Friday, April 30, 2010

Indian Man, Prahlad Jani, Lives Seven Decades Without Food or Water?

Apr 28, 2010

A hermit in India's Ahmedabad City claims to have survived without food and water for the last 70 years.

The Defense Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences is carrying out a study on Prahlad Jani at a private hospital to understand the phenomenon behind his claim.

He will be kept under observation at the hospital for the next 15 days and will go through a number of tests.

[Dr. G. Ilavazhagan, Defense Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences]:

"This may help in working out strategies for survival without food and water when it is not available, for example, in natural calamities, people face this situation. Similarly, our soldiers may also face this situation when they are left in the deserts or in forest or in high altitude areas.”

A neurophysician says Jani's survival is miraculous.

[Sudhir Shah, Neurophysician]:

“A person can live without food and water for three, four, seven to 12 days and we have studied during ...fasting in the past that people have done fasting for 16 or 30 days, but they were taking water after eight days and certainly they pass urine but this case is a unique phenomena.”

Some tests on his brain revealed that it resembled that of a 25-year-old person.

Jani has also claimed he has a hole in his palate and through his head where a drop or two of nectar passes that helps him survive.

Initial test reports confirmed Jani's body has undergone a biological transformation due to yoga exercises.

Doctors also said there was no sign of fatigue or any other problem with the hermit, and he still prefers using stairs to the elevator.

Not much is known about Jani's family since he had left home at the age of seven and wandered in jungles.

via Epoch Times - Indian Man Lives Seven Decades Without Food or Water.

Video here: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/34336/

It would be pretty neat if our bodies could do something like this. Nectar? Not to be insulting, but could someone have a bag of nutrient water implanted in his nose to pull off a trick? I'd like to see some scans. X-ray his stomach. Does he have one? Is it atrophied? Is there food in his system? That would show right away if his claim is real. What about his brain resembles the brain of a 25-year-old? That's an absurdly non-scientific non-medical and vague statement. Well, I'm intrigued, but I don't buy it.  Check back in 15 days and perhaps there will be a follow up.
Inedia is the alleged ability to live without food. Breatharianism is a related concept, in which believers claim food and possibly water are not necessary, and that humans can be sustained solely by prana (the vital life force in Hinduism), or according to some, by the energy in sunlight. The terms breatharianism or inedia may also refer to this philosophy practised as a lifestyle in place of the usual diet.

While it is often seen as an esoteric practice performed by eastern ascetics, with no basis in scientific fact, some groups and individuals promote the practice as a skill which anybody can learn through specific techniques, sometimes only after paying large fees, as in the case of the "Breatharian Institute of America".[1]

The word "inedia" simply means "fasting" in Latin, and was first used to describe a fast-based lifestyle within Catholic tradition, which holds that certain saints were able to survive for extended periods of time without food or drink other than the Eucharist. ...

The well-publicized deaths of 49-year-old Australian-born Scotland resident Verity Linn, 31-year-old Munich kindergarten teacher Timo Degen, and 53-year-old Melbourne resident Lani Marcia Roslyn Morris, while attempting to enter the breatharian "diet", have drawn further criticism of the idea.[11][12] Jim Vadim Pesnak, 63, and his wife Eugenia, 60, went to jail for three years on charges of manslaughter for their involvement in the death of Morris. Verity Lynn, the Scottish woman who inadvertently killed herself by choosing the breatharian "diet" was a nominee for the 1999 Darwin Awards. She "took to the highlands", the article says, "with only a tent and her grit and determination. She died of hypothermia and dehydration, aggravated by lack of food."[13] Jasmuheen claimed that her death was brought on by a psycho-spiritual problem, rather than a physiological one.

Jasmuheen has denied any involvement with the three deaths and claims she cannot be held responsible for the actions of her followers. In reference to the death of Lani Morris, she said that perhaps Morris was "not coming from a place of integrity and did not have the right motivation".[12]

...

Prahlad Jani


Prahlad Jani, a Jain holy man[29], spent ten days under strict observation by physicians in Ahmedabad, India, in 2003. The study was led by Dr Sudhir Shah, the same doctor who led the study of Hira Ratan Manek. Reportedly, during the observation, he was given only 100 millilitres of water a day to use as mouthwash, which was collected and measured after he used it, to make sure he hadn't consumed any. Throughout the observation, he passed no urine or stool, but doctors say urine appeared to form in the bladder, only to be reabsorbed.[30] However, despite Jani's claim to have gone without food for decades, Jani was not engaged in strenuous exercise during the ten-day trial, and longer trials were not recorded under similarly strict observation. Further, his weight did drop slightly during the 10 days, casting some doubt on his claim to go indefinitely without food. Jani claims a goddess sustains him through amrit that filters down through a hole in his palate.[30] The Indian Rationalist Association labels him a "village fraud".[31]

On June 26, 2006, The Discovery Channel aired a documentary called "The Boy with Divine Powers" featuring a 5 minute interview with Prahlad Jani and Dr. Sudhir Shah.

As of April 22nd 2010, new tests are being conducted on Prahlad Jani under surveillance of 35 doctors and researchers of Defence Institute of Physiology & Allied Science (DIPAS).[32][33]

- wikipedia

10 comments:

Mirlen101 said...

This is entirely possible . He would only have to weight about 25 TONS ! when he started fasting ;-) The average food consumption for a human's lifetime ;-) Good luck with that ;-)

The Apostate Thaal said...

Epic fail military types.
Lock the guy in a sealed room wi' nout but air.
After a month - open up the sealed room.
If he's genuine, he'll still be alive.
If he's laying dead in a pile of his own shite - they can nail his carcass up as a warning against such frauds.
That such a blatantly fraudulent claim can be taken at all seriously is yet more evidence that our sorry species does not deserve to dodge the next asteroid impact.
Arrrrrggggghhhh! THE STUPID IT BURNS!

lolufail said...

roflmao

i want to see those blood tests.....

Ann said...

You guys still don't get it. (Try to convince me skeptics are not of a class?) You keep reciting the most obvious information and facts that anyone can find on the net, in biology books and textbooks etc.

I said, I COULD DO THE SAME and so we go on and on saying, why it's impossible. It just can't be done ... etc., etc., etc. and etc.

Furthermore, you also suggest I must nuts to even believe in such foolishness.

But, instead of implicating, at least, the scientist as a low-life con-artist trying to the fool the world .... But wait! Don't you see? That's it! It's soooo very obvious anyone can criticize this scientist and yogi. Why I bet you don't even need an IQ above that of a lower primate to criticize this scientist. It's plain common sense .... blah, blah, blah

Why would medical scientist make such an outrageous claims? Oh, I know, you'll say, for money and prestige ... Oh, really? A lot is at stake ... like his reputation, especially if he gets (as every other scientist in the world needs) funding directly or indirectly from, especially from abroad. (And, if you know anything about science and scientists in India/Asia, they're making an extreme effort, just as you guys condemning, criticizing and ridiculing traditional yogi beliefs, traditions etc. They want to be part of the modern, Western scientific world.)

Please understand, at least try to fathom what I'm saying. There is a way to think through this. It is medical science itself that introduced (in the 1970s, in fact) imagination in the healing process. It is medical science itself that is trying to find an explanation for what is little understood.

If you want more ... consider the placebo phenomenon. So, prevalent is the placebo effect that it is that which each new pharmaceutical is tested against in blind, control trials. But, what is the placebo? How does it work. Having read too many articles and books on this subject for too many years, I can say it basically also arises from the same imaginary mental process, which give rise to a belief that in turn allows marvelous things to happen: shrinking of malignant tumors, reversal of terminal cases etc. in well documented cases.

But, there's no reason for me to argue with a walls. I would much rather have a discussion. What an unimaginative bunch, but so very typical. So, much for the individual American ... huh? So much for creativity ...

Ann said...

Oops! I posted my comment at the wrong article. It should perhaps have been posted at first article about the yogi and the neurologist, where my previous comments were made. ... Oh well ...

Xeno said...

Ann, I like the fact that you are thinking out of the box. For me, there is always a logical scientific explanation, but there are plenty of new discoveries out there waiting for us. Particularly, I think you have a good point about the reputations of the doctor(s), which is why my first thought (and posts, mysteriously deleted twice) was that it was part of some secret government project by India's military. They told the world (and Pakistan...) that they have a potential new bio-enhancement weapon for their army and then showed a video of the hospital where he was being kept. Makes no sense. Seems like they are baiting someone, perhaps to figure out their rival's phone tapping and other spying abilities. That's the way my odd imagination processed these unusual facts. But the whole thing did get me interested in the basics of metabolism and survival.

Ann said...

Yeah, it may seem like they are baiting someone, but you would think they would try to use a bait about something more legitimate, more this-worldly type of phenomenon, event or whatever. Not something so outlandish as a yogi who doesn't eat or drink ... ever! I doubt anyone would give it too much credibility as is obvious with the comments. And, given the persnickety nature of funding agencies (they don't give their money away even to reputable scientists), this neurologist appears to be digging his own grave. This is, of course, if there is really something to his observations concerning the yogi.

wagaye said...

i would love to follow this history,amazing,how possible in todays era?more research is needed.if true well and good can be used in time of need.

Neil Duran said...

Is this really true?

Ann said...

Wow! India is not the only country with non-eaters and non-drinkers.

Google Therese Neumann and you see a lot of bloody photos. Not only does she not eat and drink she endures stigmata.

Presumably she hasn't eaten or drank anything for more than 35 years and has lost as much 4 kg of blood as a result of her religious wounds. Yet, she, in some fashion or other, has regained her weight without eating or drinking within a day or two.

Ok, say what you will ....