Secret food gives man incredibly long eyelashes which leave women swooning over him

Ukraine: But Valery Smagliy, 58, from Kiev, Ukraine is fed up of them and will have them cut after a bid to get in the Guinness Book of Records

A Ukrainian man who grew astonishingly long eyelashes after eating a particular type of food is bidding for a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

Valery Smagliy, 58, from Kiev, Ukraine is to have them officially measured before finally having them cut

He said a change in diet to include a secret food coincided with the bizarre growth.

However he declined to share what that food was.

He told local media: "I started eating something and noticed that my eyelashes really started growing quickly at the same time.

"I'm thinking of marketing it so I'm not giving away the secret of what it is."

He decided not to save his eyelashes immediately after discovering he got a lot of attention and praise from women, most of whom were jealous of his long, natural lashes.

But he also got stopped by men asking him if he was crazy.

"Whether it's man or woman, most people don't seem to pay much attention when I'm talking to them because they're always looking at my eyelashes," he bemoaned.

"Women would stop me in the street and ask me what the secret was, they can see that they are real and not fake. But to be honest they are just heavy now and my eyelids are getting sore.

"And it's also difficult to see properly with huge grey eyelashes in front of my eye."

He said he was heading to the local registry office of the Guinness Book of Records to have them officially measured, and reckoned he could probably make the European record - although probably not the world record.

According to the world record book, the longest eyelash on record was measured at 6.99 cm (2.75 in) in 2007 on Stuart Muller's left upper lid in Florida, USA.

He said: "I suppose I could go for the world record, but to be honest what's the point?

"I prefer to be able to see better and I plan to get them cut in a professional salon so I reckon they will still look pretty good afterwards."