The Indian Man Who Has Eaten Bricks for 20 Years — And Somehow Survived
His Mother Tried to Stop Him
His family reportedly wasn’t comfortable with the habit. His mother tried to persuade him to stop, but according to reports, Hunagundi wasn’t interested in giving up his unusual appetite. She reportedly offered him ordinary food, including chicken, but he said he preferred his unusual cravings.
He described bricks, stones and mud as things he loved. Imagine trying to convince someone to stop eating bricks when they genuinely believe those materials are more appealing than dinner. That was reportedly the situation his family faced.
Why Would Anyone Want to Eat a Brick?
There is actually a medical term associated with behavior like this: pica. Pica involves repeatedly eating substances that aren’t normally considered food and don’t provide meaningful nutritional value. People with pica may crave things such as dirt, clay, paper or ice.
The causes can vary, and diagnosing an individual requires proper medical assessment. Hunagundi’s behavior has commonly been linked to pica in media reports, but that doesn’t mean every explanation you see online about his condition has been medically confirmed.
What we do know is that his reported behavior fits the basic pattern: a persistent craving for substances that aren’t food.
But How Did He Survive?
This is probably the question most people have. How can someone eat pieces of brick and continue living?
The answer isn’t that bricks are secretly safe to eat. They’re not. Hard fragments can damage teeth and potentially injure the digestive system. Construction materials can also contain substances that shouldn’t be consumed.
Hunagundi’s reported ability to continue the habit for years shouldn’t be taken as proof that eating bricks is harmless. It simply makes his story unusual. His own claims were that he hadn’t experienced obvious problems from the habit and that his teeth remained strong. That’s very different from a medical recommendation.
