When you think of the human body in relation to food, chances are you think about the fact that food is what keeps the body going. This is not the only way that the body and food can beconnected, however. Nyotaimori, for example, is the practice of dining on sushi off a naked body and, especially considering that the "plate" is usually an attractive woman, it is an expensive experience. The practice is relatively popular in Japan when compared to its occurrence in other countries, but it can be found elsewhere, too.

Not wanting to loose points for originality, the Japanese have come up with another way to associate the body and food. In this rather disturbing mashup, a sculpted human body is placed on a dining table where people can "operate" on it, eating what they find inside. Unlike Operation, this body actually appears to bleed, as well.

[via neatorama]

A family of cousins went under the knife to have their stomachs removed. The procedure wasn't done to cause them to lose weight, as it is in gastric bypass surgery, but to prevent them from developing what would most likely have been fatal stomach cancer. The particular cancer that runs in their family is very rare and, due to a genetic mutation that they all inherited from a common grandmother, there was a 70% chance that they would develop it. After seeing parents, aunts and uncles die at young ages from the cancer, the decision was one that all the cousins wanted to make.

The surgery involved the removal of not only the stomach, but the surrounding lymph nodes. The esophagus was attached to the intestine directly. Because digestion and nutrient absorption occurs in the intestine, the cousins can still eat and live healthy lives, but they must eat very small amounts, very frequently and often have difficulty putting weight on. There are some foods that no longer agree with them, like ice cream, while other foods are easier to digest, such as small pieces of meat. Even with eating challenges to face, they have all been much happier since their surgeries at the end of 2004, which gave them piece of mind even as it took their stomachs.

As one of the family members, Bill Bradfield, put it: "We're all going to die of something, but I know I won't die of stomach cancer."