It was also known that Barbieri continued to live at his home. He only went to hospitals during this period and that was for check-ups only. During this period, Barbieri had only taken vitamins, supplements and non-caloric fluids. Barbieri only defecated in every 37 to 48 days. The supplements which Barbieri took used to carry potassium, sodium and yeast. The non-caloric fluids included sparkling water, coffee and tea.
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The doctors’ reports also indicated that there were many well-documented examples where people died while starving to lose weight. There were reports of two persons dying of heart failure, one person from bowel obstruction and two succumbed when they were in re-feeding period.
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As doctors were aware of the ill-effects of fasting, they constantly monitored Barbieri during his fast. He always seemed healthy all along his fast. Doctors had once observed that Barbieri had low blood sugar levels. But, as he was not showing any symptoms, doctors continued with the fast.
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It is a known fact that the human body starts breaking down fat to get energy in the case when someone stops taking food intake. In some cases, the body also breaks down muscles to get the required energy. But, most of the energy that the body requires comes from breaking down of the fat. The body breaks fat into glucose and ketones.
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