Nine Years Ago, This Couple Gave Up Food And Says They Haven’t Been Hungry Since

Credit: News Dog Media

There are countless diet regimens that have been released in the world since humans first came into existence, whether it was informally through picking and choosing what indigenous people would eat or formally by releasing a book on how to follow the diet. Though the content of the diets vary, they seem to all agree on the same premise: humans need food to survive. While this claim, which is based on science, is not typically up for debate, as climate change usually is, there are hordes of people recently claiming to be able to mostly live without food.

The most recent subject of this argument is a couple who live between California and Ecuador and says that they are a part of the “Breatharian” movement, which promotes the use of breath and the universe’s energy as complete forms of nourishment. The couple, Akahi Ricardo and Camila Castello, said that they were first introduced to the movement in 2008, at which point they decided to try a 21 day trial that changed their lives.

“The 21 Day Breatharian Process was a powerful one and steppingstone into realizing the infinite potential that lies within,” Ricardo said. “It led us to explore the breath and its presence within our lives, showing us that we could easily be without food as long as we had air. I used to eat a lot — but I haven’t felt hungry since that process in 2008.”

Castello then explained that they did not eat anything at all for 3 years after first converting to Breatharianism, but they began to relax the rules a little when Castello found out she was pregnant with their first child. She said that she had planned to adapt to any diet necessary to get through the pregnancy and assumed that she would be very hungry throughout, but wound up staying Breatharian throughout while getting routine blood work done to make sure her baby was healthy.

“I didn’t feel the need or desire to eat solid food during the entire nine months and so I only ate five times, all of which were in social situations,” Castello said. “And I knew my son would be nourished enough by my love and this would allow him to grow healthily in my womb. I went for regular pregnancy checkups and my doctor confirmed the above-average growth of a very healthy baby boy.”

After giving birth, she began to eat a bit more regularly and ate fruits and vegetable broth throughout her second pregnancy, after which she gave birth to a healthy daughter. Since the birth of their children, Ricardo and Castello eat more frequently—up to three times per week—but that it’s just for social situations or to enjoy food with their kids, not because they’re hungry.

Credit: News Dog Media

The couple also assured others that they don’t force the Breatharianism ‘diet’ on their children, and instead make sure that they eat whatever they want.

“Our children are aware of Breatharianism and the energy that exists in the universe and in themselves,” said Ricardo. “It would be unfair to impose Breatharianism upon our children now, but maybe as they grow, they will get deeper into the practices.”

Since this story of the couple went viral after it was first published by a British tabloid, people have begun to dig deeper to find out whether it’s true that the couple lives this way. One important fact that emerged from the investigation is that the couple originally told their story to a ‘content creation company‘ because they wanted to promote their business, which trains people in Breatharianism. While this isn’t proof that the story is false, it certainly raises questions about the veracity of the statements.

The original outlets that ran the story also left out key pieces of information, like the fact that the couple does eat quite often now, and the couple clarified in a later statement that some of the outlets either left that out of their stories or straight up lied.

The founder of Breatharianism, who goes by Jasmuheen, has never proven that she doesn’t eat regularly and several other followers of the movement, which allegedly totals 60,000, have been caught lying about their food habits. Scientists and doctors have come forward since this story went viral to confirm that humans do, in fact, need food to survive and to point out that saying otherwise could encourage people with eating disorders to believe otherwise.

Whether this particular couple is telling the truth about their eating habits remains to be seen, but either way it’s an interesting case study on why Breatharianism became popular in the first place and what others in the movement stand to gain from it.

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