A man from Philadelphia, USA, proceeded to eat 40 whole chickens in 40 days. Now, at the end of his self-imposed challenge, he says with relief, “My body is ready for repair.”
Alexander Tominsky, 31, became known as the “Philadelphia’s Chicken Man.” He said in an interview that the promise to eat a chicken a day came from a feeling. “I keep saying it, but it’s the truth. It felt like the right thing to do,” the man told Canadian broadcaster CBC.
The initial plan included 30 days of feeding the bird, but he said he knew he could handle a few more days. “It was something in my subconscious,” he says. “On the 30th day, as I wasn’t in too much pain, I went up to 40.”
To finish the challenge, friends and followers invited to an event last Sunday (6), where he ate the forty and last chickens whole. According to the American newspaper The New York Times, he was initially able to eat the bird within 20 minutes. However, over time, it took two hours to finish each meal. This was usually his only food during the challenge.
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As he told the New York Times, Alexander lost about 7 kilograms in 40 days. Dietitian Marisa Mechulam told Popsugar that while eating this way “may not be dangerous in the short term, it definitely isn’t healthy.”
She stresses the importance of eating a balanced diet that includes different types of food. “Our bodies are made to eat all the macronutrients—protein, fat, and carbs—on a daily basis. If we were only going to eat grilled chicken, we would be surviving on fat and protein but no real carbs,” says Marisa.
“Gut health depends on carbohydrates (particularly fiber) to survive. A lack of fiber in our diet can be detrimental to gut health,” the nutritionist explained.
