【eroticism】

Are you sitting down?eroticism Good. We have some astonishing news: Food and water are no longer essential to staying alive.

So claims a "Breatharian" couple in the spotlight this week, who say humans can be sustained by "the universe's energy." For the past nine years, Akahi Ricardo and Camila Castello, who split their time between California and Ecuador, claim they've eaten little more than a piece of fruit or vegetable broth just three times per week.

SEE ALSO: Coconut oil is not a magical health food after all

Castello says she even kept her food-free lifestyle during not one, but two pregnancies. Wow! And somehow the family of four still appears well-fed and healthy in photos.

Maybe all we really need is love -- and air.

Hold up. It turns out we also need protein, carbohydrates, and fat to support our basic bodily functions, such as, you know, breathing. So what's the deal with this couple? In short, they're promoting a diet that doesn't work, and in fact is downright dangerous.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

"You need protein to build muscle and you need fat to support your nervous system and for heart health, and you need carbohydrates to keep your energy up and to feed your brain," said Liz Sanders, a registered dietician nutritionist and the director of research and partnerships at the nonprofit International Food Information Council.

The occasional apple or bowl of broth just isn't going to cut it, she says.

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

"If you subsisted on that, you would be emaciated and pretty much unable to function normally," Sanders said. "That's a dangerous diet to subsist on ... and during pregnancy, it's extremely dangerous."

Food? Gross. Water? Yuck. Credit: Mito Images/REX/Shutterstock

Doctors recommend that pregnant women consume around 1,800-2,000 calories in the first trimester (their normal intake), then add another 300 calories in the second trimester and 500 calories in the third trimester.

"If you're only eating fruit, you're not getting the fat your baby needs to build a healthy nervous system, the protein they need to build muscle -- all of that," Sanders said.

"This is a pretty hard and fast 'don't try this at home,'" she added. "You would be hard-pressed to find any health professional who would recommend [the Breatharian diet] to anybody."

Breatharianism goes way back

You know who would recommend this diet? Wiley Brooks.

Now in his late 70s, Brooks began promoting the practice in the early 1980s and founded the Breatharian Institute of America, which in the past offered $100,000 "immortality workshops" and proffered $10,000 bottles of water. (Brooks didn't invent the practice, however; the idea of subsisting only on prana, the vital life force, dates back centuries.)

Brooks said he became a Breatharian out of a desire to stay young and vibrant, not grow old and bald like his father. "When a person gets older and wiser, he should get younger, he should not die in an unhealthy body," he told talk show host Tom Snyder in 1981.

"All the constituents that we need is taken from the air we breathe," Brooks said. "And the fact is, there is only one thing that keeps the human body alive, and that is breathing."

Wrong!

---

Featured Video For You

---

If you're not drinking kombucha you're not living

---

• Deals
• Science
• Social Good
• Games
• Life
• Entertainment
• Shopping
• Digital Culture

• Best air purifier deal: Save $300 on the Dyson HEPA Big + Quiet air purifier
• Greta Thunberg, youth activists criticize inaction on climate change
• Rihanna's Super Bowl halftime show is breaking the internet
• Google Bard: Can you sign up to try the AI search tool?
• Cyrix: Gone But Not Forgotten
• Zoom is laying off 1,300 employees, CEO taking 98 percent pay cut
• Rihanna's Super Bowl halftime show is breaking the internet
• Keke Palmer playing 'Tekken 7' on Twitch is our new favorite thing
• Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids: $139.99 at Amazon
• 'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for February 10

• Melania's tone deaf jacket gets instantly burned by memes
• Kim Kardashian West said she wants President Trump 'to win' and people are not happy
• Chris Hardwick responds to Chloe Dykstra's abuse allegations
• Couple arrested in connection with 2016 Bitfinex bitcoin hack
• 'Louis Theroux's Forbidden America' delves into the internet's dark impact
• Extreme Hubble photo shows a galaxy ripping solar systems from another galaxy
• Lena Waithe pays tribute to fellow trailblazers in heartfelt speech at MTV Awards
• Hot knife ASMR videos are therapy for your retinas
• 11 amazing details you might have missed in 'Pokémon Legends: Arceus'
• Tesla has to disable Boombox feature while the car is moving

• Google 'Ask for me:' AI that calls businesses on your behalf for pricing and availability
• Apple TV+'s 'Shrinking' tackles compassion fatigue, therapy, and grief
• Hugh Grant knocking on doors in the name of Brexit is giving us 'Love Actually' vibes
• Wordle today: Here's the answer, hints for February 12
• Even Trump's Earth Day message was anti
• Puppy Bowl 2023: All the best reactions to the record
• Rihanna's Super Bowl halftime show is a moment to talk about her climate philanthropy
• Tinder reveals the politicians users talk about most — and, yes, AOC tops the list
• Apple is advertising on Elon Musk's X again
• 15 most impressive gifts for Star Wars fans

• E3 2017 Trailer Roundup: Upcoming PC Games
• How cute cookware helped me finally feel welcome in my own kitchen
• Trump just tweeted a pic of his head on Rocky's shirtless body. What the hell is happening?
• When and where to watch the Puppy Bowl 2023
• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for February 11: Tips to solve Connections #141
• Andrew Yang sprayed whipped cream into the mouths of kneeling supporters
• Elon Musk's Twitter is cutting a profit from unbanning accounts, according to new report
• Here's how many crypto ads will air during Super Bowl LVII
• How to Get Your Significant Other Into Gaming
• 'South Park' joke turns Colorado man's life into a hell of prank calls