Strange woman who hasn't eaten... a grain of rice for 22 years

For the past 22 years, Ms. Duong Thi Thuy (48 years old, living in Thoi Thuan A area, Thoi An ward, O Mon district, Can Tho city) has not been able to eat rice, only eating fruit, cakes, and drinking water to survive.

When we arrived at Thoi Thuan A area, we asked about Mrs. Thuy (Ba Trau) who was "afraid of rice". Everyone knew that she was afraid of rice. The locals were also enthusiastic in guiding us to her house.

According to Mr. Duong Van Trieu (86 years old, Ms. Thuy's father), his family has 5 children (4 girls, 1 boy). Ms. Thuy was born like any other child, grew up and ate and lived normally, until she got married and started to show signs of being bored with rice.

Ms. Duong Thi Thuy (48 years old, residing in Thoi Thuan A area, Thoi An ward, O Mon district, Can Tho city).

“Many times when I visited my wife and I, I gave her a bag of rice to eat for a few days and then she returned it because she didn’t eat it. Many times when we came home to eat together as a family, everyone ate rice but Thuy ate fruit. I found it strange and asked her why she said that after eating rice she felt tired and uncomfortable, she tried to swallow a few spoonfuls and then vomited so she stopped eating and became scared. At first, I was a bit worried when I saw her like that, but because she was still healthy and had no illnesses, I gradually got used to it,” Mr. Trieu said.

Ms. Thuy said that before she was 26 years old, she still ate normally like everyone else. When she got married, she suddenly started to feel strange because eating rice did not taste good and she felt sick, but she was afraid that if she did not eat, she would not have the energy to go to work, so she tried to swallow it. After a while, the more she ate, the more lethargic she felt. Sometimes she could only eat a few spoonfuls before vomiting everything up. Eating meat and fish smelled fishy, ​​so she stopped eating. Sometimes she was afraid of getting sick, but because she was busy making a living, she did not have time to go to the doctor.

“When my neighbors found out, they asked me to go see a doctor to find out what was wrong. Many people were skeptical that I could live a healthy life and do hard work without eating, but I still worked normally. After that, they got used to it and when they met me, they only offered me fruit or water,” said Ms. Thuy.

Mrs. Thuy is making rice wine to sell.

According to Ms. Thuy, about 10 years ago she only weighed about 47 - 48 kg but now she has increased to 52 kg. She said that before when she was still eating rice, her health was not as good as it is now, she often got sick and tired, but since she stopped eating rice, her health has gotten better and better.

“Before, when I was still eating rice, I felt very heavy carrying a 20kg stick of flour. But since I stopped eating rice, I can carry two sticks at once without any problem,” said Ms. Thuy.

Previously, Mrs. Thuy's main job to earn extra income for her family was to plant rice, trample rice, cut rice, and weed. When people went to the fields, they often brought rice and soup, but she only brought a bag of betel leaves to chew while working. Many people were surprised to see her working hard without eating rice, thinking she had forgotten to bring food, so they invited her to eat with them.

“I had to explain to them that I could not eat rice but only fruit and snacks. They went from being surprised to being delighted and gave me the nickname “Ba Trau”. From then on, whenever they invited me, they would invite me to drink water or eat some cake or fruit,” said Ms. Thuy.

So far, for 22 years, Mrs. Thuy has not been able to eat rice. Her daily food intake does not exceed 10,000 VND with a few pieces of watermelon, pickles, mango, and occasionally a few pieces of tofu, cakes, and water. "I rarely feel hungry or thirsty, and I do not crave any food, so I can eat or not eat," said Mrs. Thuy.

Mr. Tran Van Tu (living next door to Mrs. Thuy) said: “Everyone in this area knows that Mrs. Thuy has not eaten rice for many years. Although she cannot eat rice, meat, or fish, she is still agile and healthy. I find it really strange. Recently, my wife came to her house when she came back from a funeral and had some banh tet, but she still did not eat it, so she gave it to my wife to take home to eat.”

What's even more strange is that for the past 5 years, Ms. Thuy's daughter, Nguyen Thi Huong (26 years old, working as a worker for a company), has shown the same symptoms as her mother: she is afraid of rice. When she sees rice, she cannot put it in her mouth.

After a while, she couldn't eat rice, and even vomited instant noodles, so from then on, Huong didn't touch a single grain of rice or other food and started eating fruit like her mother, but her health was still normal.

Mr. Phan Van Du, Head of Thoi Thuan A area, said he also heard others talk about the case of Ms. Thuy who has not eaten rice but only fruit for nearly ten years.

“If that is true, this case is really strange. Because normally everyone has to eat rice to live, how can people not eat rice for a long time and still be healthy like that?”, Mr. Du said./.

According to VOV