5 Things I've noticed about... Breatharianism

Breatharianism is a New Age Movement belief that asserts that people don't need food inorder to live, and only need clean air and sun light.

Now there are a lot of things I have noticed about this belief (mainly the body count) but I have narrowed it down to five main things.

So here are five things I've noticed about Breatharianism:

5. It's a typical New Age Movement belief.

Breatharianism is a belief that is apart of, or atleast viewed to be apart of the New Age Movement, and like most beliefs in the New Age Movement it's mess-mass of several different beliefs all rolled into one.

Practitioners of Breatharianism believe it is possible to live off of prana (which is according to Hindu beliefs is a vital life force energy) and that the best source of this prana is from light and air, and with enough skill and knowledge they can somehow manipulate this prana to the point where they can live off of it forever and never need any food or water.

Another part about Breatharianism is the attainment of spiritual enlightenment, which apparently involves not eating. This sounds an awful lot like fasting, which is something that Abrahamic religions tend to do.

Basically Breatharianism is a combination of certain beliefs from Eastern and Western religions.

Also, like with many other New Age beliefs...

4. It's Pseudoscience.

While Breatharianism is primarily based from Eastern and Western religious beliefs, everything about it is pseudoscience.

Like all pseudosciences it's based off of a tiny scientific fact, and that fact is that we do need air and light inorder to live (well, not so much light, but we do need air) and that there is energy all around us... it's just not prana. This energy is either in the form photonic energy from light sources, or radio waves, or electromagnetic fields from electrical sources, or kinetic energy from air movement and the movement of the Earth.

Yes, there are many forms of energy that surrounds us. Prana is not one of them, and even if it was, it's very probable that we couldn't manipulate it with our minds.

The main claim about Breatharianism, as I stated before (and the one that doctors and scientists and people with common sense have a problem with) is that humans can live off of this prana and don't need to ever eat or drink again, which is impossible.

I suppose with these beliefs it seems that...

3. They make it sound like humans are actually plants.

Now I'm sure that no person alive that claims to practice Breatharianism will actually say that humans are pretty much like plants, but it does sound an awful lot like that's what they're trying to get at with their insistence that people only need air and sun light to live, which is something that plants need inorder to live.

While we do need air inorder to live, we don't actually need sun light inorder to live (although it is better for us in the long run to get some sun light). We do infact need water and nutrition (in the form of food) inorder to live, just like every other lifeform on this on this planet.

So many of you are probably wondering by now how exactly can these Breatharians live without water and food, if it is impossible for them to live without water and food? Well there's actually a couple of explanations for that, the first one being...

2. Those that try to go all the way tend to die.

With a belief that encourages people to do things that can kill them, such as not eating or drinking anything, eventually some people who try doing what the belief says you're suppose to do will end up dying. Breatharianism is no different.

Lots of people have tried Breatharianism, most of which give up in the end and start eating and drinking after they realize that they just can't do it, and this is either because the pains of hunger and thirst is getting to much for them, or they realize that what they are doing to themselves is killing them.

Unfortunately there are a few people who have tried to go all the way with living off of sun light and air and choose to ignore what their own body is trying to tell them. Unless someone intervenes and forces them to stop, what ultimately ends up happening is that they die.

Now some of you are probably wondering if Breatharianism is impossible, and that it will kill you if you really try to do it, then how come there are people out there that claim they can do it?

There's a very simple explanation for that. It's because...

1. Those who claim to be able to do it are lying.

Those that claim to practice Breatharianism and do it successfully have either been shown to be frauds, or are greatly suspected of lying, and have people help them cover up the fact that they eat and drink just like the rest of us.

Wiley Brooks, probably one of the most famous Breatharians there is, has been caught numerous times eating and drinking stuff. He also admits that he "occasionally" eats a Double Quarter-Pounder with Cheese from McDonalds, and drinks a Diet Coke, although he claims this to add balance to one's self...

Jasmuheen, another famous Breatharian, actually agreed to take a challenge by the Australian television program 60 Minutes to test her claims that she can live off of air and light alone by allowing the television show to supervise her and make sure she didn't eat or drink anything. The test was stopped after those who were observing her realized that her health was declining and that if they didn't stop the experiment, she would die.

The fact remains is that no one can survive without food and water. Those who claim you can and that they can do it are either lying or deluded.