A person is lost in the desert. (S)he has no water and after a couple of days loses so much water through perspiration that his/her body fluids become hypertonic. What happens to his cells? What happens to his proteins? What happens to his carbohydrates? Solution Early sign of dehydration there is no symptom but later on there is dryness of mouth and tongue, dark yellow urine,dryness of skin cramp in arm and leg. When fluid become hypertonic i.e sodium is lost from cell this result in cell shrinkage. After two days of starvation body will first utilize carbohydrate and then glycogen from liver and muscle for energy. Protein from cell / muscle will be next to be used as source of energy for body.