The mystery of the world's most voracious eater

Innate gluttony

Charles Domery was born in 1778, in the village of Benche in Poland, then occupied by Prussia. As one of nine brothers, he has the unusual trait of all his siblings: he is very gluttonous, always tormented by hunger.

Despite his unusual hunger, Domery is a healthy guy and over 1.9m tall, with a fairly well-proportioned body. He did not suffer from any mental illness and although illiterate, was endowed with average intelligence. It is not known what happened to his brothers, but there are accounts of Domery's extraordinary life.

The outside world first learned of Domery's fearsome appetite when he was 13 years old and serving in the Prussian army. At the time, Prussia was fighting France in the War of the First Coalition (1792 - 1797). While in the army, Domery found that soldiers' rations were inadequate.

Even after the commander's favor to double his rations, Domery was still tormented by hunger. Having had enough, he decided to run away, joining the enemy force, the French, in hopes of having more hearty meals.

However, after days of fullness, hunger quickly returned and Domery still couldn't stop his stomach from being hungry, even after using his own money to buy more food. Extremely hungry, Domery is said to have eaten cat meat along with several pounds of grass almost every day, when no other supplementary food could be found.

Domery likes to eat raw meat, of which beef liver is a favorite. More terrifyingly, while serving on the French ship Hoche, he almost ate people. Teammates had to struggle to pull the leg of a sailor who had been shot off by a cannonball out of Domery's mouth. They immediately threw this mass of meat into the sea.

Many people think that after eating unhygienic foods, Domery will get sick. However, his health remained good even when eating raw meat and large amounts of grass. His heart rate and body temperature are said to be normal, his eyes are bright, and his tongue is always clean.

However, after days of fullness, hunger quickly returned and Domery still couldn't stop his stomach from being hungry, even after using his own money to buy more food. Extremely hungry, Domery is said to have eaten cat meat along with several pounds of grass almost every day, when no other supplementary food could be found.

Domery likes to eat raw meat, of which beef liver is a favorite. More terrifyingly, while serving on the French ship Hoche, he almost ate people. Teammates had to struggle to pull the leg of a sailor who had been shot off by a cannonball out of Domery's mouth. They immediately threw this mass of meat into the sea.

Many people think that after eating unhygienic foods, Domery will get sick. However, his health remained good even when eating raw meat and large amounts of grass. His heart rate and body temperature are said to be normal, his eyes are bright, and his tongue is always clean.

In February 1799, tragedy occurred aboard the ship Hoche in Liverpool, England, when it was captured by British forces. Domery and his comrades were taken prisoner and held in a prison near Liverpool. During his captivity, Domery continued to shock his captors with his voracious appetite and surprising dishes.

During this period, the daily rations for French prisoners included 56g of bread, 200g of vegetables and 56g of butter or 170g of cheese. In addition, they were also provided with several rations of beer, diluted rum and sometimes tea.

However, once again, these rations were not worth anything to Domery. This resulted in him eating the spare candles, at least 20 rats and the cat in the cell. Sometimes, Domery ate the remaining medicine in the camp infirmary and swallowed it down with his water or beer ration.

After learning about Domery's hunger and special food hunting, the British army decided to double the rations for this prisoner. And his constant hunger caused his rations to constantly increase until they were equal to the daily food intake of 10 men.

Stunned by what they observed, the British invited two doctors to conduct tests. At 4am of this test session, Domery was fed 1.8kg of raw cow udder which he finished without any problems.

About 5 hours later, 2.2 kg of raw beef, 12 large candles and a bottle of dark beer were served. Again, Domery consumed all of this without difficulty.

Doctors reported that he was healthy in all tests. While most other people might have vomited with that amount of food, Domery was said to be in a good mood and casually went out to smoke.

To this day, no one can explain Domery's binge eating habits. Although there is a medical condition called bulimia in which sufferers have unusual cravings for food, it is known to not be as severe as what Domery suffered from.

This has led some experts to speculate whether he suffered brain damage. However, what happened to Domery after the experiment is unknown.