Oxygen Instead of Food

You can't hold your breath to death, but you sure can starve to death.

Well this one takes the cake. I received an email about a man who claims that he has not eaten food or consumed water in 70 years. His claim is that he survives from some sort of supernatural life force and simply breathing is enough.

Believe it or not some people actually believe it’s possible to survive on nothing more than oxygen, it’s called ‘breatharianism’ and it’s about as wacko as it gets. Of course nobody will ever try this because they’d be dead within a few weeks. The specific article that was sent to me was pointing out how this particular man had gone 6 days without food without any adverse effects…this shouldn’t be a surprise as there is well documented cases of morbidly obese people fasting for weeks on end in order to drop weight.

I even did a 5 day fast a few months ago…it’s just not that big of a deal.

Breatharianism is the final stop on the continuum of craziness that starts with the good and bad food dichotomy.

It starts with a list of foods that are good and ones that are bad, then the bad foods list grows due to contamination of toxins (whatever the hell that means), genetic modification, veganism, raw foodism, fruitism, and so-on until there is nothing left to eat.

I’m not suggesting that all people who believe in a good and bad food paradigm will end up with the breatharian belief, but a case can be made for showing a common origin of the thought process behind both ideas.

It’s easy to find fault in almost any food if you examine it enough. No matter what food you choose there is a criteria that could end up labeling it as ‘bad’ and not worth eating. Taken to the absurd extreme this would leave you with nothing left to eat (as a breatharian would believe is a perfectly fine conclusion)

Reason and common sense just isn’t with some people.

John

Posted by johnbarban in Health

Tags: breatharianism, Health |14 Comments

14 Responses to “Oxygen Instead of Food”

Jordan Says:
April 30th, 2010 at 11:56 am
It’s such a minefield of ridiculousness out there. Too much hysteria, too much paranoia, too much fear mongering, too much anxiety.
BadgerDave Says:
April 30th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
see also sungazers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sungazing
http://www.sungazing.com/
http://solarhealing.com/

there’s a lot of crazy out there
pierre Says:
April 30th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
John yea i read the article and one time i investigated these so called people and at everthy time they consumed food is all bullshit and i have done a 7 day water fast in the past with no problem but none of these so called breatherians have been put out to a test in a US lab been monitor 24 hours 7 days a week for a whole year or heck 3-6 months i bet you none of these liers will last that long before they are begging for food.
Josh Eflin Says:
April 30th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
http://www.breatharian.com/breatharians.html …………… I’m not sure if this is a joke… but this is supposedly the breatharian “institute” website… It’s actually kind of a fun read, but it’s absolutely rediculous if these people actually believe that their bodies are really just digesting the sound and light from food, and then earth is a vacation spot for humans who are usually 5 dimensional beasts….. check it out
James Says:
April 30th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
So John how should one go about finding good information on good food and bad food (whether the concept has any validity or not). Even the harvard food pyramid recommends eating sparingly red meat and butter. The pyramid, as all pyramids has you eating more of one “type” of food then another. Such as more grains then beans. I don’t think this sort of information is practical. What if today I want to eat more beans then grain what will happen? What if I drink more milk then usual? What does it matter so long as I don’t get fat? This concept of bad food is pretty well ingrained in our society. I think you have made a very good point in the past that the poison is in the dosage.
Girlwithnoname (Jackie) Says:
April 30th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
LOL!!

OMG, my aching stomach (not from hunger, from laughing)…

you are KIDDING!! You can survive from breathing alone?

puh-leeeeeze!!!
johnbarban Says:
April 30th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
James,

It’s based on your goals. If your goal is to live as long as possible and enjoy the process without limiting yourself from the foods you like then you’ve got to decide how much of each food you can sensibly fit into your lifestyle without increasing your risk of a premature death.

The poison is always in the dose when it comes to personal disease risk management.

There are much broader views of food though. You could arrive at a point where you view your food choices based on sustainability, economic, social or environmental impact. This however is a very complex issue that requires much reading and digging before you can be somewhat sure as to what your food choices mean.

For example what does ‘fair trade’ coffee really mean and who really benefits. Same with organic, locavorism, trying to eat ‘whole’ vs processed foods (this requires an arbitrary line of what ‘processed’ means) etc.

I figure most people are just interested in the longevity of their own body, and assume these larger issue don’t play a role…however the more you look at it the more you’ll see that all of these factors can at least indirectly affect your health as well.

From this broader view point it’s almost impossible to create a list of good or bad foods (because every one of them would be bad for at least one reason or another)

JB
James Says:
April 30th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
John,

It certainly is a big topic. so to narrow it down what about longevity and quality of years and its relationship to food, do you have any idea what the dose is to make the poison in foods typically considered “bad”. For example I’m pretty sure putting cream in my coffee is no where near the dose needed to cause any detrimental effects. But what If I drank about half my calories in milk without getting fat. Would that be enough to have a detrimental effect? I think it is important to find the range of what constitutes a food in being a poison. So even though I wouldn’t typically drink that much milk I would still like to know if I have the freedom. As goes with any of these so called bad foods. So John what do you think? How much freedom can a diet have so long as you don’t overeat. I could for example take in more saturated fat then is recommended by the ADA without getting fat. Could that be a problem later on in life? Is there even an answer for that?

(Sorry its rather hard to pin point the right question to ask here. Its a rather big topic. But I think I may have hit on something with the question on freedom)
johnbarban Says:
April 30th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
James,

There is no specific number for a particular food. That’s why daily recommendations are given. These daily recommendations aren’t meant to be taken literally to mean an exact amount per day, but an average over weeks and months. You and I could easily and safely consumes liters and liters of cream over the next two days…as long as we take some time off of eating so much cream and consume something else (preferably with a lower fat content)…the poison is not only in the dose but also in the frequency.

It’s an interesting thought experiment, but in reality we’re not actually going to try and drink liters of cream. That really wouldn’t be enjoyable. To some degree our palate and sense of satisfaction from food will stop us from constantly eating the same food and drive us to look for some variety.

JB
Josh B Says:
April 30th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
…poison is not only in the dose but also in the frequency.

I like that. And it’s interesting too how our bodies would naturally push as away from eating one particular item in such high volume for an extended period of time. the I’m like that candy corn, it’s so good when I start eating it! But let me finish a bag of the stuff and I won’t touch it for months after!
Ares Says:
April 30th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
OK, the breatharianism (or whatever) is oviously from this “new age” bullshit, but claims of being able to survive without food or water are part of the taoist martial arts, adn do encourage spending weeks without food or water…and it is a tradition in other religions…so there
Keith Says:
May 3rd, 2010 at 1:33 am
Hey John,
Quick question. Is it safe for the body to lose over two pounds of fat a week? I know it would have to require a MASSIVE calorie deficit, but is it safe and possible for someone who wants extremely fast fat loss? Thanks
johnbarban Says:
May 3rd, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Keith,

I don’t think there is any measurable danger to losing more than 2 pounds per week…it’s just damn hard to do. To lose 3 pounds of FAT specifically you would need to create a calorie deficit of AT LEAST 10,500 calories per week…AT LEAST! This is entirely possible, but might feel very restrictive.

Dipping this low for a week or two here and there is doable, but you’ll likely find that it’s not sustainable and you’ll start thinking about food more and more. Aiming for a bit more modest of a deficit (even 1.5 – 2 pounds per week) is much more sustainable and might not drive you mental.

So I don’t think it’s dangerous but I think you’ll simply find it too difficult to sustain for more than a week or two.

And just to be clear I’m talking about FAT LOSS not WEIGHT LOSS.

JB
Lillea Says:
July 9th, 2010 at 1:37 am
An interesting book on this subject is “The Fasting Girl: True Victorian Medical Mystery.”

The book covers how, during the Victorian era, there were several young women who claimed that they could survive w/o eating for long periods of time. When properly tested/watched, they were usually quickly proven to be frauds. In some cases, they died in their attempt to prove that they were telling the truth. But one young woman is still a mystery. The author leaves it up to the reader to decide what may or may not have happened based on what is known about that particular case.

14 Responses to “Oxygen Instead of Food”

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