On any given day in the United States, about one half of women are on a diet. The reasons to diet are many including a desire to lose weight, be healthier, and be more attractive. People have been dieting for hundreds of years and today we are going to examine the history of dieting and look at diet fads from the 1900s.
- 9 Questionable Diet Fads from the 1900s: Fletcherizing was made famous by Horace Fletcher who publicized his peculiar diet that mandated chewing food 32 times before spitting it out, earning him the title of “The Great Masticator.” The plan allegedly allowed people to absorb important nutrients, enjoy the food flavor, but avoid weight gain. He apparently lost 40+ plans because of his diet and had followers among the famous including John D. Rockefeller, John Harvey Kellogg, and Henry James.
- 9 Questionable Diet Fads from the 1900s: Cigarette Diet. This diet fad proved to be popular with models in the 1900s and originated from cigarette companies recommending cigarettes rather than other harmful addictions. Lucky Strikes’ tagline is an excellent example: “Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet.” Because nicotine is so much healthier than sugar!
- 9 Questionable Diet Fads from the 1900s: The Tapeworm Diet. On the hit TV show, The Office, they all engaged in a “Biggest Loser” themed weight loss contest and one of the characters resorted to swallowing a tapeworm to get her leg up on the competition. A tapeworm is a parasite that you can swallow — while not advisable — that eats away at your insides and is passed when taking another pill. Don’t try this at home, kids!
- 9 Questionable Diet Fads from the 1900s: Cabbage Soup Diet. On this diet, cabbage soup is all you can eat. The diet is extremely hard on your system, because the body is not receiving enough nutrients. Without eating adequate protein while dieting, the weight you lose during a cabbage soup diet is lean muscle. Not a good thing.
- 9 Questionable Diet Fads from the 1900s: Calories Don’t Count. On the flip side of the coin, an obstetrician, Dr. Herman Taller, claimed that people could eat whatever high protein foods they want and still lose weight by simply taking a pill with 3 oz of polyunsatured vegetable oil. While his book “Calories Don’t Count” became a huge hit, selling 2 million copies, Taller was later convicted of mail fraud.
- 9 Questionable Diet Fads from the 1900s: Bathe Yourself Thin. Soap companies produced soap with names like “Fatoff” and “La Mar Reducing Soap” that claimed to help people lose weight by the daily act of bathing. If it were possible to lose weight from a luxurious bubble bath, all women would be thin!
- 9 Questionable Diet Fads from the 1900s: Diet Pills. When ammunition factory workers were discovered to be losing weight during World War I, it was discovered that one of the ingredients at the plant, dinitrophenol, improved one’s metabolism and allowed them to burn calories faster. It was later manufactured into a diet pill and taken by 100,000 Americans but deemed unsafe three years later after reports of blindness and death when taking the drug. The price people pay for diet pills!
- 9 Questionable Diet Fads from the 1900s: Drinking Man’s Diet. Robert Cameron gained popularity when he published a book that claimed men could still eat steak and drink beer and still succeed in losing weight. Deemed unhealthy by the Harvard School of Public Health, it is one of the first low-carb diets.
- 9 Questionable Diet Fads from the 1900s: The Inuit Meat and Fat Diet. This appetizing sounding diet was made popular by Arctic explore Vilhjalmur Stefansson who lived among the Inuit people and published “The Fat of the Land,” which outlined their diet that consisted of meat and blubber.
At the end of the day folks, the tried and tested way to lose weight is to eat less and move more. Engaging in an excessive dieting regime like these questionable diet fads can result in harmful eating disorders. Since dieting can be a very difficult psychological process due to habits like emotional eating, it may be wise to seek the help of a professional psychologist who can help you work through the challenges that will arise during dieting.
Stay tuned for today’s diet fads!
History of Dieting: Diet Fads from the 1800s
History of Dieting: Today’s Diet Fads
Source Diet Fads: Some Smart, Some Scary
[...] of Dieting: Diet Fads from the 1800s History of Dieting: Diet Fads from the 1900s Source Diet Fads: Some Smart, Some [...]
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