life - is it possible to live entirely without eating and drinking?
Breatharianism
As I was clearing my driveway of snow last week I was reflecting on the previous winter. But first let me turn back the clock a few months more: it was June 2016, I was feeling a bit uncomfortable in my body and was thinking about doing a cleanse or fasting. It so happened that a friend of mine mentioned "Breatharianism" (or "Inedia"): the body's natural ability to function and sustain itself without eating or drinking. Apparently there are people living currently that do not consume food or water and live completely off "prana". “Prana” (or an equivalent term) is mentioned in ancient cultures like Japan, China, India and Polynesia in reference to a “life-force energy”. I came across several interviews with people who claimed to no longer eat or drink anything at all.
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Introduction to an 8-day process
I also found a website of a couple who give training how to become a breatharian, called "the Akahi method". This seemed a suitable thing to do as my cleanse/fasting. I found some more videos and information online about an 8-day process and decided I could do that on my own; there was nothing in the course description that I hadn't practiced in one way or another before already: fasting, conscious breathing, meditation, energy exercises. I blocked off a time-period of 8 days on my calendar. The 8 day process started with 2 days of gentle reduction of food, followed by a 3-day dry fast (no food, no drink), followed by 3 days of (diluted) fruit juices.
Following the 8-day process
The morning of the first day arrived. I turned off my WiFi and cell phone (because I had also decided to fore-go any internet activity during those 8 days) and prepared for a day of fruit juices. The interesting thing is that as soon as I set my intention to do these 8 days I knew I could do it, and by the end of the first day I already had no appetite for food at all. I drank a minimum amount of fruit juice those first two days. I had nothing really to do. The breathing and energy exercises seemed superfluous, so I spend most of the days in meditation and reading a book. The third day I started the dry-fast. I expected to have some problem with the no-drinking part, since that was the only thing I hadn't experienced before and I have a tendency to get dehydrated quickly, but to my surprise I felt no thirst at all, and my body showed no signs of dehydration; no white tongue coating, no skin issues when pinching it. The three dry-fast days went by slowly and un-eventful. On the sixth day I drank a little water and fruit juice again. I felt no hunger and no desire to eat any solid foods.
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True Breatharians??
After the 8 days were over I did some more research and found out that the Akahi couple didn't actually live on "prana" exclusively: they drank fruit juices.
Living exclusively on fruit and vegetable juices
I bought a masticating fruit and vegetable juicer and exclusively drank fresh fruit/vegetable juices for the next few months. That time period encompassed a cold winter with heavy snow fall. Many days I was outside for one to two hours clearing my driveway from snow, with a hand shovel. I was surprisingly strong and the biggest change I noticed was that I barely broke a sweat. Before this diet experiment I would get sweaty very easily to the point that water would literally drip out of the pores of my body. But that winter: nothing.
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Why limit ourselves?
After that winter, though I felt energized and strong, the daily fruit/vegetable juices simply started to become a boring diet. I thought a lot about the purpose of food, the capabilities of our body, and the pleasure aspect that comes with the eating of food while we are in this 3D body. It seemed silly to forgo solid food any longer. I started to bake little pastries using the best ingredients I could find, like ancient Einkorn flour. Until June 2017 that's all I ate. That June, my fiancée moved in with me, and her being a good cook, that meant the end of my minimalistic diet :)
In conclusion:
Whether it's possible to live entirely without eating and drinking I don't know, but it certainly is very possible to live on a diet of just fresh fruit and vegetable juices. But why limit ourselves? Enjoy life!
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Photography, art work and text by @edward.maesen
Ugh... I'd have to leave 3 comments... but let me pack them into one:
afaik most "cult-cases" of bretharianism or similar practices have been largely debunked... the most compelling argument against it was the simple fact that we exhale CARBON-dioxide... and that carbon is very tangible, you can even weigh it to several grams per hour.
Unless one believes in the body being able to provide a continuous supply of new matter (generated from prana?), that would have to come from somewhere.
But as you say, why limit ourselves, doesn't hurt to try. ;)
Those obligatory photos are absolutely awesome!!
Back to breathing. I've established that I think breatharianism is new-age woo-woo, but I do also believe that breathing is the supernatural power within all of us. Breathing crosses the barrier of the conscious and the subconscious mind, being able to transport information from one to the other. It is the literal embodiment of the universe's cyclical nature within is.
So while living entirely off breathing may be a crazy idea, it's never a bad idea to put some focus on this essential but mostly overlooked life-skill.
Yes I agree that breatharianism is mostly new-age woo-woo. As I mentioned in my post, in my research I found most self-proclaimed breatharians were in actuality drinking juices. As I mentioned in a comment though, there are a few well-documented cases of people who are known to have lived without consuming food or drink. Unfortunately I don't have the references to articles/videos anymore but it seemed legit. Those two or three documented cases had very strong religious beliefs in common.
The research of Bruce Lipton and others like Dawson Church with respect to epigenetics and the power of belief suggest there's still a lot we don't yet understand about the nature of our being. So though skeptical about living without food and drink I keep an open mind, and most importantly I like to have first-hand experience. Hence my experiment. But also as I came to conclude, part of living in this physical body is to experience the joys of this reality - enjoying food and drink is a large part of that.
heh... a very reasonable conclusion :D
there... I found it... home made science investigation:
thunderf00t is a delicate channel... but his logic does pan out imho
Yup this is the Akahi couple that aren't true breatharians but drink juices (and also eat regular fruit)... and many more new-age cuckoos in this video :)
@edward.maesen, its not possible.
It's impossible to determine that something is impossible...
I didn't mention it in my post (because I no longer have the links to the articles and videos) but there are well documented historical cases of people who lived without eating or drinking. When you research Breatharianism you'll come across those accounts.
I just managed to eat two meals in a day now for more than a year. It just happened when I realized that breakfast maybe breaks the law of fasting as it is very obvious on the word itself, 'breaking-the-fast' or 'breakfast' the same meaning. And also as everyone are saying breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I guess its a slogan from the food industry I think. I also don't eat the whole day seldom only when I feel it, especially when I feel something unusual in my body.
Thanks for sharing your eating habits @ronel.
For me there are no food laws or dogmas. I question everything, experiment and draw my own conclusions as to what is appropriate for my body. The meaning of "breakfast" simply is the first meal after sleeping, so whether that is in the early morning or later in the day, your first meal after sleeping is still the "breakfast" and to me nothing in that word indicates that taking the breakfast early or late makes any difference.
I think important is to do what feels right to you. If you feel better without a breakfast then so be it. A remnant from my juice period is that my breakfast still consists only of a fresh fruit and vegetable juice (mixed with flax, sesame and chia seeds, a little muesli and yoghurt).
BTW, I didn't mention in my current post but I ferment my vegetables before juicing (as well as the muesli); that's likely subject of a later post.
That's fascinating. Still, I can't help but made the snide reply that I hope coffee is considered a "vegetable" juice.
hehehe, I was a coffee junky before but didn't miss it at all during my juice year. I did miss chocolate though....
Since returning to "normal" I'm more sensitive and realize much more how "jittery" coffee makes me, but that doesn't keep me from drinking it again :)
Very interesting (I love your comments under the pictures😂) I have been hearing a lot about this breatharianism lately. I personally have no interest in it but it is amazing what people can do when they believe in something. Our bodies are magnificent machines!
Yes true! Belief is a powerful thing. I belief (heh) we can do anything we belief in.
now my day is complete! :)
Now that was a very interesting read! First of all, there's probably way more than meets the eye (or the stomach) that we don't know about. I'm certainly not dismissing the possibility to live without food or drinks and it's great you just said, 'hey, let's try this'!
Fascinating, clearing that driveway without eating and drinking nothing but fruit-juice. I believe (and that's probably a key here) I couldn't do that. So I'm probably not able to.
On a slightly different note: I read there's people just gazing into the sun for energy, have you ever tried that?
And you're right, eating and drinking can be a very enjoyable thing, so why bother dismissing it :)
And the obligatory pics are awesome! :D
For sure there's more than meets the eye... I've had some interesting experiences, which I'm partly drawing upon for the vagabond stories :)
Belief is indeed the key!
Ha yes, the sun gazing. I tried that as well for a while ;) The problem where I now live is that I am on the west side of a slight hill, so the sun is already too high in the sky to be safe to look into when it breaks through the trees here in the morning. The sun gazing is rumored to have health benefits but I have no personal proof of that.
Another thing I tried is to go first thing in the morning outside and stand barefoot in the cold snow (or wet dew, depending on the season). That experiment didn't last too long, I'm a creature of comfort...
Haha, they're great experiences on their own, and I'm glad they're also providing inspiration! :)
And about that barefoot-experiment, I'm up for it. But only in the summer :P