Ep 190 Starvation: More than hunger

This Podcast Will Kill You

Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

Health & Fitness, Science

4.8 • 17.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

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Summary

Deprived of food, our bodies do the best they can to keep us alive and functioning as long as possible. As the days pass, the rhythms of our lives change: our metabolism, our heartbeats, our hormones, even our thoughts shift to adjust to this period of scarcity. This response is evolutionarily engrained, following a variable but fairly prescribed path. In this episode, we trace that path, exploring what happens when our bodies are not given the energy stores they need, how patterns of metabolism alter, leading our bodies to consume themselves, and the profound consequences this has on every part of our physiology and psychology. We also tell the story of how we came to learn about these outcomes, chiefly through a WWII-era study called the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. This is the first of two episodes centered around malnutrition, starvation, and famine. Next week, we’ll explore the broad topic of famine, of which starvation is merely one component.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is exactly right.
0:05.0	Hello, my name is Jim Graham.
0:09.0	I'd like to tell you about an experience that I had during World War II as a guinea pig and an experiment in semi-starvation.
0:17.0	On February 12, 1945, we began our 24 weeks of semi-starvation.
0:23.6	We were expected to lose about one-fourth of our body weight during the next six months.
0:29.6	The days began to drag out, each day getting longer and longer,
0:35.6	and there seemed to be no end of starvation in sight.
0:39.3	Six months seemed like forever.
0:42.3	I'd look in the mirror and see that my eyes looked hollow.
0:46.3	My cheeks were only a thin covering for the bones in my face,
0:50.3	and my hair was getting thinner.
0:52.3	If I tried to smile, it was just a grimace.
0:56.0	I didn't feel like smiling in the first place, and I never laughed.
1:01.0	My muscles were almost gone, my bones protruded,
1:05.0	and sitting on a hard chair was uncomfortable, even for a few minutes.
1:09.0	Most of us carried around pillows to sit on. I couldn't
1:14.2	walk up a flight of stairs without stopping to rest once or twice on the way up. I felt like an old
1:20.6	man, and probably looked like one, since I made no effort to stand up straight. I thought about food all the time.
1:30.3	I started collecting cookbooks, you know,
1:32.3	the kind with beautiful color pictures of delicious-looking dishes.
1:37.3	I felt cold all the time, even though it was the middle of summer.
1:42.3	Nothing felt better than to find a nice warm spot
	...

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