1/21/2018 The tale of Angus Barbieri who fasted for more than a year - and lost 21 stone - Evening

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The tale of Angus Barbieri who fasted

for more than a year – and lost 21 stone
by Jon Brady
 November 12, 2016, 6:00 am Updated: November 12, 2016, 10:00 am

Angus before his weight loss

For most of us, dieting and trying to lose weight involves cutting
out sugary snacks and signing up to a gym.

However, one Tayport man’s rather unconventional method of dieting still

stands as a record today — 50 years on.

Angus Barbieri went to Mary eld Hospital in Dundee in 1965 where he

remained for just over a year and shed an incredible 21 stone after going
without solid food for almost 400 days.

He dropped from 33st 10lb to 12st 10lb after subsisting on a diet of tea,
co ee, water and soda water, along with vitamins given to him by doctors. He
ate nothing at all — not even a piece of fruit.

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Angus, unrecognisable from older pictures, nally broke his fast with a Login / Register
breakfast of one boiled egg and some bread with butter.

Angus sits down to enjoy his rst meal in 392 days in 1966

After eating it all, Angus told the Tele at the time: “It went down OK. I feel a bit
full, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

He had lost so much weight that he could t another two people alongside
him in his old clothes.

One estimate suggested that he shed as much as three-quarters of a pound a

day, and ve years after beginning to eat again he remained a healthy 14
stone.

During his fast, he was free to come and go from the hospital as he pleased,
going in for two or three days at a time, and resisted eating when at home.

He even gave up working at his father Joe’s sh and chip shop on Nelson
Street, which closed down in 1965 while he was fasting.

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Angus’ story went around the world, with newspapers as far away as the US
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reporting on his feat.

He even became the subject of a study at the University of Dundee, where

academics were keen to examine the e ects that long-term fasting had on his
body.

The study, which took place both while Angus fasted and in the years after,
concluded: “Extended starvation therapy must be used cautiously.”

Angus was recognised by the Guinness Book of Records in 1971, with his
extended fast noted as the longest a person had gone without solid food.

A spokeswoman from Guinness World Records told the Tele: “Hunger strike
doctors estimate that a well-nourished individual can survive without medical
consequences on a diet of sugar and water for 30 days or more.

“The longest period for which anyone has gone without solid food is 392 days
in the case of Angus Barbieri of Tayport, Fife, who lived on tea, co ee, water,
soda water and vitamins in Mary eld Hospital, Dundee, Angus, from June
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1/21/2018 The tale of Angus Barbieri who fasted for more than a year - and lost 21 stone - Evening Telegraph

1965 to July 1966. His weight declined from 214kg (33st 10lb) to 80.74kg (12st
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10lb).”

How the Tele covered the story at the time.

The spokeswoman added that new attempts on the record are generally no
longer accepted by the record-taking body.

She said: “Due to its specialist nature, the record title is not generally open for
applications from members of the public.

“As a result, Guinness World Records may defer the veri cation of any
attempts to beat this record to a third party or choose to reject the
submission and keep the details on le for future reference.”

After recovering from his incredible fast, Angus continued to live a ful lling
life, raising two sons, later moving away to Warwick. He died in September
1990.

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