How Long Can You Live Without Sunlight?

This is an important question to pose ,if say you have an underground bunker and have to stay in it for a very long time.

A normal lifespan, with the right diet. Recent research suggests that sunlight deprivation might increase susceptibility to a wide range of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as infectious diseases like tuberculosis and the common cold. But it’s very unlikely that an adult could die directly and exclusively from prolonged darkness. The most plausible deadly scenario is that a lack of sunlight could prevent the body from producing vitamin D, which, in turn, would inhibit calcium absorption. Very low calcium levels might lead to spasms of the larynx, causing suffocation. A proper diet, however, can easily stave off this unlikely chain of events and other health consequences, even if you live in a bunker. Vitamin D is present in egg yolks, cheese, fatty fish, and fortified milk, juice, and cereal.

This was brought up when the police in Russia busted a cult living underground in the Republic of Tartarstan.

Russian police have discovered 57 cult members living in an underground bunker in the Republic of Tatarstan. Many of the children ensconced in the bunker have never seen the sun, according to authorities. How long can you live without exposure to sunlight?

www.slate.com...

Something to think about in a long term SHTF scenario.

Probably a normal lifespan, but you'll end up looking like this guy

padawanjenn.tripod.com...

I think if you're able to find another way to get the vitamins you're missing out on you could really do it for a very long time

I've thought about this in the past, when I've slept through weeks worth of sunlight during the winter.

As long as one still has access to fresh air and water, sunlight seems unnecessary for long term survival, but I wouldn't try it for longer than a month, personally.

reply to post by DaTroof


I ,personally,couldn't survive without the sun.
That is my opinion.
I hate the cold weather months when I do not see the sun.

reply to post by kdog1982


Okay. I listened to the report and read the story. I am having a hard time understanding why they were raided in the first place. They couldn't have been living worse than a huge chunk of Russia. I mean, have you seen the poverty there ? They live outside and in old cars. Have you seen the boys ? They run around like feral children. Russia likes to present Moscow as it's image of the average Russian, but it's not. The majority of them live like dogs anyway. So what is the problem ?

I would maybe look into Plasma grow lights.

They are as close to the sun as you can get for indoor growing, should be sufficient to supplement sun exposure with some vitamins to get you by for a while.

The key problem is lack of Vitamin d and probably a bit of depression with out the sun.

Any Alaskans on here? Haha, they go half the year without sun and another half with sun. I still cannot believe those poor kids have never seen the sun. I wonder how liberating it must feel to see the sun for the first time at an age where you are conscious and aware of your surroundings unlike a 2 year old for example.

reply to post by kdog1982


with no sun you and everything else on this planet would be frozen solid it would be the worst ice age ever so in short you would be dead


my fault just woke up didnt read your thread properly

As long as you have vitamin D lights, you should be fine.

They are becoming more popular these days, especially for people working for long periods indoors.

Vitamin D Lamps

in places with extended periods of darkness people are prone to getting S.A.D - seasonal active disorder prone to higher rates of depression , suicide , alcoholism and mental illnesses due to lack of adequate sunlight..
been many documented cases and studies done on the subject over the years ..

no thanks to living in any underground bunkers - expensive , fancy tombs.
will stay above ground ... live and die like a human being on my feet not cowering underground ...

reply to post by Expat888


Good points. Most of the danger from living without sunlight is psychological, not physiological. The nutrients that are derived from sunlight can be replaced, but the body's clock is based upon light cycles, and over time not having that routine upon which to depend would cause a person mental instability.

reply to post by kdog1982


your entire life. check out proferia.
however, you need to make sure you are getting the vitamins that you will not be making through your skin by not getting enough sunlight. like vitamin D.

If you can make it long enough underground to die from lack of sunlight, pat yourself on the back before you go for you are a survivor

Who the hell would want to look like a Morlock???
Gat a tan you freaks.
Lots of tanning shops in major cities, so much so you KNOW when you've been Tango'd.

reply to post by kdog1982



"How long can one live without sunlight"...
So far, with the weather we have here in Quebec, I would say... about your whole life.

Originally posted by swan001
reply to post by kdog1982

 

"How long can one live without sunlight"...
So far, with the weather we have here in Quebec, I would say... about your whole life.

But you got some,unseen of course,filtering though the clouds.

You can live your entire life without sun.

Your health wouldn't exactly be "sufficient", but you could do well enough. Your mental state would suffer the most.

If you're talking about a SHTF scenario where you end up in a junk bunker, living off pork & beans and spam, with no sunlight ever... Well, you could survive, but you would feel really miserable, and filthy. You would most likely end up killing yourself in that scenario, to be perfectly honest.

Originally posted by 3l3v3n------->
Any Alaskans on here? Haha, they go half the year without sun and another half with sun.

Not Alaskan, but i do live up in the arctic.

We have several months with no daylight at all.

I don't think living underground for several years would be much of a problem as long as one eat food containing the right vitamins and minerals.

originally posted by: Ivar_Karlsen


Not Alaskan, but i do live up in the arctic.

We have several months with no daylight at all.

I don't think living underground for several years would be much of a problem as long as one eat food containing the right vitamins and minerals.

What about complete darkness, no candle light or artificial light? Maybe some of you take the sun for granted but I don't think I could go that long without seeing the sun, even if cloudy and foggy.

How long do you really think you can survive? Years? Decades? Are you as tough as you think you are?

I used to do a lot of cave exploring and worked as a tour guide in a cave.
I think the longest I spent underground was 48 hours. I've know guys that did a week or so underground.
The biggest problem is not physical but mental. You start to lose all track of time.
If you turn off all the lights and spend a while in complete total darkness you will start to hallucinate. You will start to see points of light that are not there. That's your brain trying to make up for lack of visual input.

There was a french cave expolorer, Michel Siffre, in 1972 he spent 6 months in a cave.

en.wikipedia.org...

"His biggest source of discomfort were the electrodes attached to his head, which were meant to monitor his heart, brain, and muscle activity. But he got used to them, and the first two months in the cave were easy for Siffre. He ran experiments, listened to records, explored the cavern, and caught up on his Plato.
On day 79, however, his sanity started to crack. He became extremely depressed, especially after his record player broke and mildew began ruining his magazines, books, and scientific equipment. Soon, he was pondering suicide. For a while, he found solace in the companionship of a mouse that occasionally rummaged through his supplies. But when Siffre tried to trap the mouse with a casserole dish to make it his pet, he accidentally crushed and killed it. He wrote in his journal, “Desolation overwhelms me.”
Just when the experiment was nearing its end, a lightning storm sent a shock of electricity through the electrodes on his head. Although the pain was excruciating, depression had so dulled his mind that he was shocked three more times before he thought to disconnect the wires.
Yet again, the Texas cave experiment yielded interesting results. For the first month, Siffre had fallen into regular sleep-wake cycles that were slightly longer than 24 hours. But after that, his cycles began varying randomly, ranging from 18 to 52 hours."