In 2003 Bernd Brandes was killed and eaten by Armin Meiwes. He had volunteered to be eaten after meeting Meiwes on a fetish website. Before his death he joined Meiwes in eating his severed penis. Meiwes ate the body over the course of several weeks until his arrest, ultimately eating 20kg of the man's flesh. In 1970 scientists Garn and Block stated that an average human body weighing 50 kg would provide 4 kg of protein - which is enough to meet the daily protein requirement of 60adults.
9. THE WARI TRIBE
In some tribes dead bodies are eaten by their family and neighbors as a sign of respect. The Wari’ tribe gather in the days following a death to cook the corpse in a huge funeral ceremony, consuming the flesh as a symbol of the departing spirit. Meanwhile, a Fijian tribe eat their dead within 4 days of death to prevent the spirit leaving and offering guidance to enemy tribes. Other tribes eat the dead in the hope of inheriting the skills of the deceased, for example eating the legs of a fast runner to gain speed.
8. MAO SUGIYAMA
In 2012 Japanese man Mao Sugiyama cooked and served his penis to Tokyo restaurant diners. Surgically removed, the penis was cooked in mushrooms and parsley, and cost $250 per serving. Five people ate the penis after responding to Sugiyama's Twitter advertisement for diners. The ad asked for $10,000 Yen and confirmed that he was free from STIs. Diners had to sign waivers accepting that it was not Sugiyama's fault if the penis made them ill.
7. JOSEPH KONY
In 1934 an American lynch mob forced a black man to eat his own genitalia. Accused of raping and murdering a white woman, Claude Neal was tortured and castrated, before being forced to eat the penis and proclaim that he enjoyed the taste. Further reports of self-cannibalisation came in the early 2000s when we learned that Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army was kidnapping children. Some of his female victims had their noses, lips and ears sliced from their faces, before being forced to eat their body parts.
6. FATAL BRAIN DISEASE
The Fore tribe from Papua New Guinea were struck down by a fatal brain disease caused by their funeral ritual of eating the brains of corpses. The Kuru disease caused them to develop infectious proteins that caused lesions in their own brains. At the height of the illness, the disease was killing 2% of the tribe every year. Those who managed to survive the disease were found to have developed a genetic mutation that protected against the human form of mad cow disease.
5. BODY PART COOKING TV SHOW
Viewers of Dutch TV show Guinea Pigs were shocked in 2011 when the program's two presenters ate parts of each others bodies. Dennis Storm and Valerio Zeno both underwent surgery to have a few centimeters of flesh removed from their abdomen and butt respectively. The flesh was then cooked and served to the men in front of a studio audience. The act was deemed perfectly legal as the pair had voluntarily consented. When asked how it tasted, they responded that it was indistinguishable from other meat.
4. STARVATION CANNIBALISM
In 1932 seven million people died when Soviet Union leader Stalin engineered a famine that struck the Ukraine. Produce was shipped out of the country and landowners were driven from their land. Millions of people were reduced to eating tree bark, earthworms, and in some cases humans. Those who turned to cannibalism generally ate those already dead, however there were also reports of infanticide, with mothers killing one child to feed the others. By the end of the 1930s around 1000 people were in jail for acts of cannibalism.
3. SHIPWRECK SURVIVORS
An 1884 court case saw two shipwreck survivors stand trial for cannibalism. After 18 days adrift in a lifeboat, and 7 days without food, Thomas Dudley and Edward Stephens proposed casting lots to kill and eat one of the 4 men aboard. Two days later they killed a teenage boy who shared their boat, eating his corpse for 4 days, before they were eventually rescued. The men were sentenced to death, however a recommendation for clemency resulted in a reduced sentence of six months imprisonment.
2. KAREN HYLEN
Therapist Karen Hylen has claimed that eating human flesh can be as addictive as drugs. Supposedly giving a high similar to that of cocaine, the consumption of human flesh releases dopamine, which affects the pleasure sensation. This release could also come from the satisfaction in carrying out a longed-for fantasy. As a consequence, the brain becomes conditioned to seek out human flesh. The act of hunting down a victim is thought to be of equal importance to the addicted cannibal, who will get a psychological kick from planning out their meal.
1. KO KU AND KO KAN
Known as 'Ko Ku' and 'Ko Kan', a 16th century form of medicine saw family members sacrifice body parts to heal sick relatives. Ko Ku would see the daughter-in-law of a sick patient slice off pieces of her own arms or legs, before boiling them into soup for the ageing relative. Ko Kan goes one step further. Adult children would self-operate to remove their own livers, which they then cooked and fed to the ill. The person eating the human flesh would often be kept ignorant of what they were consuming.
