What this man, Angus Barbieri, he dared to do to lose weight was a crazy measure that no doctor in his right mind would advise, not even in the most complex cases. The risks of dying or suffering some health mishap from not eating food for long periods of time are extremely high. However, Angus Barbieri was determined to overcome obesity, no matter what. He knows the crazy story of this guy who gave up eating solids for a year and lived to tell the tale.
Angus Barbieri, a year without eating solids to lose weight
In 1965, Angus Barbieria 27-year-old Scot, decided to lose weight with a method that we do not recommend at all, and with which he established a new world record. It was 456 pounds that weighed him down so much. The young man, already tired of his situation, was determined to radically get rid of his excess weight, stopping eating for a year.
To carry out his crazy plan, Angus Barbieri showed up at a hospital asking the doctors to fast supervised until he reached his ideal weight. The initial deal was a short-term fast, but Angus Barbieri was eager to get rid of the extra pounds, and since enjoyed good health, despite having given up solids For several weeks, specialists approved the continuation of starvation therapy.
According to the doctors’ report, Angus Barbierithe man who stopped eating for a year to lose weight, frequently attended the hospital to monitor his condition. He consumed only vitamins, nutritional supplements and non-caloric liquids with which I counteracted the anxiety a little. Without food in his stomach, he defecated once every 37 to 48 days. Horrible7
His blood sugar levels were low, but he never showed symptoms that would warn of a major complication, as in other documented cases of people who voluntarily stopped eating food and died from heart failure, small intestine obstruction, or as two other patients who died in the resupply period, after having ended the fast, according to the report.
Not eating for more than 40 days is considered highly risky, but the fact that Angus Barbieri managed to survive voluntary starvation for such an impressive period is because, when you fast for more than two or three days, the body begins to obtain part of of its energy from the breakdown of body fat, which is converted into glucose and ketones so the body can function. That is, Barbieri’s fat reserves, along with the supplements he took, were enough to keep him alive while he remained without food for 382 days, with a total weight loss of 276 pounds.
Upon reaching his ideal weight of 180 pounds, he confessed to feeling a little fragile. He also said that he had forgotten the taste of food, the first in a long time being a slice of bread with butter, a cup of coffee and a boiled egg. It seems like a fairly simple banquet for someone who has stopped eating for a long time, however, Barbieri said he enjoyed it very much.
For their part, the doctors who treated Barbieri admit, today, that this whole matter It was irresponsible, although at that time they had concluded in the report that supervised starvation therapy can be safe if precautions are taken. What do you think of this story?