Thread: 15 Most Bizarre Diets in History

On the quest for a slimmer physique, dieters have been known to go to extreme lengths. When a healthy diet and exercise just aren’t enough, people turn to the latest, greatest (and often strangest) weight-loss plans, hoping one will finally do the trick. Fad diets have been around for centuries; before The Master Cleanse and Cabbage Soup Diet, there was the Vinegar Diet and the Cigarette Diet. They sound crazy now, but history proves that desperate dieters look for desperate measures. Read on to learn about the craziest ways people have tried to trim the fat.

1727: Avoiding Swamps

In 1727, Thomas Short wrote a treatise called "The Causes and Effects of Corpulence," in which he observed that heavier people tended to live near swamps. His recommendation? Overweight people should pick up and move to more arid climates to avoid the apparent ill effects of swamp life. It may not be a proven weight-loss plan, but it seems like good real estate advice.

1800s: Starvation or Hysteria

During the second half of the 19th century, a form of “Victorian anorexia” was all the rage among the middle class and aristocracy of Western Europe. People would literally starve themselves in order to live up to the Victorian notion of frailty, which was associated with spiritual purity and femininity.

1820: The Vinegar Diet

The anorexic and bulimic poet Lord Byron popularized the vinegar diet in the 1820s. In order to cleanse his body he would drink plenty of vinegar and water daily (in addition, of course, to his cup of tea with a raw egg mixed in). Side effects included vomiting and diarrhea. No wonder he lost weight.

1903: Fletcherizing

San Francisco art dealer Horace Fletcher became known as "The Great Masticator" after he attributed a 40-pound weight loss to chewing his food…and not swallowing it. After being declined health insurance due to his size, he turned to chewing each morsel of food 32 times (one for each tooth) and spitting out the remains. By his logic, his body would absorb the nutrients it needed without packing on the pounds. The diet’s motto was “Nature will castigate those who don’t masticate.

1925: The Cigarette Diet

It’s hard to imagine that smoking cigarettes could’ve ever been seen as promoting good health, but in the age before Surgeon General warnings, they did just that. Several cigarette companies boasted the appetite-suppressing qualities of their products. One ad for Lucky Strikes eloquently urged smokers to "Light a Lucky and you’ll never miss sweets that make you fat.

Really bizarre!! But wait til you read about the "Tapeworm Diet"...

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Cheers,

Stay Healthy

Thanks for sharing Stay Healthy. The tapeworm diet was already posted and it was not only bizarre, it's also dangerous and potentially deadly.

1727: Avoiding Swamps

In 1727, Thomas Short wrote a treatise called "The Causes and Effects of Corpulence," in which he observed that heavier people tended to live near swamps. His recommendation? Overweight people should pick up and move to more arid climates to avoid the apparent ill effects of swamp life. It may not be a proven weight-loss plan, but it seems like good real estate advice.

This one is bizarre indeed. It's dated 1727? I can't believe weight is even an issue at that time. The last sentence is hilarious. Good real estate advice huh?

I love this post! I enjoyed reading it. I agree with mikaela though. No diet is more bizarre than the tapeworm diet. Most of my friends are smokers but they said smoking never supressed their appetite. It helped them relax though.

For fletcherizing, Horace Fletcher chew the food and spit them after. I think some people are even doing this now. It may even be one of the signs of an eating disorder.

So anorexia started in the 1800s huh? I checked the link and other bizarre diets include The Inuit Meat-and-Fat Diet, Slimming Soap, The Sleeping Beauty Diet, The Calories Don't Count Diet, The Prolinn Diet or The Last Chance Diet, The Vision Diet, Ear Stapling and The Cotton Ball Diet. The tapeworm diet and breatharian diet are there too.

The Cotton Ball Diet? That's weird? Don't tell me they eat cotton balls in this diet? The Vision Diet? I can't even imagine what this diet is about. Very intesting post Stay Healthy!

You are right. In The Cotton Ball Diet, dieters eat cotton balls. For The Vision Diet, they say colors stimulate appetite so they created blue-tinted lenses to make food look unappetizing.

Cotton balls? Are they even edible? The vision diet sounds a little crazy to me. Slimming soaps are still being manufactured and sold today. I doubt if it works though.

Hi Ladies,

I had the same reaction when I was reading this article. Some are simply hilarious and some are just really gross. When I was reading the tapeworm diet I was like "ew! ew! ew!". And yes indeed, weight was a source of man's desperation even long before we were born.

Cheers!