Man fasted for over year - and felt 'perfectly fine'

A man turned to drastic measures to drop weight by fasting – for an entire year.

At the age of 27 and weighing 456 pounds, Angus Barbieri struggled with food addiction. In June 1965, he informed doctors at the Royal Infirmary of Dundee that he wanted to go on a fast to drop the weight.

He initially set out to follow the professional's advice of 40 days – but reports suggest his body adapted well to the change.

Barbieri said he wanted to continue which doctors allowed under medical supervision. He was prescribed multivitamins for nutrients and lived off low/calorie-free drinks such as coffee, tea and sparkling water.

He made frequent trips to the hospital for checkups, with some overnight stays so doctors could keep track of his blood levels.

Surprisingly, his body was perfectly fine and responding well to the fast. Due to not eating any solid food, Barbieri only needed to go to the toilet every 40 to 50 days.

In total, he lost 276 pounds in 382 days.

The man finally broke his fast a year and 17 days later, with a boiled egg and a slice of bread and butter.

He even secured a place in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1971 for the longest fast, however, they have decided to no longer recognise awards related to fasting as it could encourage dangerous methods.

"We have never encouraged actively claims for the longest time to voluntarily go without solid food for very clear and obvious reasons," Guinness spokesperson Stewart Newport said. "If you beat the ‘record’ and then die is it a successful attempt?"

Of course, we do not recommend trying this at home for obvious reasons, and any sort of fast or change in diet should be consulted with a doctor first.

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