We Can Survive Without Food for About 70 Days, But Only 5 Days Without Water

This article was first published inThe Montreal Gazette.Sometimes you come across a story that seems shadowy enough to beg for a little illumination. Muluwork Ambaw, a 26-year old Ethiopian woman, claims that no food or water have passed her lips since 2010. There is no mystery about how she may have accomplished this remarkable feat. She hasn’t. The story is as absurd as a claim of having a car that requires no fuel for propulsion. The only question is how she has managed to pull the wool over the eyes of people.The first law of thermodynamics, which will never be repealed, states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed from one form to another. Everything we do, from moving to thinking, requires energy that is supplied by the “combustion” of food. If there is no food coming in, the body begins to “burn” its constituents, mainly fat and proteins. When these run out, there is no energy to supply the heart and lungs, and death ensues.There is some debate about how long...