Firefighter's worm diet tip

Has Paisit Chanta's dietary tip opened up a can of worms?

A worm a day is the key to a healthy life, at least for one firefighter in Thailand.

Paisit Chanta, 39, has eaten a live worm every day for almost 30 years and says he has suffered nothing worse than a mild flu.

The father of two says it is like eating "mushy sticky rice", referring to the glutinous rice popular in many parts of South Asia.

But his friends are not convinced saying they think his habit is "strange and disgusting".

Mr Chanta's unusual dietary supplement was featured in the major Thai newspaper, Thai Rath.

'Starving'

He said it started when he was fishing in his home village of Nakhon Nayok province, 90 km (60 miles) north-east of Bangkok.

"One day, I was sitting there waiting for a fish to eat my bait for hours and was starving," he told Associated Press.

"Suddenly, I realised fish don't die from eating worms so I shouldn't either. I ate them until I was full".

Mr Chanta says he has now become accustomed to chewing the worms instead of swallowing them whole.

He is a common sight digging for worms in the area around his fire station.

Co-worker Thepnakorn Kongwien, 28, said: "We're used to that. But we still think it's strange and disgusting".