A look at fad diets throughout history
This article at ABC News features a look at some fad diets throughout history.
One notable early dieter was William the Conqueror, King of 11th century England. His preferred method of losing weight was to lock himself in a room and consume nothing but alcohol. After becoming too obese to stay seated on his horse, he died of abdominal injuries due to falling off in battle in 1087. His body was too large to fit in his previously constructed sarcophagus, and burst open when bishops attending the funeral attempted push his body down into the coffin.
Other more recent diets and dieting aids include:
- Elvis’ Sleeping Beauty Diet, in which he was sedated for days at a time
- Zander Rooms - Gustav Zander invented the belt driven fat massager
- The Cigarette Diet - “Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet”
- Slimming Soap - “requires no starvation diets or strenuous exercise”
- The Tapeworm Diet - let a tapeworm eat away your extra weight
- The Inuit Meat-and-Fat Diet - sort of an early version of the Atkins diet
- Vision-Dieter Glasses - to make food look less appealing
Links:
- Belly Laughs at Early Fad Diets - Tasty Morsels From Weight-Loss History, ABC News, January 10, 2006
- William I of England, Wikipedia entry
