Indian man claims to have had no food or drink for 70 years!

An 82 year old Indian man named Prahlad Jani (Mataji) claims that he hasn't had food or drink for seven decades. He is being held in isolation in a hospital in Ahmedabad, Gurjarat, where he is being closely monitored by India's defence research organization, who believe he may have a genuine quality which could help save lives.

Mr. Jani claims that he left home when he was seven and lived as a wandering sadhu or holy man in Rajasthan. He is regarded as a 'breatharian' who can live on a 'spiritual life-force' alone. He believes he is sustained by a goddess who pours an 'elixir' through a hole in his palate.

India's Defence Research Development Organisation believe that if they learn Mr. Jani's "technique", soldiers and disaster victims could survive longer without food and water.

So far, he has spent six days without food or water under strict observation and doctors say his body has not yet shown any adverse effects from hunger or dehydration. He has not eaten or drunk anything for six days and therefore has not passed urine or stool. The urine appears to be reabsorbed by his body after it accumulates in his body. Doctors will continue observing him for 15 days in which time they would expect to see some muscle wastage, serious dehydration, weight loss,and fatigue followed by organ failure.

Many Hindus in India fast as a part of their religious worship. There are many different types of fasts, depending on how religious the person is (for example, some people fast for a day without food or water, some fast for several days without food only). But fasting for 70 years without food or water, sounds really unbelievable, since the longest a human can survive without food is 50 days. In fact Jani has already been dismissed as a "village fraud". Leading Australian nutritionist, Dr Joanna McMillan Price, said the study was a dangerous and pointless exercise and that Jani will eventually have a heart attack and die.

But, Dr G Ilavazhagan, director of the Defence Institute of Physiology & Allied Sciences, says that if these claims are verified, it will be a major breakthrough in medical sciences