how could a lack of food intake intefere with functions of individual cells and tissues?

Question

which tissues are likely to suffer the most irreversible damage?

Answer 1

No food, no energy. The body will start burning fat and when that's used up then cells start dying. The body will try to protect the vital organs.....so the brain, lungs heart ect will be the last to go. I would imagine that the first tissues to be affected would be the muscles. Unless death would occur, this should be reversible. Dehydration is a total different ball game......where the first tissues to be affected is usually the kidneys, and that can become irreversible. Best of luck to you.

Answer 2

depends on the timescale.
starvation will result first in the use of liver and muscle glycogen. as a result you cannot do any activities requiring anaerobic use of muscles eg sprinting. blood glucose will decrease. fat is mobilised next and fatty acids used to supply cells with energy (keto-bodies). the low blood glucose would make you unable to exercise properly (muscles love glucose). as a last resort protein is broken down and the amino acids converted to glucose (glucogenesis). at this stage your organs are degenerating. people in this stage of starvation normally don't survive even if they do receive food because their organs have degenerated to too great an extent.

in general though, if you're talking about short term, if you don't get enough carbs your blood glucose level will fall and you may feel dizzy, have difficulty concentrating and have difficulty doing activities requiring muscle strenght and power.

Answer 3

All tissues are made up of cells and all cellular process require glucose. The body gets it's glucose from 2 places: The food you eat and the fat you have stored.

No food, no fat, no service. Cells die, tissues die, everything dies.