Not to mention, OP's wife is completely not the norm. There's a growing majority of overweight, obese and morbidly obese people in the developed world who do not have any medical problem with absorbing food through their GI and for whom losing some fat stores would be a health boon.

It is unclear why OP associates this man's anecdote with his wife — the man of the article was not reported to lose GI function because of his fast. He was just morbidly obese, and stopped eating until he was at a relatively healthy weight.

That failed, sadly.

I believe you. I also believe OP and the horrendous experience his wife is going through. I don't think your and his wife's experiences are analogous.