Every day, it seems like new health crazes that promise to help you lose weight fast. Whether it’s shady teas sold by influencers, diet books from celebrities who should know better, or companies who double-pinky swear that their new burger is so healthy, it’s technically a vegetable.
The thing is, though, while it might seem like open season for the grifters today, this is nothing compared to what health-conscious consumers had to endure in the past …
When you’re trying to lose weight, you generally have to eat less. However, breatharianism is a fad that took this simple fact to the extreme while also killing some people.
To the uninitiated, breatharianism is the belief that through mediation and the like, you can train your body to survive on nothing but air. That’s no food, no drink, no nothing. It’s been around in various forms since the ’70s, but it really came to prominence in the 90’s thanks to some high-profile influencers like Jasmuheen, aka Ellen Greve, who was the movement’s biggest figure thanks to her popular book “Living on Light” — which is a reference to how breatharians ‘feed’ on nutrients in the air, a practice known as ‘pranic nourishment.’
Her fame really topped out in 1999 when, after years of talking about how she didn’t require food, 60 Minutes arranged for her to sit on-camera in a guarded room and demonstrate her beliefs to the world. She lasted four days before the experiment had to be halted due to medical reasons, i.e., that between the dehydration, high blood pressure, and kidney failure, she was slowly dying while, presumably, waiting for the camera to run out of video.
Oddly, between this and the interview where she admits eating food, her profile wasn’t harmed among her followers.
The same could not be said for an earlier high-profile breatharian, Wiley Brooks. Brooks was caught in 1983, either ordering a chicken pot pie in a hotel restaurant or buying Twinkies from a 7-Eleven (depending on who you ask). It was enough to cause people to walk out of his breatharian organization, which considering how many calories these people consume, must’ve been a sight to behold.
Despite the insanity and the numerous, numerous deaths associated with people attempting this ‘diet,’ breatharianism still occasionally makes a reappearance in the news — but thankfully, it’s not taken very seriously … For now.read more
4 Old-Timey Diet Fads That Were Pure Insanity
