‘Body eats itself’: What happens when the body is starved of food

‘Body eats itself’: What happens when the body is starved of food

Gaza is gripped by a man-made famine as starvation deaths rise sharply. Doctors describe mothers too weak to breastfeed and children unable to swallow. Experts explain how the body ’eats itself’ in five stages of starvation — from burning stored carbs to consuming vital organs — in a crisis that aid workers say is entirely preventable

A doctor checks Palestinian girl Jana Ayad, who is malnourished, according to medics, as she receives treatment at the International Medical Corps field hospital, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the southern Gaza Strip, June 22, 2024. File Image/Reuters