“Banting”: From the 1800’s Until Now!

Ok, I think this will be a fun one. One of my article angels dropped off a great article that was a feature in “Spotlight” in the Rocky Mountain News at the end of March. Many of you might have seen it; it was called “Fad Diets through History,” written by Lisa Ryckman. I found myself cracking up at the fad diets that have passed through our hands from early in the 1800’s up until recently. Even my kids found it hard to believe that in 1903 there was a diet that was called “Fletcherizing” which involved chewing every bite 32 times and then spitting out the food, it says that you get “all the flavor and none of the calories.” Maybe this is what my seven year-old is doing when he rejects something healthy I’ve insisted he eats.

Anyhow, it was very interesting because as we all know the health and fitness industry has always been a multi-billion dollar industry and mostly due to the many fads and diet programs that have come and gone throughout the years. And just like her entry title says on the original article “Fad diets never die…”

What’s here today will be gone tomorrow but then it will be back again in the future. So, how many of these diets have you tried, be honest!

1820: Vinegar and Water Diet. Made popular by Lord Byron; it was believed that pouring vinegar on food made it smell and taste bad therefore, not wanting to eat it.

1825: Low Carbohydrate Diet. The first of seeing this diet a few times, the anti-bread.

1830: Graham’s Diet. The creator of the Graham Cracker thought these crackers would curb the impure thoughts and acts and the resulting blindness. I think this was good marketing on this part, with exception to the crackers causing blindness?

1863: Banting’s Low Carb Diet. “Banting” became the popular term used for dieting. At least it’s not a 4-letter word.

1903: This is where “Fletcherizing” falls into the history books.

1917: Calorie Counting. Lulu Hunt Peters introduced this with her book “Diet and Health with Key to the Calories.” Wow, what a concept!

1925: The Cigarette Diet. “Reach for a Lucky, instead of a sweet!” Unfortunately, this one caught on too well.

1928: Inuit Meat-and-Fat Diet. This diet consisted of primarily Caribou, raw fish and whale blubber. The calories you burnt getting the food outweighed the calories eaten. (I’m laughing with this one).

1930: Hay Diet. You can’t consume protein and carbs at the same meal. Also the Dr. Stoll’s Diet Aid. This is the first known liquid diet and was popular at beauty parlors and to ladies who lunch out.

1934: Banana’s and skim milk diet, funny how this diet was backed by the United Fruit Company of that year.

1950: Cabbage Soup Diet & The Grapefruit Diet. Remember these? Eating grapefruit before every meal (sounds like a hunger curbing technique) and eating only Cabbage soup with nothing else (sounds awful gassy).

1961: Calories Don’t Count Diet: This diet caused the FDA to file charges over this diet’s claims.

1964: Drinking Man’s Diet. Yes, as in alcohol. Proven unhealthy!

1976: Sleeping beauty Diet. Get this, it’s based on the idea that if you’re sufficiently doped up, you’ll forget to eat. (Sounds like a throwback to the 60’s). Liquid Protein Diet. Also became famous during this time.

The 80’s brought us; Beverly Hills Diet, only fruit in unlimited quantities for 10 days. Fit for Life Diet, which combines eating healthy and exercise! Now, isn’t that a concept? The Caveman diet, only eating foods from the paleolithic era (what?). The Rotation Diet, which required rotating the number of calories you consumed each week. The Scarsdale Diet, which was all about low calorie and low Carbs.

Then the 90’s had its own titles: Cabbage Soup came back. The Atkins Diet showed for the first time which focused on high proteins and low carbs. There was the Sugar Buster Diet, Cutting sugar to trim fat and eliminating refined carbs. Eating Right for your Blood Type. Finally, at the end of the 90’s was when the Juice, Fasting and Detoxification programs were huge.

The most recent fads include; The Raw Foods Diet, eating only uncooked and unprocessed organic food. Atkins was back again. The Coconut Diet, which replaced fats with coconut oil. The Cheater’s Diet, which allows cheating on the weekends. Lastly, The Mable Syrup Diet, featuring a special syrup-lemon drink. Ugh!

The bottom line is that you must eat less than you burn. That’s the diet that always prevails.

 

Deborah Holmes

April 8, 2008