The reason i did this little research
Photo-documenting, and digitally processing all our daily food every day is a resource-intensive activity, i can tell. In the hope that i will catch up with the food processing one day, -apparently – i investigate some of the methodologies and solutions that can help us evading our natural demand for food completely :D. For sure we easily can find all kind of “Gurus” on the web, who tried to deal with various technics to skip eating completely. If once i would happen to find a real, working method, that would finally determine the End of my Lifelong Food-logging project, so thus i would get back my ‘missing’ ~40-60 minutes per-day, haha.. By that I would save time i need to process the food-photos i have taken on that day. Hitting two birds with one stone, hmm :). However, then I would produce empty food-squares, throughout my remaining life if i keep running this project. That sounds somewhat more boring to me. Hahha, just thinking loud, anyways.
A quick peek on the definition of fasting
Please consume this strictly as entertainment. (if -for some reason- you didn’t plan to do so.. 🙂
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.
(Wikipedia)
Here is the (far not complete) selection of people and stories related to extreme fasting
Hira Ratan Manek
(Born September 12, 1937) claims that since June 18, 1995, he has lived 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.
*: Sungazing is a practice that includes gazing at the sun for nourishment or as a spiritual practice. Looking into the sun is dangerous and can cause solar retinopathy and lead to permanent eye damage or blindness. Sungazers claim their eyes are capable of converting sunlight into energy for their bodies. They claim the methodology is similar to photosynthesis. Sungazing is also part of the Bates method, an alternative therapy intended to improve eyesight. Ophthalmologists do not regard the method as useful.
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.
The second study lasted 411 days in 2000–2001. One of his doctors says: “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.” >Most surprisingly, he had himself climbed the famous Shatrunjay mountain (Palitana hill) on 4.4.2001, 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.
case status: attempt sounds good.. 😀 but sadly NOT scientifically proved.
Prahlad Jani (“Mataji”)
is an Indian 81 year old sadhu who has claimed to have lived without food and water for the last 70 years.
A study concluded that Prahlad Jani was able to survive under observation for two weeks without either food or water, and had passed no urine or stool,[38] with no need for dialysis. ..Jani’s only contact with any form of fluid was during gargling and bathing, and the doctors said they measured the fluid that Jani spat out.. The case has attracted criticism, both after 2003 tests and after the recent 2010 tests. Sanal Edamaruku, president of the Indian Rationalist Association*, criticized the 2010 experiment for allowing Jani to move out of a certain CCTV camera’s field of view, meet devotees and leave the sealed test room to sunbathe.
case status: not scientifically proved.
Jasmuheen
“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.”
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. 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.
case status: attempt FAILED, a charlatan)
Wiley Brooks
As Founder of the Breatharian Institute of America, 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. He then goes on to reveal that Diet Coke is “liquid light”. (…)
n 1983 he was reportedly observed leaving a Santa Cruz 7-Eleven with a Slurpee, hot dog and Twinkies. 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. (…)
case status: “Ridiculous”, a charlatan.
Conclusion
Maybe it would be a better idea for me, to not to search and find all the unveiling cases of people who tried to beat their bodies, who tried to be more than what is naturally allowed. Sometimes it would be splendid, and great just to remain na(t)ive (more or less), and to wait for the news, which says:
