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"It seems one of the ways these exclusive enteral nutrition diets could possibly work in people is by triggering certain bacteria to make beneficial metabolites," said Martens.

Theoretically, though, there shouldn’t be long-lasting effects from enteral ventilation, says Caleb Kelly, a gastroenterologist from the Yale School of Medicine who peer-reviewed the paper.

Others, such as Borisova, said that even with enteral nutrition they would not gain a normal physique.

One reason many detainees abandoned their hunger strikes is because, twice a day, the government used what is called “enteral feeding” to ensure that they were getting nutrients.

"This nurse did not want to participate in the enteral feeding and has since been assigned other duties," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren told reporters, acknowledging a recent incident first reported by the Miami Herald.