by Rod Hughes

This writer mentioned last year that while the daily newspaper Diario Extra may have a reputation for sensationalism, it does not rival the U.S. supermarket press (National Inquirer, for example) for yellow journalism. However, a news story that appeared last month may stretch the limits of credibility. Make your own judgement:

The headline read: “Woman Goes 25 Years without Eating.” Reporter Betania Artavia may have fudged slightly on strict accuracy. Her subject, Flora Chaverria of Canas, Guanaste province, does eat a soda cracker most days, topped with condensed milk, along with a couple of slugs of condense milk and a few swallows of coffee with milk in it.

One might be tempted to exclaim at this point, “What a killer diet!” Needless to relate, at age 70, she has kept her figure, if a bit on the anorexic side, perhaps. She does all the cooking, washing and cleaning for her husband Nicolas Rodriguez, who lamented to the reporter that he misses sitting down and sharing a meal with his wife.

It all started in 1983, the paper relates, when Ms. Chaverria was walking toward Canas minding her own business when she was overtaken by a really monster case of heartburn that took her breath away. At the hospital, she was told that she had some sort of torsion that made it difficult for food to pass into her stomach—she is vague on the medical details.

She says that the doctor told her there was no remedy and she has since resisted getting a second opinion for rear “that they’ll find something serious.” She says she has resigned herself to eating what a canary would consider a starvation diet, although when she is cooking she often has yearnings to sample the cuisine.

The paper reports that she has been married 52 years, has seven children (presumaably before her crash diet) and grandchildren and even 11 great grandchildren. They will have a story to tell their great grandchildren about great grandma’s dietary habits. We wonder if they will be believed.