Indian Woman Claims To Have Survived Just On Tea For 33 Years: Is It Possible?
Philli Devi, who is known in the village as Chai Vali Chachi gave up on eating food at the age of just eleven years old, according to her father, Rati Ram.
Today I stumbled upon a rather strange story about a 44-year-old woman, living in a village called Baradiya village of Koriya district in the state of Chattisgarh.
What was astonishing about this woman was that she has been drinking only tea for the past 33 years. That's it -- just drinking tea, and no other food, for sustenance for all these years!
NBT
Reported first by NavBharat Times, Philli Devi, who is known in the village as Chai Vali Chachi gave up on eating food at the age of just eleven years old, according to her father, Rati Ram. One day she went to participate in a district level tournament from Patna School in Janal, but when she came back she had suddenly stopped consuming daily meals and even drinking water.
In the initial years, Philli Devi would consume bread or biscuits along with the tea but gradually she gave that up too. Moreover, she¡¯d take the tea with milk, however, according to her brother, Bihari Lal, one day there was a slight delay in getting the milk due to some issues with the money. After a spat with the milk vendor concerning money, she decided to quit consuming tea with milk entirely, drinking just black tea.
Bihari Lal also revealed that they have even consulted doctors and looked for medical help that may have been causing her to avoid food. But doctors have found no alarming problem. Her daily routine involves staying indoors, staying absorbed in prayers and drinking just one cup of tea before sunset.
NBT
How is this physically possible?
It is definitely surprising that a person has managed to survive for so long without eating anything nutritional, except for just tea, that too without milk in the past many years.
According to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans women are recommended to consume between 1,600 and 2,400 calories a day, whereas men are recommended to consume from 2,000 to 3,000 calories in a day, depending on their age, size, height, lifestyle, overall health and activity level.
The calorie intake energises parts of our body to help it function at their optimum level. In fact, the brain consumes most of the calories -- 20 percent, while taking up only 2 percent of space in our body, according to a study by researchers Marcus E. Raichle & Debra Gusnard.
Comparing this to Philli Devi¡¯s consumption of tea, a cup of brewed black tea without sugar contributes just two calories in the body (according to a calorie calculator website, CalorieKing).
As mentioned by her family members, since most of her day goes simply sitting indoors and playing, she isn¡¯t exhausting much of her resources, still, such a low consumption is alarming to keep the body running at optimum levels.
In fact, the report has also highlighted a statement from Dr S.K. Gupta from a district hospital in Koriya who explains that something like this is not possible. Even though there are people who fast for 9 whole days, doing it for 33 years is impossible.
She's not alone
There have been people in the past who have managed to survive without food for days. There¡¯s one instance where a man named Angus Barbieri went a whole year without eating anything. But 33 days is still an unbelievable feat.
Just this year, a report by TOI revealed an Ascetic by the name of Pralhad Jani, who claimed to have survived without food and water for nearly eight decades, passed away at 91. He was studied by several institutions including a major study by DIPAS of Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) in 2010. During that experiment, Jani was kept under CCTV surveillance and his body temperature, vitals and biochemical processes were studied.
AFP
Dr Sudhir Shah, a city-based neurologist, who was part of the initiative, mentioned on his website that Jani has some ¡®extreme form of adaptation to starvation and water restriction¡¯ as evident from serum Leptin and Ghrelin levels that have been estimated. "Cell biology studies have shown that the peripheral blood mononuclear cells exhibit more tolerance to stress," He said.
Is Philli Devi¡¯s case genuine? Does her body have something rare that is able to power her for so long without needing other resources? We leave this for you, dear reader, to ponder on.
