For his breakfast on July 11, 1966, 27-year-old Scotsman Angus Barbieri ate a boiled egg, a slice of bread with butter, and a cup of black coffee. It was the first food he'd eaten in 382 days.
According to a report published in the Chicago Tribune, the next day he told a reporter, "I thoroly [sic] enjoyed my egg and I feel very full."
Barbieri had walked into the University Department of Medicine at the Royal Infirmary of Dundee, Scotland, more than a year before, seeking treatment for his excessive weight. At the time he weighed 456 pounds, "grossly obese," according to a case report published by his doctors in the Postgraduate Medical Journal in 1973.
They planned to put him on a short fast, to try to drop some weight off his 6-foot frame, but really, doctors expected that he'd probably lose some fat and regain it, as usually happens.
But as days without food turned into weeks, Barbieri felt eager to continue the program. Absurd and risky as his goal sounded — fasts over 40 days were considered dangerous — he wanted to reach his "ideal weight," 180 pounds. So he kept going. In what was a surprise to his doctors, he lived his daily life mostly from home during the fast, coming into the hospital for frequent checkups and overnight stays. Regular blood-sugar tests assured doctors that he really wasn't eating and demonstrated that he was somehow able to function while very hypoglycemic. Weeks turned into months. Full story...
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According to a report published in the Chicago Tribune, the next day he told a reporter, "I thoroly [sic] enjoyed my egg and I feel very full."
Barbieri had walked into the University Department of Medicine at the Royal Infirmary of Dundee, Scotland, more than a year before, seeking treatment for his excessive weight. At the time he weighed 456 pounds, "grossly obese," according to a case report published by his doctors in the Postgraduate Medical Journal in 1973.
They planned to put him on a short fast, to try to drop some weight off his 6-foot frame, but really, doctors expected that he'd probably lose some fat and regain it, as usually happens.
But as days without food turned into weeks, Barbieri felt eager to continue the program. Absurd and risky as his goal sounded — fasts over 40 days were considered dangerous — he wanted to reach his "ideal weight," 180 pounds. So he kept going. In what was a surprise to his doctors, he lived his daily life mostly from home during the fast, coming into the hospital for frequent checkups and overnight stays. Regular blood-sugar tests assured doctors that he really wasn't eating and demonstrated that he was somehow able to function while very hypoglycemic. Weeks turned into months. Full story...
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