Teen dies after following strict juice only diet for three months

CHENNAI: A 17-year-old teen, who brought changes in his diet, died of suffocation. The dead is Saktheeswaran, son of Nagarajan of Kulachal. He was about to join a college in Tiruchirappalli after completing Plus Two. The teen wanted to lose weight before joining college. He brought changes in his diet after watching YouTube. His family said that he had not eaten any other food for the last three months. He was on strict juice only diet.

His health condition deteriorated a few days ago. He complained of shortness of breath and suffocation on the day of the incident. So, his parents took him to a hospital in Kulachal but he was declared dead on arrival. The respiratory failure may have been caused by a lung infection caused by frequent consumption of cold juice. There are also reports that the boy had not followed the advice of health experts before changing his diet. More information about his death will be available only after the postmortem report is released.

A similar incident had taken place in Kerala. A girl who restricted her food excessively to lose weight also lost her life in last March. She was Sreenanda of Koothuparamba. Sreenanda had been restricting her food intake and exercising heavily due to fear of gaining weight. The girl did this based on some videos she had seen on YouTube.