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13 Limits At Which Your Body Stops Working

At a certain altitude, your blood and saliva start to literally boil away.

13 Limits At Which Your Body Stops Working

August 11, 2023

Welcome to the world of limits! Limits are the boundaries that keep us safe, healthy, and alive. But what happens when we push those boundaries and test the limits of our bodies? This list is an exploration of the limits at which our bodies stop working. From surviving without food, to boiling blood, to being stuck in a coffin, these 13 stories will make you question how far you can push your body and still stay alive.

We’ll start off with a guy who managed to reach his goal weight of 180 pounds without eating for 382 days. We’ll then take a trip to the stratosphere, where the boiling point of water is the same as the normal body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. We’ll also look at what happens when you’re in space without a spacesuit, and the incredible story of Kenny Bräck, who miraculously survived a 214 g-force crash.

So, if you’re ready to explore the limits at which your body stops working, let’s begin!

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13

Drink water or die.

CRACKED HUMAN LIMITS Lack of water 18 DAYS If you don't drink water, your body won't last very long. After about 18 days, your organs will start to shut down and you'll die. — ExpediTom/Shutterstock
BBC

12

Sleep deprivation: not worth it.

HUMAN LIMITS Lack of sleep AT LEAST 264 HOURS If you don't get enough sleep for just a few nights, it can mess with your thinking, make you see things, and cause other problems. The longest anyone has gone without sleep is 264 hours (but please don't try to break that record). CRACKED — Phoenixns/Shutterstock
Healthline

11

Food: 0, Angus: 382.

HUMAN LIMITS Lack of food OVER A YEAR In the '60s, one guy hadn't eaten for 382 days and still managed to reach his goal weight of 180 pounds, showing that people can go a long time without food. CRACKED — VGstockstudio/Shutterstock
Diabetes.co.uk

10

Space: not so friendly after all.

HUMAN LIMITS Being in space 90 SECONDS If you're in space without a spacesuit, you'll burst if you still have air in your lungs, and you'll die from not being able to breathe in about 90 seconds. CRACKED — Dima Zel/Shutterstock
Insider

9

Sunshine: Not Optional?

HUMAN LIMITS Lack of sunlight INDEFINITELY, ACTUALLY If you don't get enough sunlight, your body can't make enough vitamin D, which can cause some serious health issues like rickets, breathing problems, and heart problems. That would make life suck, but with the right diet, it wouldn't kill you. CRACKED — grafxart/Shutterstock
Columbia Daily Tribune

8

Insulin: life-saving.

HUMANLIMITS Lack of insulin UP TO A FEW WEEKS People who don't produce insulin or don't have access to it can live for a few days to a few weeks. Without treatment, diabetic ketoacidosis sets in, which is fatal. Insulin CRACKED — Silver Wings/Shutterstock
Healthline

7

Time is of the essence.

HUMAN LIMITS Lack of heartbeat UP TO A FEW MINUTES If you don't get help quickly, a cardiac arrest can be deadly. You can expect to die within a few minutes of onset. CRACKED — Nakharin T/Shutterstock
Nao Medical Urgent Care

6

Rescue window: 24 hours.

HUMAN LIMITS Being trapped in debris UP TO A WEEK If you're trapped in the rubble of an earthquake, you can survive up to a week, though your chances of being rescued go down a lot after the first day. Most people who get rescued are found within the first 24 hours. CRACKED — Olivier Le Queinec/Shutterstock
AP News

5

He couldn’t bluff his way through 30 days.

HUMAN LIMITS Total isolation AT LEAST 20 DAYS A professional poker player bet $100,000 that he could stay alone and in complete darkness for 30 days. But after only 20 days, he had to give up and negotiate his way out. CRACKED — Alexandra P.P/Shutterstock
Inverse

4

Coffins

HUMAN LIMITS Being buried alive UP TO 5.5 HOURS If you're buried alive in a coffin, you can survive for about five and a half hours, as long as you have enough oxygen. Basically, the coffin needs to be 886 liters in size and you need to be taking in half a liter of oxygen every minute. CRACKED — Fer Gregory/Shutterstock
Gizmodo

3

Boiling Blood, Tears, and Saliva: Welcome to the Stratosphere.

HUMAN LIMITS Altitude 62,000 FEET At around 60,000 to 62,000 feet up in the sky, the boiling point of water is the same as the normal body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. This means that at this altitude, your saliva, tears, and blood will start to boil away. CRACKED — Khokholya Alexander/Shutterstock
WorldAtlas

2

Miraculously survived 214 G.

CRACKED HUMANLIMITS Acceleration AT LEAST 214 G An Indycar driver from Sweden experienced an incredibly intense crash in 2003. Не was going 220 mph when he suddenly decelerated to a record-breaking 214 g-force, over 70 times more than astronauts feel. Miraculously, he survived. — Pozdeyev Vitaly/Shutterstock
Guinness World Records

1

Brain: "Wait, what?"

HUMAN LIMITS Lack of body 3-4 SECONDS In 2011, scientists did an EEG study on decapitated rats, and it took 3-4 seconds for brain activity to stop. There's unregulated nerve firing in a human decapitated head, but brain activity probably wouldn't last longer than those few seconds. CRACKED — zef art/Shutterstock
Newsweek

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