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Text: Jia Junru

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World War II not only took countless lives, but also consumed a lot of the world's resources, countless people became refugees, and what refugees ate became a major problem at the end of World War II.

In this context, Dr. Keith of the University of Minnesota conducted a hunger experiment to analyze how long people can live without food, and what changes will occur in the human body due to long-term hunger.

Half a century after World War II, 95-year-old Marshall Sutton, who participated in the Minnesota hunger experiment, told the world about the horrific experiment through the media.

(Volunteers of the Starvation Trial)

1. The whole process of the Minnesota hunger experiment

According to Sutton, the Minnesota Hunger Experiment was divided into three phases, the first of which was screening, and a poster was put up in front of the University of Minnesota that said, "Would you go hungry to make others eat better?" More than 400 volunteers signed up for the experiment.

The hunger experiment sounds scary, so why do so many people sign up?

This is not because people were more dedicated at that time, but because the United States is a forced conscription, and if you refuse to serve, you will be arrested and sent to prison. Another reason is that some of the volunteers follow a religion that advocates peace and does not allow their followers to fight and kill, and those who participated in the experiment are exempt from military service.

(Poster of the Starvation Trial)

Dr. Case carefully confirmed that the volunteers should be between 20 and 35 years old, have good physical fitness, have a high IQ, and have a cheerful and humorous personality in order to avoid psychological trauma caused by long-term starvation in the experiment. In the end, only 36 volunteers met this series of conditions.

The second phase of the experiment was a three-month adaptation period to the normal diet. Volunteers were placed in a dormitory, with a small room per person, and were required to study and work every day, as well as to run more than 35 kilometers a week and eat two meals a day, which lasted for three months.

(Volunteer of the Hunger Experiment)

Then the experiment went to the third stage, a six-month formal starvation experiment, where each volunteer's food was adjusted to 1570 kcal, they could not eat meat, their main food simulated the common diet of European refugees, such as cabbage, rye bread, turnips, some beans, and the volunteers needed to maintain the same amount of exercise and workload as during the normal diet.

In the middle of the starvation experiment, three volunteers withdrew from the experiment due to hunger. The remaining volunteers lost at least a quarter of their weight, and each one was skinny, but they didn't feel too thin, but felt that others were getting fatter.

(Volunteers are tested)

Most of the volunteers also suffered from anemia, which swelled the joints of their bodies. Just as a refugee who has been starving for a long time during the famine is not skinny, but has edema all over his body.

When a person is in a state of hunger for a long time, the human body will begin to break down the fat in the body, blood sugar will decrease, the protein in the plasma will also decrease, and the water in the blood vessels will enter the interstitial space, forming edema.

Marshall Sutton told reporters that I had been starving for a long time and had become sluggish, but I didn't feel pain, just weakness. Unfortunately but fortunately, Sutton had some food to eat every day, and if he was unable to replenish his food, the edema of his lower limbs would continue to worsen, and eventually he would die from being unable to walk.

(Hunger Experiment Volunteers)

By the end of the starvation experiment, the volunteers' cravings for food became so strong that they cut their food into many small pieces, dilute them with water, chew each piece of food countless times, and hold up their plates and lick every corner with their tongues.

They are also keen to go to the cafeteria to watch other people eat, just like watching food broadcasts, the diners eat happily, and the spectators are salivating. When the supply of chewing gum was not limited, the volunteers fell in love with chewing gum, and one person even chewed 50 packs of chewing gum a day, but it was not long before the supply of chewing gum was restricted, and the volunteers lost their last solace and they began to become irritable.

(Volunteers are eating)

Because of hunger, the volunteers' sense of hearing has become particularly acute, and the slightest sound will make them irritable, and they will often argue with each other over some trivial things, and even some volunteers will start to self-harm due to mental stress. It can be seen that when a person starves to a certain stage, he may go crazy before starving to death.

Finally, the experiment progressed to the fourth stage, which lasted for a three-month recovery period.

In these three months, the volunteers resumed their original diet, many volunteers reported that they fell into a state of overeating, no matter how they ate, they felt that they could not eat enough, and some even overate to vomit and were sent to the hospital, until 8 months after the end of the experiment, most of the volunteers' eating state was normal, and a small number of volunteers stopped binge eating after a few years.

(Hunger Trial Volunteer Accommodation)

When the volunteers returned to their normal weight during the recovery period, their body fat content was higher than before the experiment, and the body fat content was 140% of the original one.

Even if a person loses weight after excessive dieting, once they return to a normal diet, the body will convert most of the food into fat storage on its own to avoid starvation again. That is, the so-called principle that after dieting and losing weight, it is easier to regain weight.

2. Excessive dieting does not achieve the goal of weight loss

In 1946, Dr. Case and his team published Man and Hunger, based on the Minsunida Hunger Experiment. The book details what happens when people are chronically hungry, how long it takes for chronically hungry people to get rid of physical and mental weakness after eating a normal diet, and advocates for society to provide a quiet place for refugees.

But in 1946, World War II had ended, and this classic case became an important reference for experts to study eating disorders.

(Volunteers are examined)

After the starvation trial, some of the volunteers had worsening psychological problems. One volunteer lifted the car up with a jack, placed his hand under the wheels, and then released the jack to let the car smash into his arm, cutting off three of his fingers with a knife a few days after he was taken to the hospital.

Another volunteer became nervous due to excessive hunger, often dreaming that he was eating human flesh, and eventually he fell into an angry emotional state, and he did not wake up until he resumed eating, and another volunteer developed the habit of constantly licking the plate.

How long do people live without eating? Obviously, there's no exact number. But what can be confirmed is that if a person is starved for a long time, his physical function will become worse and worse until he is unable to move, and then wait for death on the spot, and before that, the person's spirit must have collapsed.

(Volunteer who constantly licks the plate)

Until now, there are still many people who advocate dieting to lose weight. Dieting, as the name suggests, is to reduce the intake of food, when the food can not meet the energy required by the body, the fat in the body will be broken down into the body to deliver energy, and the person's weight will naturally decrease.

However, excessive dieting can make people crave food even more, and many dieters will not resist the temptation of food and start overeating.

A 2007 study by Tufts University pointed out that many people can lose 4-5 kilograms in 6 months by excessive dieting, but after a year, most people who lose weight through dieting will regain weight.

(Chronically starved volunteers)

Celebrities, singers and other public figures over-control their diets for the sake of image abound. Shu Qi only ate one carrot all day in the variety show "Chinese Restaurant 2", Liu Shishi did not eat staple foods for 5 years in order to control her weight, Da S only ate fruits and boiled vegetables, and some actresses suppressed their appetite by cutting their stomachs.

In the fashion industry in pursuit of skinny beauty, there have been many models due to excessive dieting, varying degrees of nervous eating disorders, French model Isabel Caro died of anorexia at the end of 2010, she was only 28 years old, 1.65 meters tall, and weighed only 32 kilograms.

Although excessive dieting can make people lose weight rapidly, the accompanying side effects are also huge, ranging from rebound to anorexia or bulimia, which is permanent to the human body.

Resources:

[1] Anglo-American World War II "Hunger Games": Eating radish and cabbage for two meals a day.Guangzhou Daily,2014-01-23

[2] After watching the only famine experiment in history, I realized how much long-term dieting and weight loss hurts the brain.Shangguan News, 2020-05-11

[3] What are the cruel scientific experiments in history.Zhihu,2020-01-15