“Breatharians” Claim to Survive By Eating Air Instead of Food...and People Believe Them

Science is a pretty cool thing. It helps us understand the universe’s biggest mysteries, like the formation of planets, but also some pretty basic things, like how gravity works. (Though actually gravity is super complicated if you really want to get into it.) It’s also helpful for making informed decisions and judgments when we learn something new.

Like if, for example, we told you there were people who claimed they hadn’t eaten food in nine years and had survived simply by breathing in air and using the energy of the universe for sustenance, the scientific gear inside of you might think: “Well that’s definitely bullsh*t.”

But apparently that reaction is not the case for everyone. Because as CNN reports, a couple claiming just such a feat has been listened to, and quoted, in a manner that they say was “largely presented as unquestioned fact,” by media outlets like Yahoo!, The Sun, and The New York Post.

The air-feasting couple, Akahi Ricardo and Camila Castillo, say that they have skipped eating almost entirely for the past nine years (including the very WTF-claim of doing it during pregnancy), instead occasionally consuming a piece of fruit or vegetable broth. Castillo (wrongly) reasons: “Humans can easily be without food—as long as they are connected to the energy that exists in all things and through breathing.”

Ooookay.

On their website they write that their program is "aimed to make people go beyond their dependency on food as a source of life and nourishment and utilize their inner energy to fuel their existence." They also promise their methods are powerful enough to "correct damaged DNA, generate and rejuvenate emotional, mental and physical well-being, regulate oxygen intake in the body and align the nervous system in the best interest of the overall health of [the] human body."

Those are some seriously big claims.

If their arguments sound plausible to you, CNN points out that others in the past have claimed to be breatharians, and nearly all have been caught eating at one point or another: one was found with a fridge full of food, while another was spotted ordering an in-flight meal. (If you can’t make it from Tulsa to Chicago without a meal, odds are you aren’t going to make it the rest of your life as well).

If you’re wondering, “But why would anyone possibly make that up?” we’d merely point you to the aggressive prices they charge in exchange for all the tools you need to live as a breatharian.

But unless the tools are made of food, you better hold on to your money.

Photo: RicardoAkahi.com