Meet the Breatharian Who Lives on Energy

[DeWitz]

I'm sorry but if you think that it is "probably possible to just live off fresh air, sunlight and maybe some water" then you have a complete lack of understanding of how the body works. Humans can not do photosynthesis. We get the energy we need to function by eating. Remember the rule of 3: you cannot survive for more than:

3 minutes without air.

3 days without water.

3 weeks without food.

The person in the article is a liar, no if, ands, or buts about it. And it’s a very easy test to see if he’s being truthful or not, put him in an area where he can be watched 24/7 to see if he eats. My guess is he’ll be so ill after 2 weeks that they would have to stop the test or he’ll die.

Agreed, except that length of time without solid food is variable, based upon initlal body fat stores, overall health and dogged determination. Some of the hunger strikers in Northern Ireland went months without food (Bobby Sands went 66 days before dying).

This "breatharianism" seems to be suspect from the word "go." I'm not prone to throw out the 800-lb. gorilla with the bathwater, to mix my metaphors, but I'll suggest that--if it were at all credible--"breathars" would be all over the place in the media, not just UM--just like UFOs, Atlantis, tantric yoga, extreme body mdoification, coprophagia and all the rest. After all, profits for weight loss programs and centers would go sky high. . .

[DeWitz]

That is not dead which can eternal wait, And over with strange aeons even death may die

So, bretharianism is an H.P. Lovecraft construal?

[DeWitz]

Really? None at all? If that is true, then ..

If you were truly producing nothing and she did not tell you to use a proper baby formula in the meantime, at least every 3-5 hours, that midwife should be up for prosecution.

It is EXTREMELY irresponsible to post such dangerous misinformation. If a newborn went without milk for more than even, say 6 hours it would already be at risk of various problems - much longer and the results would not bear thinking about.. Ask any doctor or real midwife.

If he was, then he was either getting formula from bottles that you are conveniently forgetting, or you were in fact producing enough breast milk... I'd suggest you ring up that midwife and have a little discussion about this, and get back to us. If she agrees with your recollections, then I would ask her to come to this forum and defend her position.

Like I said, if that was the case, then he was definitely getting milk from somewhere.

All of those and many other factors- as has been pointed out to you, the 3/3/3 'rule' is NOT a rule, it's a guide. Of COURSE it varies. But that doesn't mean you can make ridiculous, irresponsible and DANGEROUS claims like those you made above.

This whole story about living on nothing is one of those examples of a delusion that ISN'T harmless. People die from following this sort of incredibly bad 'advice'. If they are simply stupid adults then maybe it is their choice (or natural selection at work) but when it comes to innocent kids/babies..

Such a midwife would be prosecutable for negligence or reckless endangerment in the US; possibly assault if the baby was harmed (brain damage; gastrointestinal complications); and if such an infant were to have died, manslaughter or worse in most states (given the current social climate, 1st degree murder with the death penalty in the so-called 'Bible Belt.').

[+ouija ouija]

Really? None at all? If that is true, then ..

If you were truly producing nothing and she did not tell you to use a proper baby formula in the meantime, at least every 3-5 hours, that midwife should be up for prosecution.

It is EXTREMELY irresponsible to post such dangerous misinformation. If a newborn went without milk for more than even, say 6 hours it would already be at risk of various problems - much longer and the results would not bear thinking about.. Ask any doctor or real midwife.

If he was, then he was either getting formula from bottles that you are conveniently forgetting, or you were in fact producing enough breast milk... I'd suggest you ring up that midwife and have a little discussion about this, and get back to us. If she agrees with your recollections, then I would ask her to come to this forum and defend her position.

Like I said, if that was the case, then he was definitely getting milk from somewhere.

My son was born in the UK, at home in 1981. I have just dug out his baby record book(to reassure myself that I was not going round the bend!), and it's true, he had absolutely nothing for four days. He lost 7ozs in his first week. He was a very healthy baby, toddler and child. He also didn't have any vaccinations and absolutely no sugar in his (vegetarian)diet for the first three years.

I did not post 'misinformation', I simply told my story(and my son's) as it happened.

The midwife was a 'real' midwife for the NHS and had delivered many many babies in the area. She was so keen on midwifery that she attended international conferences on the subject.

Sadly, she cannot come here to defend her actions as she died some years ago.

[+ouija ouija]

Wow!.....nothing at all for four days? I can understand you might not have breast milk, but newborns need feeding several times a day including water. Heck, babies cry to get fed, and very loudly too if left without. How did you get around that?

I gave birth in hospital and had difficulties breast feeding for a start so they used a breast pump to get my milk. After a night or two of feeding I got very tired and didn't wake up one night when I should have which meant I missed a feed time.... Well the nurses were none too pleased with me I can tell you, and that was just missing one feed!

My son was born at home. He didn't cry when he was born ...... but he did when I cried having stitches put in. After that he was pretty peaceful, but crying occasionally. I tried a breast pump without success and that was when I insisted he had some formula milk.

[Rolci]

Few breatharians have submitted themselves to medical testing; of those that have, including a hospital's observation of an Indian mystic Prahlad Jani surviving without food or water for 15 days,[5] none have undergone peer review with results independently reproduced.

Now it gets interesting:

Deaths of Jasmuheen's followers

To say "none have undergone peer review" is like saying "no proton decays". Although we have never observed a proton decay and we have no good reason to believe that they ever do, we spend embarrassing amounts of money on observations, just in case they do. So basically, what you are trying to say here is, none that you know of. Which of course means that there are a great many that did, but you never did your homework. Which is fine, just next time choose words with a bit more care and humility. A poor example would be Michael Werner, who decided he wanted to undergo medical tests after 4 years of a breatharian lifestyle. He agreed to be examined by the Lindsenhofspital in Bern, on the condition that they publish the results. Tests done, then they said they would not publish the results. Of course Mr Werner wanted the world to know the medical results, so he went to the University of Prague to be examined again in 2007, he had the same condition for them, tests done, same refusal to publish results, they never published them.

as for some people dying, I would be surprised if no one died. After decades of making your body dependent on foods you suddenly deprive it of physical sustenance. Also it's supposed to be the result of spiritual aspirations, like a side-effect. People doing it because they saw a video, met someone, or a relative does, or to save money, will hardly create the conditions and prepare the organism, either physically, or mentally, let alone emotionally or spiritually. It's like moving into a monastery in hope of receiving a vision or having a rapture experience, without believing in a god or some kind of mystical higher force or anything spiritual. Stupid people not eating will die. So what? Thousands die in traffic accidents every year. Does it mean you will stop driving, just because there is a chance you will be killed tomorrow, or you could kill an innocent pedestrian or a cyclist? I don't think so. People will carry on driving, as others will carry on living without food, while some die in one or the other. It's part of life. Living on unhealthy foods is the number one source of all deaths on the planet, directly or, more often, indirectly, and the food industry of course can't lose all that money, and of course there is agriculture, supermarket chains, and then of course big pharma. And you're surprised this stuff doesn't get published by the medical journals? They would be announcing their own death will. Did I say something new here by any chance?

Edited July 2, 2013 by Rolci

[Rolci]

This "breatharianism" seems to be suspect from the word "go." I'm not prone to throw out the 800-lb. gorilla with the bathwater, to mix my metaphors, but I'll suggest that--if it were at all credible--"breathars" would be all over the place in the media, not just UM--just like UFOs, Atlantis, tantric yoga, extreme body mdoification, coprophagia and all the rest. After all, profits for weight loss programs and centers would go sky high. . .

The media? Seriously? Do you even know how the media operate? Maybe Dr. Greer's testimony will help you understand: [media=]

[/media] Edited July 2, 2013 by Rolci

[seaturtlehorsesnake]

ah, that old convienent excuse. sure, people died, but it's their fault. they just weren't spiritul enough, or mystical enough, or they were just plain too stupid. it's their fault, never the fault of the con men peddling this nonsense.

[Rlyeh]

as for some people dying, I would be surprised if no one died. After decades of making your body dependent on foods you suddenly deprive it of physical sustenance.

You got it the wrong way around, no one made their body dependent on foods.

Stupid people not eating will die. So what? Thousands die in traffic accidents every year. Does it mean you will stop driving, just because there is a chance you will be killed tomorrow, or you could kill an innocent pedestrian or a cyclist? I don't think so. People will carry on driving, as others will carry on living without food, while some die in one or the other.

You're not very good at this logic thing are you?

Starvation ends in death, while driving can lead to death.

[Rolci]

ah, that old convienent excuse. sure, people died, but it's their fault. they just weren't spiritul enough, or mystical enough, or they were just plain too stupid. it's their fault, never the fault of the con men peddling this nonsense.

So if I were to tell you that this here is a magic cliff and if you jump off this one you can fly, and I jumped off and soared, and you're stupid enough and jump off it's my fault. I would imagine that grown-up adults should be mature enough to have a certain kind of responsibility for their OWN actions. If a sentient being starves itself to death because someone said something, it's called natural selection, we sure don't need a generation of retards that got their genes from lunatics. People like that would've been thrown off in ancient Greece and you'd be living in a dictatorship right now, probably Iraq and Iran coming to the rescue. You have a problem with me calling people stupid when you tell them to jump off a cliff and they do? You're welcome to judge me. So what would you call people that can't take care of their own lives due to stupid decisions. If you were facing a snake and a random person told you he'd been bitten by one that looked like it, is it normal to let go of all measures of caution? Is that the sane thing to do? I don't think so.

You got it the wrong way around, no one made their body dependent on foods.

You're not very good at this logic thing are you?

Starvation ends in death, while driving can lead to death.

I know one thing and that is 100% of those dependent on food die. Your scientists have been guessing as to the reason, guessing yes, because they don't know. Cardiovascular diseases, heart diseases, strokes and cancers kill 2/3 of the human population today on earth. Where do you think these come from? And we haven't even mentioned the effects that **** up your life, like obesity, diabetes and the rest. Michael Werner is just one of the tens of thousands that will never have any of these problems. But you seem to be sure of what you're saying, so I assume you have watched and evaluated documentaries like No Way to Heaven or In the Beginning there was Light. And you did your own research personally meeting these people, or better yet, tried the 21-day method yourself. If it's not for you, you know when to turn back, it you have some brains that is. But if you never had the aspirations just want to save money, you needn't even try, we all know where you're gonna end up, we've seen it happen before.

[Rlyeh]

I know one thing and that is 100% of those dependent on food die. Your scientists have been guessing as to the reason, guessing yes, because they don't know.

Simple then, you're ignorant of human biology. Most educated people know we need food and why.

Cardiovascular diseases, heart diseases, strokes and cancers kill 2/3 of the human population today on earth. Where do you think these come from? And we haven't even mentioned the effects that **** up your life, like obesity, diabetes and the rest.

Because they aren't immortal, organisms die.

But if I told you breathing causes all this, would you be foolish enough to stop breathing?

Michael Werner is just one of the tens of thousands that will never have any of these problems. But you seem to be sure of what you're saying, so I assume you have watched and evaluated documentaries like No Way to Heaven or In the Beginning there was Light. And you did your own research personally meeting these people, or better yet, tried the 21-day method yourself. If it's not for you, you know when to turn back, it you have some brains that is. But if you never had the aspirations just want to save money, you needn't even try, we all know where you're gonna end up, we've seen it happen before.

Or so he claims but you'd rather believe the words of a charlatan than scientific evidence. Good thinking skills you got there.

[kajiwara]

If it is possible to just sun gaze and drink only water to survive and the ancients knew this then I have to question why it didnt eventaully spread to everyone instead of becoming "lost" that makes no sense to me unless it isnt possible to achieve. .which would be my bet..also if its possible why dont animals do this? It would seem to be the path of least resistance yet nothing does it ? Thats illogical at best

[seaturtlehorsesnake]

So if I were to tell you that this here is a magic cliff and if you jump off this one you can fly, and I jumped off and soared, and you're stupid enough and jump off it's my fault. I would imagine that grown-up adults should be mature enough to have a certain kind of responsibility for their OWN actions. If a sentient being starves itself to death because someone said something, it's called natural selection, we sure don't need a generation of retards that got their genes from lunatics. People like that would've been thrown off in ancient Greece and you'd be living in a dictatorship right now, probably Iraq and Iran coming to the rescue. You have a problem with me calling people stupid when you tell them to jump off a cliff and they do? You're welcome to judge me. So what would you call people that can't take care of their own lives due to stupid decisions. If you were facing a snake and a random person told you he'd been bitten by one that looked like it, is it normal to let go of all measures of caution? Is that the sane thing to do? I don't think so.

man, i can't even keep track of where you're going with this. but anyway, i do believe in personal responsibility! as in, i believe that people who promote dangerous and foolish lifestyles like breatharianism are responsible for the harm that those lifestyles do to those who get caught up in their lies. i absolutely don't go in for victim blaming bs. and i got no patience for that "r" word.

and you still haven't managed to show any evidence that this lifestyle is possible. you've thrown in lots of non-sequiters about dictators and natural selection, but evidence? i'm not seeing it.

[+ouija ouija]

If it is possible to just sun gaze and drink only water to survive and the ancients knew this then I have to question why it didnt eventaully spread to everyone instead of becoming "lost" that makes no sense to me unless it isnt possible to achieve. .which would be my bet..also if its possible why dont animals do this? It would seem to be the path of least resistance yet nothing does it ? Thats illogical at best

I guess it depends on why a creature has become incarnated. If it is to fully immerse themselves in a material world then presumably that includes consuming solid food. The further away from this one moves, moves towards the emphasis being on the spiritual, the less one needs(in the way of solid food), to survive(I'm assuming).

[+ouija ouija]

evidence? i'm not seeing it.

I'm afraid that is the nature of so many things discussed in UM threads ....... evidence cannot be produced here. But that does not mean that something is automatically untrue, does it?

[kajiwara]

so the more food u eat the less spiritual you are?

I dont see the connection..why did jesus and his apostles need a last supper...why did buddha eat that bad boar meat that killed him..they shoulda just stared at the sun?

They would seem to be the peak of being spiritual..just saying

[+ouija ouija]

so the more food u eat the less spiritual you are?

I dont see the connection..why did jesus and his apostles need a last supper...why did buddha eat that bad boar meat that killed him..they shoulda just stared at the sun?

They would seem to be the peak of being spiritual..just saying

Well, I'm not sure just how dedicated Jesus and the apostles were to a wholly spiritual life(although Jesus famously spent '40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness', presumably with little to eat or drink except what was around him). But perhaps Jesus was just being sociable by eating a last meal with his (less spiritual?)followers?

Perhaps Buddha just fancied some boar meat and that decision rather than the actual meat, killed him?

Who can gauge just how attached to the material world any single individual is? And I'm pretty sure it isn't a constant thing, either. A bit like giving up smoking or alcohol ....... people very rarely do that in one go, they have lapses and some give up altogether.

[kajiwara]

fair enough about how dedicated someone is spiritually.and whos to say if it was indeed rotten meat that killed buddha..but before the buddha became the buddha it is said he tryed many paths one where he ate 1 grain of rice a day and before he reached enlightenment he was very near death and not the model of health if your to believe such accounts u cant doubt his drive to live in such a way or his drive to live spiritually..at the end of day proof of such claims is required I suppose as with anything outside of the norm..especially huge claims such as not needing food to live..not saying its 100% impossible..just 99.99% *shrug*

[+DieChecker]

But you seem to be sure of what you're saying, so I assume you have watched and evaluated documentaries like No Way to Heaven or In the Beginning there was Light. And you did your own research personally meeting these people, or better yet, tried the 21-day method yourself. If it's not for you, you know when to turn back, it you have some brains that is. But if you never had the aspirations just want to save money, you needn't even try, we all know where you're gonna end up, we've seen it happen before.

I think it is more like your other example, where you don't have to experience jumping off the cliff to know that hitting the ground and rocks below will kill you.

I actually believe that 100% of everyone dies. The only exceptions are mythic.

[TravelerZero]

Talk about backwards. "100% of people that eat food die." Guess what? 100% of people that stare at the sun die. 100% of people that breath air, die. As far as I am concerend, the only path to immortality is to abstain from everything, since everything one does leads to death.

"Who can gauge just how attached to the material world any single individual is?"

I must say, this website is an exellent place to discover just how detattched people can become from reality. I guess human creativity "knows no bounds", haha.

Heres the thing about fasting: Fasting may serve a purpose, it can make you more in tune with pain, with your body, I would imagine like meditation forcing oneself into such a state that can lead to increased introspection and revelations not otherwise possible. In short, when bad things happen, unintentionally or artificially, it can cause you to re-evaluate life or augment your search for information.

Is fasting the same as not eating? No, because a fast is something that is extremely temporary. Breatharians are not encouraging "fasting", they are telling you that people should not require food.

Here is a very similar example: "Women shouldn't fart because they are to beautiful to fart. Thus, a farting woman is inferior, unattractive, and ugly as sin. If you fart, you are all of these things. As a self-proclaimed non-farter, I am gorgious. With my personal guidence you will cease being 'ugly as sin'. I cannot be held responsible for you not meeting these expectations."

Its as simple as that folks. If you can figure out whats wrong with the above, you can avoid being duped by a parasite.

Parasite (cultural sense):is often applied to a person who takes advantage of other people and fails to offer anything (of substance) in return.

There will never be anyone who can survive without food without experiencing obvious negative repercussions. Unless death is on the menu, haha.

Oh and the only purpose a cult leader serves is to leach, psychically and physically, off of other people. They will poison your mind for their own gain and profit, which is usually material, despite their claims of high flown spiritual intention. These people are the worst kind of scum. For their sake, I sure hope there's some karma or something floating around out there. They are in need of a divine ass kicking.

Divine ass kicking: Ass kicking on a level not though to be physically possible.

End rant.

Edited July 3, 2013 by TravelerZero

[TravelerZero]

Wow after all that, I forgot to mention, there IS some recent evidence that suggests this could be possible. IF you are, genetically, a "Hyrax", you may have a biological presedent for thriving with nothing but air and sunlight (although experts speculate that you may still require water).

[Rafterman]

So why hasn't he taken Randi's $1 million dollar challenge? One would think it would be a cakewalk for him. He would just simply need to do what he's already doing, but under scientific controls for a few weeks and BAM - payday.

Too bad nobody shared the breatharian approach with all those Ethiopians that were starving to death in the 80s. They've got plenty of sunlight in Africa -would have saved millions.

And, hey, if you really want to put Monsanto out of business, you should just become a breatharian - that'll show 'em!

[Rafterman]

When my son was born I had no breast milk. The midwife who visited me each day was adamant that it would soon appear and my son would be fine until that happened. After the fourth full day of him not consuming anything, not even water, I cracked and started giving him powdered milk. He was absolutely fine up until then ...... there was no suggestion of taking him to hospital or calling a doctor.

Think of recent news items about people buried in collapsed buildings. What kept them alive for so long? Will power? Belief that their god would save them? Belief that the rescue teams would find them?

Think of people during famine times(Africa in particular), they can survive over long periods of time on virtually nothing.

I'm glad you cracked or you would have been burying your son.

A mother doesn't start full milk production for 1-3 days after the birth. Up until then she produces a yellowish and thick liquid called colostrum. http://www.babycenter.com/404_whats-colostrum_8896.bc

My guess is that you were producing colostrum and didn't even realize it (since your son didn't die) and when your midwife was talking about not producing milk, that's what she was referring to. Anything less would have been complete and immoral malpractice.

Edited July 4, 2013 by Rafterman

[Rafterman]

Actually David Blaine has successfully survived without all 3 for much longer than you have listed...check out TED talks

Seriously?

[Ashyne]

If it is possible to just sun gaze and drink only water to survive and the ancients knew this then I have to question why it didnt eventaully spread to everyone instead of becoming "lost" that makes no sense to me unless it isnt possible to achieve. .which would be my bet..also if its possible why dont animals do this? It would seem to be the path of least resistance yet nothing does it ? Thats illogical at best

It became "lost" because those people foolish enough to try it had already died and other people saw how stupid those fools were and did not attempt the same thing.