Two surveys to explore associations between dietary practices and spontaneous anomalous experiences

Contemporary and historical accounts from spiritual traditions and elsewhere appear to suggest a role for fasting and vegetarianism in spiritual development and access to ‘supernormal powers’. We recently conducted interviews with psi adepts who use fasting and vegetarianism to support their work with psi and reported findings that are consistent with such accounts. However, it was not clear whether these associations obtained only for particular elite practitioners or whether they might apply to more general populations. We therefore proposed to conduct online questionnaire-based surveys of two separate samples recruited through Facebook groups consisting of vegans and vegetarians (N = 804) and those who practise fasting (N = 154) to see if these associations could be confirmed. Working with a vegan/vegetarian group allowed us to compare those who fast with those who do not; similarly, the fasting sample allowed us to compare vegans and vegetarians with those who eat meat. Preliminary findings indicate that significantly higher levels of self-reported anomalous experiences and abilities are reported by those who: fast; engage in longer fasts; have a longer history of fasting; practise vegan or vegetarian over meat-eating diets; practise vegan over vegetarian diets; have increased adherence to a wholefood diet; and habitually abstain from alcohol. The implications of these findings are discussed.