Michel Lotito

Michel Lotito (French pronunciation: [miʃɛl lɔtito]; 16 June 1950 – 17 April 2006^[1]) was a French entertainer famous for deliberate consumption of indigestible objects. He came to be known as Monsieur Mangetout (lit. 'Mister Eats-All'). His digestive system allowed him to consume up to 900 g (2.0 lb) of metal per day. He started eating this unusual diet at age 16.^{[2][verification needed]}

Michel Lotito
Lotito eating parts of a Cessna 150 aircraft
Born	Michel Dominique Lotito (1950-06-16)16 June 1950 Villard-Bonnot, France
Died	17 April 2006(2006-04-17) (aged 55) Grenoble, France
Resting place	Saint Roch Cemetery, Grenoble
Other names	Monsieur Mangetout
Occupation	Entertainer
Known for	Eating unusual objects

Career

Michel Lotito began eating unusual material at 16 years of age,^{[3][verification needed]} and he performed publicly beginning in 1966, around the age of 16. He had an eating disorder known as pica, a psychological disorder characterised by an appetite for substances that are largely non-nutritive. Doctors determined that Lotito also had a thick lining in his stomach and intestines which allowed his consumption of sharp metal without suffering injury.^[5] 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.^{[6][clarification needed]}

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,^[7] among other items. It took him roughly 2 years, from 1978 to 1980, to eat the Cessna 150.^{[a][citation needed]}

Lotito claimed not to suffer ill effects from his consumption of substances typically considered poisonous. When performing, he ingested approximately 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of material daily, preceding it with mineral oil and drinking considerable quantities of water during the meal.^[9] It is estimated that between 1959 and 1997, Lotito "had eaten nearly nine tons of metal."^{[10][clarification needed]}

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.^[11][12][13]

Awards

Lotito holds the record for the "strangest diet" in the Guinness Book of Records. He was awarded a plaque, made of brass, by the publishers to commemorate his abilities. He ate his award.^[3]

Death

Lotito died of natural causes at age 55 on 17 April 2006, in Grenoble.^[1][14]

List of unusual items allegedly consumed

At least:^{[3][10][citation needed]}

• 45 door hinges
• 18 bicycles
• 15 shopping carts
• 7 television sets
• 6 chandeliers
• 2 beds
• 1 pair of skis
• 1 computer
• 1 copy of the textbook Gravitation by Misner, Thorne and Wheeler
• 1 Cessna 150 light aircraft
• 1 waterbed
• 500 metres (1,600 ft) of steel chain
• 1 coffin (with handles)
• 1 Guinness World Records award plaque
• Assorted razors and bolts

In popular culture

• The Man Who Ate the 747 (2000) is the debut novel of Ben Sherwood. It follows a record keeper for The Book of Records who discovers a farmer attempting to romantically impress a woman by gradually eating a Boeing 747.^[15][16] The novel was heavily inspired by The Guinness Book of World Records; Sherwood interviewed Lotito via telephone as part of his research.^[7][8]
• How to Eat an Airplane (2016) is a picture book based on Lotito, written by Peter Pearson and illustrated by Mircea Catusanu.^[17]

See also

• Tarrare – French showman and voracious eater

Notes

1. In 2022, Madison Dapcevich of Snopes, a fact-checking website, investigated Lotito's claim that he ate an entire airplane. She concluded that although there are many accounts of Lotito's consumption of unusual objects and that he "very likely" consumed such objects on stage as a professional entertainer, she was unable to confirm that Lotito ate an entire airplane (or even part of one).^[8]