A government minister has issued a fresh warning about the dangers of fad diets, but such extreme eating regimens have been around for centuries. According to historian Louise Foxcroft, author of Calories and Corsets: A History of Dieting Over 2,000 Years, the ancient Greeks and Romans focused on overall health, but the Victorian era saw a shift toward aesthetic goals and the birth of the diet industry.
One of the strangest fads was 'Fletcherism,' promoted by American Horace Fletcher at the turn of the 20th century. Followers chewed each mouthful until all 'goodness' was extracted—up to 700 times for a single shallot—then spat out the fibrous residue. The diet promised bowel movements only once every two weeks, which Fletcher claimed smelled like 'warm biscuits.' He famously carried a sample of his own faeces to demonstrate.
For the less squeamish, the tapeworm diet emerged in the early 1900s. Dieters swallowed beef tapeworm cysts in pill form, hoping the parasites would absorb food in their intestines. Weight loss often came with diarrhoea and vomiting, and killing the tapeworm risked abdominal and rectal complications. Tapeworms can grow up to 30 feet and cause illnesses including meningitis and dementia.
In the 19th century, diet drugs containing arsenic and strychnine were marketed as 'wonder-remedies.' These poisons were loosely controlled, and many dieters overdosed in pursuit of faster results. 'Charlatans set themselves up as experts with diets to promote and products to sell,' Foxcroft said.
Celebrity influence on dieting is nothing new. Lord Byron, the Romantic poet, popularised a vinegar-based diet in the early 1800s, drinking vinegar daily and eating potatoes to maintain his figure. His regimen foreshadowed modern celebrity-endorsed diet books.
