Woman Dies of Starvation While on an All-Sunlight Diet
A controversial breatharianism documentary appears to have played a role in the untimely demise of a Swiss woman who starved to death while attempting a sunlight-only diet.
After viewing the 2010 film In the Beginning There Was Light, in which an Indian yogi named Prahlad Jani claims to have lived for 70 years without food or water, the unnamed woman set out to try the lifestyle for herself.
She spent a week eating and drinking nothing — not even her own saliva — while consuming only sunlight and air. She stopped for a few weeks at the behest of her children, but eventually resumed.
She was found dead in her home last winter; the cause of death was ruled to be starvation.
At least three other deaths have been attributed to the pseudoscientific practice of breatharianism since prominent advocate Ellen Greve (AKA Jasmuheen) began touting "pranic nourishment" in the 1990s.
