A man was able to go over a year without eating… and lived to talk about.
Angus Barbieri. The name probably doesn’t ring any bells or mean anything to you, but he is responsible for perhaps one of the most bizarre human feats.
Doctors have estimated that a normal well-nourished person can last about 30 days off a diet of sugar and water, however the case of the longest survival without food was quite a lot longer than that.
In 1965, 27-year-old Barbieri, from Scotland, lost an astonishing amount of weight by fasting for 382 days.
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Barbieri started his fast at 456 pounds and lost 276 pounds, ending his fast when he reached his goal weight of 180 pounds. This launched him to celebrity status at the time and a place in the Guinness Book of Records.
The Scot didn’t intend to fast for so long but chose to do so after ‘he adapted so well and was eager to reach his ‘ideal’ weight’.
Now, Barbieri’s fast wasn’t strictly water and sugar, but made up of vitamins, electrolytes, an unspecified amount of yeast and zero calorie drinks like tea, coffee, sparkling water while he stayed at the Maryfield Hospital in Dundee.
Even though doctors had recommended only doing short fasts, Barbieri refused to return to food and told them he felt perfectly fine.
During his fast, he was even allowed to return home with regular trips to the hospital for checkups on his health.
For obvious reasons, doctors have not recommended others emulate it as health complications can arise from normal fasting as it is.
Due to his initial size, Barbieri’s body is believed to have begun burning fat for energy and his glucose levels dropped to a consistently low level over the last eight months of the fast.
Thankfully, Barbieri didn’t suffer any medical issues during his fast but he did say that he had forgotten what food had tasted like.
Ending his fast on July 11, 1966, his first meal was likely hotly anticipated. I mean, what would you eat first if you hadn’t eaten for over a year?
According to reports at the time, Barbieri’s first meal was simple, a boiled egg with a slice of buttered toast.