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== See also ==
== See also ==
* [[No Way To Heaven]], first full-length documentary on breatharianism
* [[No Way To Heaven]], the first full-length documentary on breatharianism (2008)
* [[Fasting girls]]
* [[Fasting girls]]
* [[Sungazing]]
* [[Sungazing]]

Revision as of 22:57, 7 June 2010

Inedia (Latin: "fasting") is the ability to live without food. The word was first used to describe a fast-based lifestyle within Catholic tradition, which holds that certain saints were able to survive for extended periods of time without food or drink other than the Eucharist.

Breatharianism is a related concept, in which believers claim food and possibly water are not necessary, and that humans can be sustained solely by prana (the vital life force in Hinduism), or according to some, by the energy in sunlight (according to Ayurveda, sunlight is one of the main sources of prana). The terms breatharianism or inedia may also refer to this philosophy practised as a lifestyle in place of the usual diet.

While there is not peer verified scientific support for the claims, some promote the practices of breatharianism as a skill which can be learned through specific techniques.[1]

Scientific basis

Nutrition science indicates that fasting for extended periods leads to starvation, dehydration, and eventual death. Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are the body's only observed sources of energy.[2][3][4] In the absence of calorie intake, the body normally burns its own reserves of glycogen, body fat, and muscle. Breatharians claim that their bodies do not consume these reserves while fasting.[5]

Few breatharians have submitted themselves to medical testing; of those that have, none have undergone peer review with results independently reproduced. In a handful of documented cases, individuals attempting breatharian fasting have died.[6][7] Other studies of alleged breatharians have exposed them as frauds.[8]

Practitioners

Jasmuheen

Jasmuheen (born Ellen Greve) was a prominent advocate of breatharianism in the 1990s. She claimed "I can go for months and months without having anything at all other than a cup of tea. My body runs on a different kind of nourishment."[citation needed] Interviewers found her house stocked with food; Jasmuheen claimed the food was for her husband. In 1999, she volunteered to be monitored closely by the Australian television program 60 Minutes for one week without eating to demonstrate her methods.[9][10] Jasmuheen stated that she failed on the first day of the test because the hotel room in which she was confined was located near a busy road, causing stress and pollution that prevented absorption of required nutrients from the air. "I asked for fresh air. Seventy percent of my nutrients come from fresh air. I couldn’t even breathe," she said. The third day the test was moved to a mountainside retreat. After fasting for four days, Dr. Berris Wink, president of the Queensland branch of the Australian Medical Association, urged her to stop the test.

According to Dr. Wink, Jasmuheen’s pupils were dilated, her speech was slow, and she was "quite dehydrated, probably over 10%, getting up to 11%". Towards the end of the test, she said, "Her pulse is about double what it was when she started. The risks if she goes any further are kidney failure. 60 Minutes would be culpable if they encouraged her to continue. She should stop now". The test was stopped. Dr. Wink said, "Unfortunately there are a few people who may believe what she says, and I'm sure it's only a few, but I think it's quite irresponsible for somebody to be trying to encourage others to do something that is so detrimental to their health".[11] Jasmuheen challenged the results of the program, saying, "Look, 6,000 people have done this around the world without any problem."[citation needed] Though she claims thousands of followers,[12][13] mostly in Germany,[14] there has been no verification that any have lived for extended periods without food.

Jasmuheen was awarded the Bent Spoon Award by Australian Skeptics in 2000 ("presented to the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudoscientific piffle").[15] She also won the 2000 Ig Nobel Prize for Literature for Living on Light. Jasmuheen claims that their beliefs are based on the writings and "more recent channelled material" of the Count of St Germain.[16] She stated that her DNA has expanded from 2 to 12 strands, to "absorb more hydrogen". When offered $30,000 to prove her claim with a blood test, she said that she didn't understand the relevance.[17]

Deaths of Jasmuheen's followers

The deaths of 49-year-old Australian-born Scotland resident Verity Linn, 31-year-old Munich preschool teacher Timo Degen, and 53-year-old Melbourne resident Lani Marcia Roslyn Morris while attempting the breatharian "diet" advocated by Jasmuheen have elicited criticism.[6][7] Jim Vadim Pesnak, 63, and his wife Eugenia, 60, went to jail for three years on charges of manslaughter for their involvement in the death of Morris.[clarification needed] Jasmuheen claimed that Linn's death was brought on by a psycho-spiritual, rather than physiologic, source.

Jasmuheen has denied any involvement with the three deaths and claims she cannot be held responsible for the actions of her followers. In reference to the death of Lani Morris, she said that perhaps Morris was "not coming from a place of integrity and did not have the right motivation".[7]

Wiley Brooks

Wiley Brooks is founder of the Breatharian Institute of America. He was first introduced to the public in 1980 when appearing on the TV show That's Incredible!.[18] Brooks stopped teaching recently to "devote 100% of his time on solving the problem as to why he needed to eat some type of food to keep his physical body alive and allow his light body to manifest completely."[19] Brooks believes to have found "four major deterrents" which prevented him from living without food: "people pollution", "food pollution", "air pollution" and "electro pollution".[19]

In 1983 he was allegedly observed leaving a Santa Cruz 7-Eleven with a Slurpee, hot dog and Twinkies.[20] He told Colors magazine in 2003 that he periodically breaks his fasting with a cheeseburger and a cola, explaining that when he's surrounded by junk culture and junk food, consuming them adds balance.[21]

On his website, Brooks states that his potential followers must first prepare by combining the junk food diet with the meditative incantation of five magic "fifth-dimensional" words which appear on his website.[22][23] In the "5D Q&A" section of his website Brooks explains that cows are fifth-dimensional (or higher) beings that help mankind achieve fifth-dimensional status by converting three-dimensional food to five-dimensional food (beef). The "Holy Cows" section of the site includes a picture of cows with glowing eyes so that readers can sense the energy of the picture.[24] In the "Question and Answer" section of his website, Brooks explains that the "Double Quarter-Pounder with Cheese" meal from McDonald's possesses a special "base frequency" and that he thus recommends it as occasional food for beginning breatharians.[25] He then goes on to reveal that Diet Coke is "liquid light".[25] Prospective disciples are asked after some time following the junk food/magic word preparation to revisit his website in order to test if they can feel the magic.[23]

Brooks states that he may be contacted on his fifth-dimensional phone in order to get the correct pronunciation of the five magic words.[23] In case the line is busy, prospective recruits are asked to meditate on the five magic words for a few minutes, and then try calling again;[23] he does not explain how anyone can meditate with words they cannot yet pronounce. Brooks's institute charged varying fees to prospective clients who wished to learn how to live without food, which ranged from US$15 million to US$25 million. A payment plan was also offered.[26] These charges had typically been presented as limited time offers exclusively for billionaires.[27][28] New lower fees have been set to US$100,000 with an initial deposit of US$10,000.[1]

Hira Ratan Manek

Hira Ratan Manek (born September 12, 1937) claims that since June 18, 1995, he has lived exclusively on water, and, occasionally, tea, coffee, and buttermilk. Manek states that sunlight is the key to his health, citing the Jainist Tirthankara Mahavira, ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Native Americans as his inspiration.

According to his website, three extended periods of his fasting have been observed under control of scientific and medical teams, the first lasting 211 days in 1995-96, in Calicut, India, under the direction of Dr C. K. Ramachandran. During that period he is reported to have lost 41 kg.[29]

The second study lasted 411 days in 2000-2001, in Ahmedabad, India, under the direction of a 21 member team of medical doctors and scientists led by doctors Sudhir Shah and K. K. Shah, a past President of the Indian Medical Association and current Chairman of the Jainist Doctors' Federation (the latter group aims to "Promote scientific research and medical education based on principles of Jainism").[30] Dr K. K. Shah said "Fasting is a method of curing the meditation of mind and body which has been proved by great jain monks, sanyasis and munis of ancient times. There is a need to propagate these methods during this age of increasing diseases of the body and mind due to over consumptions and increasing with fasting would help maintain perfection.".[29] Dr Sudhir Shah was also involved in the study of Prahlad Jani.[31]

The paper[32] published by Dr Sudhir Shah makes it clear that dozens of people had access to Hira Ratan Manek during the study and he went on at least one excursion: "Most surprisingly, he had himself climbed the famous Shatrunjay mountain (Palitana hill) on 4.4.01, on 401st day of his legendary fasting along with 500 fellowmen without anybody’s help, within 1.5 Hrs. only". The paper reports that the subject lost 19 kg of weight during the study period. Neither the experiment, as described in the paper, nor the paper itself have been validated by any other well-known scientific or medical journal.

A third study allegedly lasted for 130 days in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at Thomas Jefferson University and the University of Pennsylvania under the direction of Dr. Andrew Newberg and Dr. George C. Brainard. Dr Sudhir Shah, who led the previous study, acted as an advisor and consultant to the USA team. However, Dr. Andrew Newberg said that Hira stayed at the University of Pennsylvania only for brain scans on studies of meditation, not his ability to fast indefinitely. Following that statement, Newberg denied ever undertaking the 130-day study.[citation needed]

Prahlad Jani ("Mataji")

Outline of life

Prahlad Jani grew up in Charod village in Mehsana district.[33] According to Jani, he left his home in Rajasthan at the age of seven, and went to live in the jungle.[34]

"When he reached the age of 11, he underwent a religious experience during which he became a follower of the Hindu goddess Amba. In her honour, he chose to dress as a female devotee, wearing a red sari-like garment, nose-ring, bangles and crimson flowers in his shoulder-length hair. In return, Jani believes that the goddess has sustained him ever since by feeding him with a lifegiving, invisible "elixir", which has supposedly given him the strength to continue without food or water."[34]

"For at least the past 40 years, Jani has been living, hermit-like, in a cave in the jungles close to the Gujarati temple of Ambaji. He rises at 4am, spending most of the day meditating."[34] Amongst his followers and devotees he is commonly known as Mataji ("[a manifestation of] The Great Mother"). This name is also frequently used by Indians (regardless of their religious views) with reference to Prahlad Jani.

2003 Tests

Prahlad Jani, an Indian sadhu who claims to have gone without food for decades,[33] spent ten days under strict observation by physicians at Sterling Hospital, Ahmedabad, India, in 2003.[35] The study was led by Dr Sudhir Shah (http://www.sudhirneuro.org/), a well known and ardent proponent of Jain philosophy[36], who studies people claiming spiritual abilities[37], the same doctor who led the study of Hira Ratan Manek.

Reportedly, during the observation, he was given only 100 millilitres of water a day to use as mouthwash, which was collected and measured after he used it, to make sure he hadn't consumed any. He was reported to enter Samadhi state of consciousness almost daily during meditation. Throughout the observation, he passed no urine or stool, but doctors say urine appeared to form in the bladder, only to be reabsorbed.[33]Jani claims a goddess sustains him through amrit that filters down through a hole in his palate.[33]

According to the hospital's deputy superintendent, Dr. Dinesh Desai, "A series of tests conducted on him show his body mechanism is that of a normal person", but "a hole in the palate is an abnormal phenomenon."[33]

Criticism

Critics said, that Jani was not engaged in strenuous exercise during the ten-day trial, and longer trials were not recorded under similarly strict observation. Further, his weight did drop slightly during the 10 days, casting some doubt on his claim to go indefinitely without food.

The Indian Rationalist Association has criticised the Indian Ministry of Defence for agreeing to take part in the tests, and for being taken in by a "village fraud".[38] Sanal Edamaruku of the Indian Rationalist Association claimed to have been repeatedly denied sending an independent team to survey the room where Jani was held. He also claimed that "this particular hospital, led by this particular doctor, keeps on making these claims without ever producing evidence or publishing research." The Indian Rationalist Association also said that individuals making similar claims have all reportedly been exposed as frauds.[34]

Reports say that a special vomiting gas had been successfully used by IRA to intoxicate one of the previous claimants and force the vomiting effect to expose that there was indigested food in her intestines.[34]

The Discovery Channel Documentary

On June 26, 2006, The Discovery Channel aired a documentary called "The Boy with Divine Powers" featuring a 5 minute interview with Prahlad Jani and Dr. Sudhir Shah.[39][40]

2010 Tests

As of April 22, 2010, new tests are being conducted on Prahlad Jani under surveillance of 35 doctors and researchers of Defence Institute of Physiology & Allied Science (DIPAS).[41][42][43]

Rajiv Sharma, CEO of Sterling Hospital, said, “We wanted to insure Jani’s life. However, due to certain legalities, insurance firms refused our request. Finally, the state government insured his life so that the study could be conducted.”[44]

Prahlad Jani was kept for fifteen days, until May 6 (tests were completed on Thursday at 3:30pm), and reportedly did not eat, drink or go to the toilet once during the time. This was apparently shown by blood tests, hormone profiles, MRIs and angiographs. The doctors also claimed to have found that he was "more healthy than someone half his age."

During the study, a protocol of round-the-clock surveillance was followed with the help of CCTV cameras and personal observation. Mataji (Prahlad Jani) was taken out for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasonography (USG), and X-ray examination and exposure to sun under continuous video recording.[45]

“During the tests we found that in Prahalad Jani's bladder, the amount of liquid fluctuates even when he does not pass urine,” said a member of the team of medical experts that conducted medical tests. Mataji's lung functions is quite normal, as per reports by Dr. Mukesh Patel and his team.

Dr. G. Ilavazahagan, director, DIPAS (a heavily funded branch of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation), said, "The exercise of taking this yogi under a medical scanner is to understand which energy supports his existence, if not food or water. And if at the end of three months by which we plan to come out with observations based on this 15-day check up, we are able to reach to an explanation of this hypothesis - it would tremendously benefit mankind. The observations derived from this case study can help many soldiers, victims of calamities and astronauts - who often have to survive without food or water for long spells."[46]

Dr. Urman Dhruv, a physician, said, "We are collecting data on a person who has lived on an alternative pathway compared to an ordinary person. The comparative study of his reports of the tests conducted in 2003 and results of the recent and on-going tests would throw light on the process of aging in Jani's body - which seems to have undergone some type of genetic transformation."[46]

Reaction of Critics and Supporters

In the recent review, published by The Indian Rationalist Organization on May 18th, 2010, Sanal Edamaruku criticizes that Jani was allowed to move out of the CCTV camera's field of view, which was supposedly revealed by an official video clip. The critic points out that Jani was allowed to receive devotees and could even leave the sealed test room for a sun bath. Accordingly to his opinion, the regular gargling and bathing activities were not sufficiently monitored. [47]

However, an examination of the video montage uploaded by IRA and allegedly showing the "loopholes" in the monitoring of the last tests shows, that it is constructed mostly of the clips from the Sanal Edamaruku's own appearances in Indian news channels, with a few repeatedly shown short clips from Jani's CCTV coverage. The clips related to the bathing procedures are from 2003 tests, and those supposedly showing the obstruction by devotees and 'out of camera' episodes are all made by one and the same camera, while the reports explicitly state that there were several cameras to monitor the on-going event from different angles, to be sure in the situations when Prahlad Jani was obstructed by visitors from a certain angle of view.[48]

In the article Sanal Edamaruku also hypothesizes that "Prahlad Jani has some influential protectors" and says that "a call from Sterling hospital invited me – live on TV – to join the test the next day", but right before he was going to get on the plane and fly to Gujarat for inspection, he was supposedly "informed that we had to wait for the permission of the "top boss" of the project. ... this permission never came."[49]

Religious traditions

Roman Catholicism

Roman Catholicism also has traditions of inedia, in which saints, as well as Jesus, are claimed to have been able to go for months or years without any food (or with no food but the Eucharist).[50] Such saints include:

Hinduism

Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi details two alleged historical examples of breatharianism, Giri Bala and Therese Neumann.

Shamanism

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Wiley Brooks website: Initiation workshops". Breatharian.com. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  2. ^ "How to Eat Healthy. WebMD". Women.webmd.com. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  3. ^ "Test Your Weight Loss Wisdom. MedicineNet". Medicinenet.com. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  4. ^ "Macronutrients: the Importance of Carbohydrate, Protein, and Fat". Mckinley.uiuc.edu. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  5. ^ "What happens to your body as a breatharian? Howstuffworks". Recipes.howstuffworks.com. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  6. ^ a b "UK: Scotland Woman 'starved herself to death'". BBC. 1999-09-21. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
  7. ^ a b c Tom Walker, Judith O'Reilly (1999-09-26). "Three deaths linked to 'living on air' cult". Sunday Times (London).
  8. ^ ""Indian Ministry of Defence and NASA taken in by village fraud."". "Rationalists International". Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  9. ^ "Living on air: Breatharian put to the test". Archived from the original on 2005-11-02.
  10. ^ "Jasmuheen". Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  11. ^ "Fresh-air dietician fails TV show's challenge". Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  12. ^ "Starvation guru given hostile reception". Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  13. ^ "Mysticism". Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  14. ^ "Face behind food-free teaching". Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  15. ^ "Bent Spoon 2000 - Winner (Jasmuheen)". Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  16. ^ "All they need is the air". 1999-09-22. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  17. ^ "Correx Archives — Jasmuheen". Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  18. ^ Broom, Jack (1993-10-05). "Living On Light, Air -- 'Breatharian' Says Food Is Poison But Pops An Occasional Twinkie". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  19. ^ a b "Wiley Brooks website through Internet Archive". Web.archive.org. 2006-02-11. Archived from the original on 2006-02-11. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  20. ^ "MetroActive News & Issues". Retrieved 2008-06-07. {{cite web}}: Text "A Year of Nüz" ignored (help)
  21. ^ "sonoma papers". Metroactive.com. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  22. ^ Five magic words download (MS Word document)
  23. ^ a b c d "Wiley Brooks website: Five magic words". Breatharian.com. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  24. ^ Q and A five magic words
    Holy cows section
    Picture of cows with glowing eyes
  25. ^ a b "5 magic words Q&A". Breatharian.com. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  26. ^ "Initiation workshops from the Internet Archive". Web.archive.org. 2008-02-13. Archived from the original on 2008-02-13. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  27. ^ "Fees via Internet archive". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 2006-07-18. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  28. ^ Initiation workshops through Internet Archive. Retrieved January 2008.
  29. ^ a b "Hira Ratan Manek". Archived from the original on 2005-03-01. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  30. ^ "::: Aims &Amp; Objectives Of Jdf :::". Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  31. ^ "Unexplained Mysteries, Unexplained Mystery, Unexplained Mysteries. Unexplained Mysteries". Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  32. ^ "Fasting, Prolonged Fasting, Fasting, Hira Manek Prolonged Fasting Medical Report". Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  33. ^ a b c d e Rajeev Khanna (2003-11-25). "BBC NEWS". Retrieved 2008-06-07. {{cite news}}: Text "Fasting fakir flummoxes physicians" ignored (help); Text "South Asia" ignored (help)
  34. ^ a b c d e Rawstorne, Tom (7 May 2010). "The man who says he hasn't eaten or drunk for 70 years: Why are eminent doctors taking him seriously?". Daily Mail.
  35. ^ Dr. Urman Dhruv, Dr. S. V. Shah and Dr. V. N. Shah, Mataji Case Study. Retrieved on 2010-05-08
  36. ^ Jain Religion And Science http://www.sudhirneuro.org/jain.php
  37. ^ How a man can live seven decades without food or water http://www.helium.com/items/1830574-how-a-man-can-live-seven-decades-without-food-or-water
  38. ^ ""No food, no water for 60 years! - Indian Ministry of Defence and NASA taken in by a village fraud"". Retrieved 2009-09-22.
  39. ^ Mataji - Case Study http://www.sudhirneuro.org/mataji-case-study.php
  40. ^ PDF and PPT presentations of Mataji http://www.sudhirneuro.org/articles.php
  41. ^ Man who lives on air undergoes defence tests http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=3&contentid=201004272010042703191596a47ffb68
  42. ^ Hermit Claims 70 Years Survival Without Food http://www.wusa9.com/news/watercooler/story.aspx?storyid=100671&catid=148
  43. ^ Presentation on Prahlad Jani http://lifeadventurestariq.blogspot.com/2010/04/man-survives-for-decades-without-food.html
  44. ^ Prahlad Jani Breaks a Record,No Food & Water for 74 years http://www.kerala365.com/political-news-events/prahlad-jani-breaks-a-recordno-food-water-for-74-years-prahlad-janiabout-prahlad-jani/
  45. ^ Experts baffled as Mataji's medical reports are normal http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_experts-baffled-as-mataji-s-medical-reports-are-normal_1380169
  46. ^ a b "Yogi sans food gives medical fraternity food for thought". Dnaindia.com. 2010-04-27. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  47. ^ http://www.rationalistinternational.net/article/2010/20100518/en_1.html
  48. ^ http://www.rationalistinternational.net/article/2010/20100518/en_1.html
  49. ^ http://www.rationalistinternational.net/article/2010/20100518/en_1.html
  50. ^ "Patron Saints Index: inedia". Retrieved 2008-06-07.
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