r/interesting 2d ago

Additional Context Pinned Angus Barbieri, the man who went 382 days without eating.

Post image
19.3k Upvotes

663 comments sorted by

u/IKIR115 2d ago

More details about this story:

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blog/2018/02/story-angus-barbieri-went-382-days-without-eating/

We can all get a bit hungry if it has been hours since we last ate. But spare a thought for how hungry Angus Barbieri must have been after he went 382 days without eating.

That’s not a typo. In 1965, 27-year-old Angus really did fast for one year and 17 days. He ate no food at all, and lost 125 kilograms (19.7 stone).

Angus was reportedly sick of being obese, and checked into the University Department of Medicine at the Royal Infirmary of Dundee weighing 207kg (32.5 stone). He told hospital staff he was ready to cut out food together, so doctors happily agreed to monitor his progress.

Angus’s doctors didn’t really expect the fast to last long. But they thought a short fast would help him to lose some weight. To compensate for his lack of nutrients, he was prescribed multivitamins to take regularly, including potassium and sodium, as well as yeast.

As days turned to weeks, Angus’s persistence increased. The Scot wanted to reach his reported “ideal weight” of 180 pounds (12.8 stone), so he kept going, much to his doctors’ surprise.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_Barbieri's_fast

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u/lexicats 2d ago

“To avoid temptation, he quit working at his father's fish and chips shop, which closed down during the fast.”

I can’t help wonder if the chippy shutting down was due to the fast

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u/Chrono_Convoy 2d ago

Nepotism says he ate that fried shit for free

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u/yaboyACbreezy 2d ago

Yeah, 100% if anything him taking a break should have helped save a few dollars

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u/ByronsLastStand 2d ago

Pounds, in fact, which rather neatly fits in with the story

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u/halucionagen-0-Matik 2d ago

Yeah not many fish n chip shops in america

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u/freon 2d ago

Maybe in landlocked states, but as somone who lives two towns over from a major commercial fishing port I can tell you there are dozens of independent ones, each with their own cult-like following as to which is "best".

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u/Ok-Oil7124 1d ago

That would be great... We just have Long John Silvers which barely qualifies as food.

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u/malphonso 1d ago

Come down to New Orleans. Even the gas stations here have world class fried fish. While you're there, make sure you try the boudin balls and fresh cracklins.

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u/gamernes 21h ago

I miss the gas station food from Louisiana. It seems like every little corner store served a hot plate lunch.

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u/Leading-Score-916 20h ago

You’re just making up words now. Grimble dingles fried in kratter oil. Blahn.

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u/Initial_Career1654 23h ago

The hush puppies are pretty good if over priced.

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u/Ok-Oil7124 22h ago

As I wrote that, I felt like I was wrongly besmirching hush puppies.

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u/Initial_Career1654 22h ago

You aren’t wrong on everything else. You just forgot to add the clown exception.

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u/halucionagen-0-Matik 20h ago

We jave something similar in the uk. Each town will have a dozen chippys, but one will be have a cult following for the locals

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u/renavlt 2d ago

Long John Silvers: am I a fucking joke to you?

(Ok, it's nothing compared to a real chippy but it's still technically one)

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u/Snakestream 1d ago

Pretty much everyone: Yes

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u/TheSaltyAstronaut 1d ago

Not as many now, but they used to be wildly popular here, especially in the era of this story. There were over 800 locations of Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips in the US alone in the '70s. But the popularity dropped off by the '80s for some reason.

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u/Smorsdoeuvres 1d ago

I scrolled down for this ✨ thank you for bringing up Arthur Treachers they were Amazing and where I began my love for malt vinegar on fries

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u/dontmentiontrousers 1d ago

Look, man, we're willing to call them fries when we buy the skinny ones from a fast food burger place. Y'gotta meet us halfway and call them chips when you're putting vinegar on them. There are rules.

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u/Smorsdoeuvres 1d ago

But when you say chips I think of nachos & ruffles my dude- I prefer steak fries or potato wedges most of all and I’m down to call them whatever you like as long as I get my potatoes.. I genuinely do not care what they’re called as long the correct food arrives on the plate.. I’m open to condiments. Now 1 question; do the names change again when we add mayo? Cause that’s Also delicious..

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u/RadVarken 1d ago

Crisps is a hard word to say, but it's beneficial to get on the wedges-chips-fries-crisps spectrum if you're going to make fried potatoes your identity.

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u/TheSaltyAstronaut 1d ago

I almost wrote in my post that "I have to thank Arthur Treacher's for making me love malt vinegar as a little kid." I'm never without a bottle of it now. No fry or battered fish goes undunked.

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u/Smorsdoeuvres 1d ago

You get it. I like you.

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u/myaddiction6655 1d ago

The last one is about an hour from my city it has great batter fried chicken

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u/uselessandexpensive 1d ago

Saved him pounds, lost him kilos

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u/Traditional-Metal581 2d ago

father providing his son with food is now nepotism?

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u/tomatonato4 1d ago

Reddit has this weird take on anything at all from your parents being nepotism lmao. Mom packed lunch for school? Believe it or not, nepotism!!

It's not so bad here, but there's always threads with miserable redditors calling out non existent nepotism anytime someone does something good with their life or succeeds lol, just desperate for an excuse to believe "Oh I could do it too if I was them!"

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u/EarlyAccessCantJudge 1d ago

A family-owned shop being nepotism misses the point of a family-owned shop entirely lol

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u/TaisonPunch2 16h ago

Reddit is just filled with miserable people.

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u/MrDanMaster 2d ago edited 2d ago

Marx says you produce more value per hour of labour than you consume.

Edit: Get organised

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u/IronMonkeyofHam 2d ago

For most people, yes

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u/MrDanMaster 2d ago

Clearly including our champ Angus over here

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u/28008IES 2d ago

Nepotism? Cmon dude.

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u/demons_soulmate 1d ago

tis no man. tis a remorseless eating machine.

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u/Nihilistic_Noodle 2d ago

Maybe they relied on his working there, if his father was old might not have been able to run the shop well

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u/croatiatom 1d ago

Chippy should have flourished due to him not working and eating there.

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u/Emotional-Magazine52 1d ago

If boss son decide to give fish chippy a miss, speaks a lot on the food 🤣🤣🤣

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u/Agathocles_of_Sicily 2d ago

There was an AMA a long time ago with a redditor who didn't eat for 6+ months. He ended up being hospitalized for serious internal organ damage.

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u/Takemyfishplease 2d ago

Yeah didn’t the guy in OP consume yeast and a few other necessary items for survival?

Eating nothing is bad

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u/trowzerss 1d ago

And was monitored by health professionals, which is important.

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u/THElaytox 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yeah he was on vitamin supplements. He also died not long after losing all the weight

Edit: nevermind, he died quite a while later

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u/Takemyfishplease 2d ago

24 yrs after in 1990 he stopped fasting in 1966

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u/psinguine 1d ago

Lmao guy fasted for a year and then BAM he died 24 years later.

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u/Ok-Oil7124 1d ago

I mean, he died pretty young. If he had died at 51 while still fat, people would have said, "he died because he was fat."

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u/All__Of_The_Hobbies 1d ago

He still might have died because of complications from that. Damage doesn't magically fully disappear if it has already been done.

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u/psinguine 1d ago

It's a little funny. When people quit smoking, and then get cancer years later, we never find ourselves saying "I bet they got cancer because they quit smoking." Yet for some reason people are trying to blame the weight loss for his young death? When he already had massive health problems when he was outrageously overweight.

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u/aNaLfissureed 1d ago

I've heard it more than once that people died because they quit smoking.

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u/THElaytox 2d ago

Oh I must've misremembered then, I thought it was like a few months later

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u/boldpear904 1d ago

i remember this too! i guess someone spread misinfo

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u/Wrx_me 1d ago

Spreading misinformation? On the Internet? Never!

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u/demoliahedd 1d ago

and now I'm sure people saw that guys post before the edit and will continue to spread the misinformation. Crazy how fast and easy it is to spread misinformation on the internet

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u/Angry_Robot 2d ago

Did he keep the weight off?

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u/kusogejp 2d ago

he actually weighs less now

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u/t3ssaa 2d ago

he actually weightless now

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u/Irregulator101 1d ago

His skeleton probably weighs very little indeed

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u/Hetares 1d ago

According to the article, yes, many years later he weighed a healthy weight of 89kg.

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u/sexy_latias 2d ago

Yes, he maintained 89kg

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u/pew__pew__pew_ 2d ago

Yeah but also at 51 and after a brief illness. I wonder if it wrecked his body / how many years he’d have lived as just like, just a little fat

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u/Butterfly_and_Bee 1d ago

I was obese for four or five years and my knees were starting to hurt and I was getting specific headaches that apparently only happen to fat, middle aged women, so I decided to take my doctors’ advice and lose the weight. I expected to feel great and have an overall improvement in my health, but it was the opposite. I got thin and then my joints really deteriorated. I had to have abdominal and spinal surgeries, my asthma got worse, and I had a persistent daily headache. Stuck with being thin and I’m doing better now but drastic weight changes really take a toll. My advice to everyone who asks me about the weight loss is to not get fat in the first place. 

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u/billions_of_stars 1d ago

Have you looked into any sort of weight training? I'm 50 now and I'm hitting the gym 3 days a week to build muscle.

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u/Butterfly_and_Bee 1d ago

I am doing some light weight training in physical therapy right now with a plan to keep it up afterward. I’d like to have more strength for sure, but I despise exercise. I prefer to have an immediate payoff for physical exertion. Like, I’d rather haul bricks or dig a garden bed than lift some weights in a gym. I have to overcome that mental aspect of it somehow. 

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u/billions_of_stars 1d ago

Oh, that's a part of the workout for sure: the mental aspect. For me it starts before I even go to the gym. Making sure I have my gym bag ready to go, the mind set the night before of "I have to go to the gym" etc etc. The negotioations with myself.

Something I've started doing that I really like is using this app called "Strong". It's free and easy to use.

I like it because it helps me track sets and reps, etc. And so I'll have 3 sets of say dumb bell bicep curls with a 2 minute rest in between. What I like is it doesn't feel miserable and hardcore when you find the weight that is hard to finish on the last rep while maintaining good form.

Anyhow, what I've discovered is that what really helps me when I'm out of shape and getting back into it is to be ok with it not having to be ALL or NOTHING. It's ok if you got to the gym and just did a little. It's good you got out the door.

It's ok if you didn't go as long on the elliptical or you set it easier settings because it was kicking your ass and you hated it.

Like today I had a great workout but wasn't really feeling it when I was heading in. But the ONLY thing I really put on myself was just to get there. Then I feel it out. Some days I do more and some days I do less.

The ultimate goal is to move your body. Hell, even just walking up the stairs to the gym is a win. Better than not having walked those stairs.

Anyhow, I also wanted to have much better upper body strength and I just started slow with it.

I think also what really helped me is when I first started doing push ups I did super easy ones on an incline. I would do enough to where I felt it but I didn't hate it. When we hate something we can't convince that inner part of ourselves to do it again. I can now bust out push ups on the ground but sometimes I'll still just do inclines because I don't feel like the annoying exertion of floor ones.

anyhow, I've been all about this as of late which explains my rant!

Keep at it. Consistency and routine is key.

Oh, and lastly...something I've been doing. After every meal I take a 15 minute walk. Super chill and easy but really helps me.

ok NOW my rant is over.

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u/Butterfly_and_Bee 1d ago

I love a good after dinner walk. The app also sounds cool. I have to gamify things in order to be consistent, so that’s a good tip for me. Thank you! 

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u/billions_of_stars 1d ago

the gamify is real. I go kind of deep with it honestly. As in I'll notice even where my mind goes and why when I'm working out. I'll notice what thoughts motivate or demotivate me. Even just learning to be comfortable with my body around other naked people in the locker room. Noticing how one day the cold water from the shower is less bothersome than others. Some days I'll feel like garbage, notice my bald spot in a mirror in the weight room. Other days, like today, I'll feel like I crushed it. Today I wasn't worried about any of that.

It's kind of interesting. That stuff all fluctuates by the one thing I keep consistent is just going. That too is a "rep".

anyhow...just wanted to speak on the gamify bit. I get it.

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u/dovakhiina 1d ago

The all or nothing mindset I had for a while didn’t help. Now I do consider ok, I’ll do some exercises on the floor in between video game matches. Or yeah, just go to the gym and do 10 minutes, and usually I can get it to 20. Or go for a walk in my city with the promise of buying myself coffee. Joining a super fancy gym that’s also like a social club helped a lot for me too. There’s free coffee there and a workspace, so I tell myself I’m walking to get my free coffee and do some work on the laptop, bring my gym clothes in case, and usually after the coffee I can muster up the courage to do *something*

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u/billions_of_stars 1d ago

Abandoning the “All or nothing” mentality was a huge shift for me.

There’s a lake near me I was jogging and as long as I got out there once a week I considered that a success. Even if I didn’t jog the entire thing.

Before the jog I would do some incline push ups on a park bench. Would do like 20. Was exertion but it didn’t kill me.

Well, one day I started to notice I was actually getting muscle and definition in my chest. It wasn’t because I got out there and hardcore crushed it. I was just consistent and it was something that probably didn’t look like your “standard push-up”.

At the end of the day it’s mostly mind hacks.

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u/azenpunk 1d ago

I'm the same way. I found that rock gyms were a good compromise for me. Full body work outs that are mentally challenging, can be social, but most importantly I enjoy the activity itself, it isn't just a means to an end.

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u/onewilybobkat 1d ago

I lost 120 pounds in one year. My joints haven't recovered over 10 years later, I developed asthma after the weight loss which has gotten mostly better. So many guys issues started after the weight loss. There's definitely a lot of pros, but "feeling better" weirdly isn't one of them.

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u/Butterfly_and_Bee 1d ago

Also, I’m always cold! Lol. 

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u/-SaC 1d ago

The thing that fucks with my brain is my knees hurting if I lie in bed on my side with my legs on top of one another. One knee pokes into the other one and it hurts. Before, with a load of fat, it was all cosy and a comfy position, but now I realise knees are bony bastards.

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u/Butterfly_and_Bee 1d ago

Yes! I use a body pillow now and it helps, but damn. I feel so pointy and cold, like a jagged icicle. 

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u/pooppaysthebills 1d ago

There are knee pillows made specifically for this issue which also help keep your spine and hips properly aligned.

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u/nomorethan10postaday 23h ago

How odd, I'm thin and I never had issues putting one leg on the other. It does prevent from kneeling on the floor for extended time.

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u/-SaC 23h ago

I'm guessing I'm just not used to all the knobbly bits actually being knobbly bits. As the actress said to the bishop.

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u/onewilybobkat 1d ago

My body still produces a ridiculous amount of heat, but there's nothing to hold it to me!

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u/Right_Man-Right_Job 11h ago

Think about it, Tone… sudden weight loss…

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u/nyc343 2d ago

It should be a given that any extended fast would have to be medically supervised.

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u/DemoHD7 2d ago

Really depends on your reserves when you start. Was the AMA dude Ghandi size or morbidly obese like this guy?

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u/corvodae 2d ago

The organ damage isn't necessarily due to a lack of calories. Someone can have a lot of fat, but they still very much need daily protein, electrolytes, vitamins, etc. Not having enough of those can seriously wreck your heart and other vital organs

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u/youngaustinpowers 2d ago

The guy in this post did receive vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, and yeast to provide everything needed for the body to stay healthy

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u/corvodae 2d ago

Yes, but the post doesn't mention that. And it's still incredibly stressful for the body and immune system. He died very young

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u/bambibonkers 2d ago

he died 30 years after he lost the weight. i wouldn’t call that very young

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u/lazy_human5040 2d ago

Dying has a different frame of reference for young than most other things. he died aged 51, which is young for dying.

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u/Cimorene_Kazul 2d ago

People,at his previous size often die in their late 30s-40s. He may have bought himself a decade.

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u/sighcantthinkofaname 1d ago

It's impossible to say. Slower weight loss might've gotten him an extra two decades, who knows

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u/Cimorene_Kazul 1d ago

That is also true. But it may have been that only this method would be successful for him. Cold turkey is a method that works for some addicts, and unfortunately, just not eating isn’t a good solution for food addicts. He did make it work for him, but it’s also good that this isn’t the default

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u/youngaustinpowers 2d ago

Didn't know that. Wonder if it was due to being so overweight for so long, or if it was due to the fast? Probably a combo of both

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u/corvodae 2d ago

Obviously any weight extreme isn't great for your health, so we can only guess, and I'm sure both impacted him. But I'd guess the weight loss was actually more damaging long term. Most of the dangers of obesity go away after weight loss, but the process of sudden or major weight loss is actually quite significantly associated with a shorter lifespan or sudden death.

Making healthy lifestyle changes is always the better option rather than a crash diet or starvation. Sudden weight loss is also a problem because people who lose weight rapidly are more likely to gain all or more of the weight back within 5 years.

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u/ThereHasToBeMore1387 2d ago edited 2d ago

I went through the classes for bariatric weightloss surgery. One of the doctors who had gone through the procedure gave a "tough love" speech in the final class. "This is not a miracle. If you're following the rules, after about 2-3 months of sustained weight loss, you are going to start to feel like Superman. You are not. You can and should start doing all the things you wanted to do when you were fat. But you still have a fat guy heart, and fat guy arteries, and a fat guy liver, and fat guy lungs. Do not confuse calorie intake with fitness."

Edit: My mom did weight watchers back in the day. Lost a lost of weight, but at a reasonable pace. She reached her goal weight, maintained for a month, then had a heart attack.

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u/shpongleyes 2d ago

Blew my mind when I first learned “vitamins” is just short for “vital minerals”. The full name does a better job driving home how important they are.

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u/Happysnark 2d ago

Fat isn't going to help muscle mass

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u/VATAFAck 2d ago

What does that mean? Help muscle mass with what?

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u/active_ignoring 2d ago

you can’t run a body on fat reserves alone, your heart is a muscle that needs protein and calories and so do your other organs

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u/Happysnark 2d ago

The heart

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u/zemechabee 2d ago

I think you're saying that breaking down fat won't help maintain your muscles, one of which is your heart?

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u/starbaker420 2d ago

Correct. That’s why people taking glp-1s have to basically force-feed themselves protein.

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u/PerformerFancy117 2d ago

I should really make myself eat something…

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u/EcoloFrenchieDubstep 2d ago

What made him decide to lose his weight?

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u/lexicats 2d ago

He had to be pushed and pulled through a bus door, and couldn’t fit through a turnstile at a stadium, pretty good motivation

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Lilja-Logason 2d ago

Gets a lot easier after a few days. In a lot of ways Hubert feels like an addiction craving.

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u/StormFallen9 2d ago

Good ol Hubert

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u/illregard 2d ago

He really does feel like an addiction craving, doesn’t he?

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u/ViennaWaitsforU2 2d ago

You’re telling me. I crave that crazy bastard

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u/UrsaMajor7th 2d ago

Hubie, to some.

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u/mickeymac15 2d ago

The doctors said Hubie Doobie...Careful..

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u/BluedGrass 2d ago

When I was in college I did a 72-hour fast (drinking water and black coffee only). Not for any particular reason, I was just curious. After 18 hours it got substantially easier. It was really weird honestly. I was a rugby player and we were in the offseason so I was training harder than in-season too.

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u/HyperSpaceSurfer 2d ago

Even easier if you supplement salt as well. A water fast can be pretty dangerous without it.

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u/Affordable_Z_Jobs 2d ago

Its incredible what the body can get used to. The first few days were probably torture. After that it becomes a little discomfort. Christian Bale talked about losing weight for The Machinist and he said the weird thing was how how he subconsciously conserved energy. He found himself planning ahead what he needed to do more efficiently and if he didnt have to move, he wouldn't.

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u/HisPumpkin19 2d ago

Welcome to disabled people everywhere. - if you want to improve the workflow efficienecy in your cafe/kitchen/anything physical ask someone with a chronic health condition affecting energy levels how they would do it.

It's actually painful to watch how freely people around me waste energy. Every time I get up I'm planning what.things around me I can move along my way to conserve energy.

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u/HilariousMax 2d ago

It does get easier after a bit but holy hell did the cravings come back like a monster when I did finally get some food in me.

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u/spekt50 1d ago

Longest I went was a week. It was crazy after the first couple days, I got a huge burst of energy and the hunger just stopped. I kept up with multivitamins, electrolytes and water. It was much easier than I thought.

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u/buttholegerbil 1d ago

Im Hubert as hell just reading this.

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u/Moist_Asparagus6420 2d ago

getting kicked off 2 rides at 6 flags did it for me

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u/Glowingtomato 1d ago

I had to run down some stairs and my gut hurt from bouncing around. I lost like 90 pounds after that lol

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u/Masterking263 1d ago

As someone whose been obese for 18 years, I can assure you it's a 24/7 burden. The world isn't built for people of that size.

  • Riding the plane was a nightmare because not only are you super uncomfortable the whole flight, so now does the stranger next to you.
  • You sweat and feel hot all the time which causes you to stink more easily.
  • Shopping for clothes has to be done online and still often a hit or miss.
  • Cost of eating to not feel hungry is a financial strain.
  • Dating is much more challenging.
  • Hate seeing yourself in photos.
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u/Prince_Marf 2d ago

As a bigger fella in these modern times it sucks. I can only imagine how little accommodation he got back in the day.

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u/Vneseplayer4 1d ago

To be fair, the turnstiles at UK stadiums are fucking TINY

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u/Kindly_Type2327 2d ago

He got checked into a hospital due to his weight issues. Doctor suggested short fast and he got into it and actually loved fasting after couple of days and chose to continue fasting until he reached his ideal weight.

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u/OkAccess6128 2d ago

Intermittent Fasting final boss.

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u/Masterslol 2d ago

Mittent fasting

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u/FantasticBike1203 2d ago

382 days sure ain't fast

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u/PeterDTown 2d ago

Or intermittent

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u/robnet77 2d ago

Well, you eat every other year :)

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u/GoodDogBrent 2d ago

eat. lift. hibernate.

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u/3BikesInATrenchcoat 2d ago

Mittant slowing

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u/Pootisman16 2d ago

More like permanent fasting.

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u/ShadowFlare_x 2d ago

Is this the guy that didnt shit fornlike 50+ days?

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u/roulettewiz 2d ago

That's another record he set 😂😂

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u/TheFrenchSavage 1d ago

No no, our dear leader Kim Jong Un never went.

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u/teleflexin_deez_nutz 2d ago

I think it’s more surprising that he did continue to shit even for a full year of fasting. Like after 60 days, what is your shit even made of? What are your gut bacteria even eating?

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u/Warm_Apple_Pies 2d ago

He still hydrated and had an intake of salt, nutrients, vitamins etc. Obviously with no real fibre the unfortunate answer is you'd still have to go, but it would be more irregular and pretty much just be liquid.

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u/SnowZelda 1d ago

It would be made mainly of remnants of old red blood cells that have been filtered out of the blood stream. The waste from those red blood cells is also why poop is often close to the same color regardless of what you eat (obviously there are a few exceptions to that).

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u/Chris_3eb 2d ago

The 275 pounds that he lost has to exit the body somehow

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u/ArtLast9274 2d ago

up to 48 days

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/test_tutor 2d ago

Not going for 30 days or going after 30 days?

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u/roulettewiz 2d ago

He set another record of not pooping for over 48 days

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u/Pretereo 2d ago

I've heard that when you burn fat, your discard the waste by breathing it out. Is this why he didn't poop for so long?

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u/roulettewiz 2d ago

He was on a liquid diet...there was nothing to poop

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u/Pretereo 2d ago

Yeah, but his body was still using calories and there are waste products from using those calories. Whether you are processing 2,000 calories from a half a pound of your own fat, or 2,000 calories from a steak, it isn't a perfect process and there are waste products from both.

I looked it up and it looks like the waste products from fat are mostly dispelled through sweat and urine rather than a solid form. Kind of interesting.

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u/Gusenica_koja_pushi 1d ago

Fat is broken down into carbon dioxide (CO2), which you exhale, and water, which is expelled through urine, sweat, and other bodily fluids. If you don't eat solid food, there's little or no solid waste to pass through your bowels, it's as simple as that.

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u/leadwind 2d ago

What now? I think you need to shit more than twice a day.

Edit: once in two days. Anyway!

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u/Mundane_Professor596 2d ago

I once didn’t eat for 42 days. Not by choice. I lost 21 pounds and got incredibly sick. I had to slowly acclimate to eating again. I looked terrible. I can’t imagine going longer than that.

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u/Cpt_0bv10us 1d ago

I once didnt eat or drink anything for "only" 12 days (just fluids through IV) and already felt like i was at my limit. Cant imagine going through 42 days.. when i could finally eat again, i was so insatiable that i gained 7kg in the first 5 days :p

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u/monakaliza 2d ago

Just gonna remind people about this story: he had a clinic working closely with him on this. He decided to go 30 days with regular check ins with the clinic and blood work. When the end came and went, he decided to keep going without eating, and kept going to the clinic and check ins. He did have some complications I believe, some deficiencies that were corrected with vitamins.

If you decided to do intermittent fasting please check with your doctor first

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u/Ok_Concentrate4461 2d ago

This is NOT intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is just eating in a smaller window each day - typically like noon - 8pm. YMMV, but I don’t think most people would need to talk to their doctor about that

This is extended fasting, and definitely needs medical supervision

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u/ShawnyMcKnight 1d ago

Yup, intermittent fasting; one year off one year on.

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u/Cheese-Manipulator 2d ago

He also took yeast to prevent his body from consuming his muscles for amino acids.

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u/Longjumping_Yak3483 1d ago

Realizing reading this thread that many people down understand what "intermittent" means.

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u/JurgusRudkus 2d ago


Doctors were amazed by Barbieri's ability to resist the temptation to eat without having to stay in the hospital. He celebrated his achievement by going on a vacation in Spain for three weeks,[4] and a 1973 study found that Barbieri maintained a healthy weight of 14 stone / 196 pounds (89 kg),[3]: 204  concluding that "prolonged fasting in this patient had no ill-effects". He moved to Warwick, married, and had two sons. Barbieri died in September 1990 after a short illness at age 51.[4]”

Um, is dying at 51 not an “ill-effect?”

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u/Mein_Name_ist_falsch 2d ago

That doesn't have to be because of the fasting. But I do wonder how he didn't get any deficiencies.

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u/EttRedditTroll 2d ago edited 2d ago

Supposedly he did take supplements and stuff during the fasting but who knows how “good” the supplement/dietary science was back in the late 60’s. After all, just a decade or so before that in the 50’s it was a literal wild west.

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u/1Marmalade 2d ago

“Literal Wild West”? In 1950’s Scotland?
Surely you mean figuratively?

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u/EttRedditTroll 2d ago

Well, I was mostly thinking of snake oil.

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u/Weaksoul 2d ago

Literally, or figuratively?

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u/EttRedditTroll 2d ago

Both. 😅

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u/JurgusRudkus 2d ago

Who knows how good it is now? That shite is still, afaik, completely unregulated.

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u/fe_iris 2d ago

An ill effect of a fast, 24 years after the fact?

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u/throwawaypassingby01 1d ago

big stressors can preemtively damage some organs such as the heart, shortening the llifespan

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u/assertive-brioche 2d ago

When someone dies of a “short illness” I immediately think pneumonia. Especially back then. It’s still one of the top causes of adult hospitalizations. Interesting charts here if you like data.

https://ourworldindata.org/pneumonia

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u/PeterDTown 2d ago

I mean, that was 24 years later and it was after a short illness. Nothing there suggests it was because of the fast.

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u/LTEDan 2d ago

He weighed 450lbs. The fasting probably bought him extra life compared to if he didn't fast.

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u/1Marmalade 2d ago

He was still Scottish.

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u/nyc343 2d ago

Could have been attributed to a life of morbid obesity as well, correlation doesn’t equal causation.

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u/Flat_Professional_55 2d ago

There’s another Reddit post that has more details on potential cause of death. Somebody purchased his death certificate.

https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/s/XKtJhPU5EA

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u/Old-Library5546 2d ago

What did he survive on?

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u/PeterDTown 2d ago

“He consumed only vitamins, electrolytes, an unspecified amount of yeast (a source of all essential amino acids) and zero-calorie beverages such as tea, coffee, and sparkling water, although he occasionally added milk and/or sugar to the beverages, especially during the final weeks of the fast.”

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u/Old-Library5546 2d ago

Thank you!

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u/Unlucky-Ant-9741 2d ago

But what did he do for protein to keep his muscles??? I buy all protein added food because Reddit said so.

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u/Faded_Jem 2d ago

Protein is amino acids, that's what we eat it for. The yeast was his protein source. 

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u/zemechabee 2d ago

Yeast. Protein is important due to amino acids

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u/corvodae 2d ago

Presumably the nutritional yeast. I do not recommend this diet in any way, but yeast is a protein source

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u/zemechabee 2d ago

This is really important additional context. To maintain your muscle and organ health, you really need these supplements

And for those who are unaware, protein is an important macro nutrient due to amino acids.

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u/MPolanyi 2d ago

Burning fat. They did supplement some minerals.

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u/Old-Library5546 2d ago

Thank you!

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u/Kindly_Type2327 2d ago

This is extremely unsafe btw. During this period many people died by doing such long fastings. Apparently after sometime during fastings, for some people their bodies chose to consume fats stored in the hearts and they passed away due to heart failures.

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u/corvodae 2d ago

Yes, I find this post really dangerous because I'd hate for someone to copy it. It's not just the fasting that's the issue (though it obviously is unsafe), but refeeding syndrome can also be deadly.

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u/mewnkey_pie 1d ago

I once did 20 days fasting when I was like 12 year old and fat asf. Just as an experiment My parents worried to death about me.

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u/gradual_alzheimers 1d ago

yeah we call that starvation

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u/Trick_Ear_5789 2d ago

To be fair... he had pregamed a lot!

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u/accdntprone_86 2d ago

Dang and he still died young

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/DemoHD7 2d ago

Turns out people showed up to watch him eat.

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u/LordAxalon110 2d ago

I know a guy who did it for 100 days with just water and the only thing he took was supplements.

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u/Comfortable_Egg8039 2d ago

Was he okay after that?

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u/LordAxalon110 2d ago

Yeah he was fine, lost a lot of weight and after he ended his fast he managed to keep the weight off. Guys pretty healthy now, he did go see his doctor before, during and after doing it though to make sure he was doing OK.

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u/hiddenrealism 2d ago

Dr.Now snickering watching this.

"Hehe i told that lady but she didnt wanna listen"

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u/baby-face-jones 2d ago

Poor guy only made it to 51 years old. At least he lived long enough to enjoy the weight loss and health benefits

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u/Jolly_Ad1631 2d ago

He only pooped every 40/50 days... That's no way to live.

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u/know_your_place_28 2d ago

They un-nuttied the professor!

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u/Emotional_Fun_4885 2d ago

I'm starting that tomorrow....after tonight's fondue night....

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u/YasufoKiddo 2d ago

He could have hibernated for months

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u/Cheese-Manipulator 2d ago

He did take vitamins and yeast (amino acids). He would've died from vitamin deficiency and consumed his own muscles for amino acids.