(...) New Age guru Jasmuheen, 42, formerly Australian businesswoman Ellen Greve, claims to have 5,000 devotees to her "breatharian" programme.

She stood by her diet regime yesterday despite the death of disciple Verity Linn. (...)

"I can go for months and months without having anything at all other than a cup of tea," she said. "My body runs on a different kind of nourishment." She said that some people have gone for up to six years without eating or drinking. (...)

Breatharians believe they are sustained by Pranic light, an ancient spiritual belief in the light of God which is found across the universe and inside everyone. But the organisation has been dogged by scandal.

In 1983, most of the leadership of the cult in California resigned when Wiley Brooks, its 47-year-old leader, who claimed not to have eaten for 19 years, was caught sneaking into a hotel and ordering a chicken pie.

The cult originated in China and the Far East. Last year a monk in Bangalore claimed to have fasted for a 365 days, drinking only one cup of hot water after sunrise and another before sunset. During this time he lost more than five stone. Western doctors who monitored his condition said it was astonishing.

According to Jasmuheen, a former financier previously known as Ellen Greve, the elements contained in air - nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen and hydrogen - can sustain a body. She claims to have survived on air for five years although she also allows herself cups of herbal tea and chocolate biscuits.

Continuous fasting, known as "breatharianism", is also practised by Tibetan monks but for shorter periods. Jasmuheen claims to have 5,000 members of her cult worldwide.