Michel Lotito (; ) was a French entertainer famous for deliberate consumption of indigestible objects. He came to be known as Monsieur Mangetout (). His digestive system allowed him to consume up to of metal per day. He started eating this unusual diet at age 9.
Career
Michel Lotito began eating unusual material at 16 years of age, Lotito also had digestive juices that were unusually powerful, meaning that he could digest the unusual materials. Soft foods, such as bananas, gave him heartburn, specifically when he had metal in his stomach.
Lotito's performance involved the consumption of metal, glass, rubber, and other materials. He disassembled, cut up, and consumed items such as bicycles, shopping carts, televisions, beds, and a Cessna 150, among other items. It took him roughly 2 years, from to , to eat the Cessna 150.
Lotito claimed not to suffer ill effects from his consumption of substances typically considered poisonous. When performing, he ingested approximately of material daily, preceding it with mineral oil and drinking considerable quantities of water during the meal. It is estimated that between 1959 and 1997, Lotito "had eaten nearly nine tons of metal."
Lotito's method for eating all of this metal was to break it into small pieces before attempting to eat it. He then drank mineral oil and continued to drink water while swallowing the metal bits. This allowed him to swallow the metal without damaging his throat. Lotito did not have any digestive problems as a result of his unusual diet.
Awards
Lotito holds the record for the "strangest diet" in the Guinness World Records. He was awarded a plaque, made of brass, by the publishers to commemorate his abilities. He ate his award.
Death
Lotito died of natural causes at age 55 on , in Grenoble.
List of unusual items allegedly consumed
At least: The novel was heavily inspired by The Guinness Book of World Records; Sherwood interviewed Lotito via telephone as part of his research.