body will sacrifice muscle tissue and other organ tissues to preserve the brain. Then, when the end is near, the liver and the intestines are also affected. It moderately depletes the heart and kidneys and to a small extent, the nervous system. Some time after this, the angels would be swooping down on ya and bring ya to heaven.

How long can a person survive total starvation? According to The Review of Medical Physiology (by pareng Ganong), the average time was 60 days. Several years ago, some Irish prisoners starved themselves to death — and this was how they knew. Most people survive total starvation for 1 – 3 months.

SO HOW DID NIKKI GAIN WEIGHT?

Now, going back to how it was possible for Nikki to gain weight on the island, the answer is quite simple: she didn’t gain weight! She lost weight! We have initial weights of each individual castaway (taken during their medical exam before leaving the country) and their weights immediately after they have left the game. As we respect Nikki’s privacy, we won’t be posting those values.

I hope that clarifies things.

Till next week!

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References that I used that I wasn’t able to footnote properly, so my apologies to my mentors. However, despite my negligence on doing so, I do not wish to forget to mention them as I do not claim to be the authority on this:

Ganong WF. Review of Medical Physiology. 20th ed. Stamford, CT: Appleton & Lange; 2001.

Guyton AC, Hall JE. Textbook of Medical Physiology. 10th ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 2000.

Spotlight on metabolism.pdf (which I downloaded from I dunno where anymore!)