Inedia, which means "fasting" in Latin, and breatharianism, pronounced /b r ɛ ˈ θ ɛər i ə n ɪ z əm /, are beliefs that some people can live without eating food, and sometimes without drinking water. These beliefs are not based on real science. Some people who follow these practices have died because they did not get enough food or water to stay alive.

Scientific assessment

Studies have shown that not eating for long periods can cause serious health problems, including starvation, dehydration, and death. When food is not eaten, the body uses stored energy from glycogen, fat, and muscle. Some people who practice breatharianism claim their bodies do not use these stored resources during fasting.

Some breatharians have been tested by doctors, such as when an Indian mystic named Prahlad Jani was observed by a hospital to survive without food or water for 15 days. However, the hospital has not shared official records of this event. In other cases, people tried to live only on sunlight but had to stop after losing a significant amount of body weight.

In some cases, people who practiced breatharian fasting have died. Groups like the British Dietetic Association warn that the breatharian diet is dangerous and emphasize that all people need food and water to stay alive.

Alleged practitioners

The 1670 Rosicrucian text Comte de Gabalis gave credit to the doctor and occultist Paracelsus (1493–1541) for practicing a method described as "living for several years by taking only one-half scrupule of Solar Quintessence." The book also claimed that Paracelsus said he had seen many wise people fast for twenty years without eating anything.

Ram Bahadur Bomjon is a Nepalese Buddhist monk who lives a simple life in a remote part of Nepal. He appears to go long periods without eating or drinking. A 2006 Discovery Channel documentary titled The Boy with Divine Powers reported that Bomjon did not move, eat, or drink during 96 hours of filming. However, the filmmakers could not film him continuously for that time. His claims have not been proven through scientific testing.

Prahlad Jani was an Indian religious leader who claimed to have lived without food or water for more than 70 years. In 2003 and 2010, doctors at Sterling Hospital in Gujarat, India, studied his claims. The research found that Jani could survive for ten days without food or water, with no urine or stool, and no need for dialysis. Researchers used multiple cameras to monitor him closely. Jani underwent many medical tests, but the team could not confirm his claim of surviving this way for decades.

Critics, including Sanal Edamaruku of the Indian Rationalist Association, questioned the 2010 study. Edamaruku said the experiment allowed Jani to leave the camera’s view, meet supporters, and sunbathe outside a sealed room. He also noted that activities like gargling and bathing were not fully monitored and accused Jani of having supporters who blocked his access to the project.

Jasmuheen (born Ellen Greve) promoted the idea of breatharianism in the 1990s. She claimed to live for months without food, relying only on a cup of tea and "a different kind of nourishment." However, interviews found her home had food, which she said was for her family. In 1999, she agreed to be tested by the Australian TV show 60 Minutes for one week without eating.

During the test, Jasmuheen said she struggled on the third day because the hotel near a busy road caused stress and pollution, making it hard to absorb nutrients from the air. The test was moved to a mountain retreat, but her condition worsened. By the fourth day, a doctor from the Australian Medical Association warned that she was dehydrated, had a fast heartbeat, and risked kidney failure. The test ended, and the doctor said encouraging others to follow her methods could harm their health. Jasmuheen later claimed that 6,000 people had practiced breatharianism without problems.

In 2000, Jasmuheen received the Bent Spoon Award from Australian Skeptics for promoting "paranormal or pseudoscientific" ideas. She also won the Ig Nobel Prize for Literature for "Living on Light." She said her beliefs were based on writings from a spiritual figure named St. Germain and claimed some people’s DNA had changed to absorb more hydrogen. When offered $30,000 to prove her claim with a blood test, she said the test was not relevant to her beliefs.

As of 2017, five deaths were linked to breatharianism due to Jasmuheen’s teachings. She denied responsibility for three of these deaths.

Wiley Brooks (1936–2016) founded the Breatharian Institute of America. He first became known in 1980 on the TV show That's Incredible! Brooks stopped teaching before his death in 2016 to focus on understanding why he needed food. He claimed four factors—people pollution, food pollution, air pollution, and electro pollution—prevented him from living without food.

In 1983, Brooks was seen buying a Slurpee, a hot dog, and Twinkies at a 7-Eleven. In 2003, he told a magazine he sometimes ate a cheeseburger and cola to balance his diet. He later claimed that McDonald’s restaurants were built on spiritual "5th Dimensional" energy portals and encouraged eating Diet Coke and McDonald’s meals while avoiding water. Brooks believed in separate but connected 5D and 3D worlds and promoted special "5D foods" and meditation on magical words.

Brooks’ institute charged high fees for lessons on living without food, including a $100,000 deposit for a session called an "Immortality workshop." These offers were aimed at billionaires.

Hira Ratan Manek (1937–2022) claimed he lived on water and occasionally drank tea, coffee, or buttermilk since 1995. He said "sungazing" (looking at the sun) was key to his health and cited ancient cultures as practitioners. However, a 2011 documentary showed him eating a large meal in a restaurant.

In an Israeli documentary, a man named Ray Maor appeared to survive without food or water for eight days and nights. He was kept in a small villa with constant video surveillance and daily blood tests. The documentary said he remained in good spirits and lost 7.5 kilograms during the experiment.

Mythology and religion

Some Hindu religious texts describe stories of holy people and hermits who practiced what is now called inedia, breatharianism, or Sustenance through Light. In Valmiki's Ramayana, Book III, Canto VI, there is a description of holy men and ascetics who gathered around Rama when he visited Śarabhanga's hermitage. These included individuals who "live on rays from the moon and the sun" and others who "receive food from the air." In Canto XI of the same book, a hermit named Māṇḍakarṇi is described as someone who "lived on air for ten thousand years" (English translations are from Ralph T. H. Griffith's version).

Paramahansa Yogananda's 1946 book Autobiography of a Yogi mentions two people, Hari Giri Bala and Therese Neumann, who are said to have practiced breatharianism. Some people claim that a man named Devraha Baba lived without eating food. Some breatharians believe that humans can survive only on prana, which is the life force in Hinduism. According to Ayurveda, sunlight is a major source of prana, and some people think it is possible to live on sunlight alone.

Bigu, or grain avoidance, is a fasting method with different meanings. It can mean avoiding certain grains, avoiding all grains, or not eating food at all and relying only on air for energy. Followers of Jainism practice various types of fasts. Some Jain monks and followers fast for many months, with some fasts lasting six months or longer. A Jain monk named Sahaj Muni Maharaj reportedly completed a 365-day fast in 1998. Another monk, Hansaratna Vijayji, is said to have completed a 423-day fast over 494 days in 2015. He had previously claimed to have fasted for 108 days in 2013 and 180 days in 2014. Others have claimed to have fasted for six months.