While we can barely last between meals without some serious snacking, husband and wife Akahi Ricardo and Camila Castello claim they have eaten barely anything for nine years.
And how did they do it? The self-proclaimed ‘Breatharian’ couple say they simply live off “the universe’s energy”.
The couple shared their dangerous diet beliefs in a controversial interview in The Sun. The story has been slammed—obviously—for promoting incredibly unhealthy practices and for a lack of fact checking.
“Humans can easily be without food – as long as they are the connected to the energy that exists in all things and through breathing,” Camila claimed. “For three years, Akahi and I didn’t eat anything at all and now we only eat occasionally like if we’re in a social situation or if I simply want to taste a fruit.”
The couple say they have only eaten food around three times a week since 2008. And when they do eat, it’s just a piece of fruit or vegetable or broth.
Camila said she even practised a ‘Breatharian pregnancy’ when she carried her first child.
“Hunger was a foreign sensation to me so I fully lived on light and ate nothing,” she claimed.
“I didn’t feel the need or desire to eat solid food during the entire nine months and so I only ate 5 times, all of which were in social situations.”
She continued: “My blood tests during all three trimesters were impeccable and I gave birth to a healthy, baby boy.”
The couple have two children, aged five and two, but do not make them follow the strict diet.
Akahi added: “There is a freedom that comes with not being attached or dependent on food.”
As fact-checking website Snopes notes, people in Scotland, Australia and Switzerland have died as a result of living without food or water.
Medical experts say living on an endless fast is not a long-term lifestyle. Professor David Oliver, the clinical vice president of the Royal College of Physicians, told Broadly in May: “Anyone advocating that we can live largely without food or fluids is giving dangerous advice.”
“Living on air and sunshine will provide no caloric or fluid intake. Anyone who claims to be maintaining a steady body weight on such a diet is unlikely to be telling the truth.”
For support on eating disorders, contact Butterfly Foundation‘s National Support line and online service on 1800 ED HOPE (1800 33 4673).
