A 31-year-old girl in China developed a severe mind dysfunction after happening an excessive diet that concerned consuming nothing however water for 15 days.
In accordance with a report by the South China Morning Publish, the lady, from Henan province, misplaced round 20 kg inside just a few weeks. However she later developed issue strolling and reminiscence issues, with docs saying that she could by no means totally get well from difficulties attributable to the intense fasting routine.
The girl was reportedly practising “bigu”, a standard Taoist fasting follow that entails abstaining from meals. Standing 160 cm tall and weighing 70 kg earlier than the food plan, she misplaced round 20 kg inside weeks after drastically limiting her meals consumption.
Docs at The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou College identified her with Wernicke’s encephalopathy, a severe mind dysfunction attributable to extreme dietary deficiency. The situation could cause confusion, issues with steadiness and coordination, irregular eye actions and reminiscence impairment.
Neurologist Solar Guifang stated that the lady’s strolling sample had turn out to be much like that of a “penguin” and warned that the gait downside may probably be everlasting.
The physician attributed the situation to the lady’s excessive food plan, stressing that the human physique requires common meals consumption to acquire important vitamins. He additionally cautioned that excessive weight-reduction plan and extended fasting can carry severe well being dangers.
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Is ‘bigu’ protected?
The girl advised Solar that she had been following “bigu”, which accurately means “grain avoidance”. The follow relies on the assumption that individuals can maintain themselves via “qi”, or very important vitality, moderately than meals.
Whereas some promote bigu as a method to drop pounds or “detox”, the follow has additionally been linked to reviews of extreme sickness and dying.
On a preferred Chinese language social media platform, the hashtag #bigu has reportedly gathered tons of of hundreds of thousands of views, with customers sharing accounts of shedding greater than 10kg by consuming solely water and vitamin dietary supplements for prolonged intervals. Some posts even encourage practitioners to acquire “qi” via meditation in well-ventilated areas.
Nevertheless, excessive fasting has additionally been linked to severe well being issues. In accordance with SCMP report, in 2020, a 26-year-old man from Heilongjiang died after consuming solely water for 52 days. He developed dementia-like signs shortly earlier than his dying.
Final 12 months, a lady in Zhejiang misplaced 5kg after consuming solely water and an “vitality capsule” for per week. She later suffered extreme intestinal injury, a bloodstream an infection and dangerously low potassium ranges.
