You may have heard of the Ukrainian supermodel, Valeria Lukyanova, 23, who is often referred to in the media as the “real-life Barbie doll.” With her long blonde locks, big blue eyes and unthinkably thin waist measuring 50 cm, it is hard not to agree with all of the tabloids claims that she has undergone plastic surgery and other procedures in order to achieve her looks. Lukyanova denies having any aesthetic procedures, but she does admit to practicing Breatharianism.
Breatharianism is the belief that a person is able to live off of air and light, or “cosmic micro-food,” alone. It is closely related with religious and spiritual practices. One starts as a vegetarian, then moves to being a vegan, then to an all-liquid diet and eventually the goal of living purely off of air and light is achieved. Unlike a fast, which is temporary, breatharianism is a lifestyle until the day you die and is often times the cause of death.
Numerous people have been found dead or in comas after attempting a switch to a breatharian diet. One person, Jasmuheen, claims to have lived on a breatherian diet for over forty years. Obviously this is an extremely dangerous diet that is not recommended by nutritionists.
So is Lukyanova going breatharian in order to maintain her figure or simply to improve her spiritual being? Lukyanova is an extremely spiritual person and has admitted to being so since she was a child. She has reported accounts of lucid dreaming, time travel and connection with transcendental beings. Ultimately, she wishes to spread her spiritual ideas and believes that her media attention and extreme beauty will help those ideas spread.
The other question at hand is the example that Lukyanova is setting for girls all over the world. There are YouTube videos of girls doing their hair and makeup like Lukyanova in hopes of getting her attention. The media’s focus on her diet and amazing beauty could inspire girls to undergo extreme measures in order to be deemed beautiful. Natural beauty is achieved through a healthy diet along with exercise, not by only breathing and absorbing the sun’s light.
Lukyanova is getting closer to becoming a full breatharian and said she has not been hungry for almost three weeks. This lifestyle has not been scientifically proven and should not be performed by anyone. It is an outrageous idea that will ultimately lead to serious heath concerns for Lukyanova.