Our society goes through trends all the time. I’ve tried coffee fads and was overjoyed when high-waisted jeans came back in style. Diet trends are especially addictive because they promise to give you the ideal body without having to exercise. When you look at different diets through history, you get to see how extreme some people were willing to go for beauty standards.
1. 1820s: Apple Cider Vinegar
Lord Byron made Apple Cider Vinegar popular far before Instagram did. Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with water was all the rage. Lord Byron was so worried about becoming fat he constantly drank the concoction and ate very little. He often criticized his wife for how much she ate. He died early in life at the age of 36 but the Apple Cider Vinegar trend lives on.
2. 1920s: Cigarettes
Cigarette brands in the 1920s advertised their cigarettes as a way to lose weight and stay slender due to nicotine’s ability to reduce appetite. As someone that doesn’t smoke, I’ve never tried this trend. Nowadays, there are so many other ways to lose weight that smoking has fallen off the map as a diet trend.
3. 1930s: Grapefruit Diet
The diet involves eating grapefruit, cutting back on sugar and eating more high protein foods. Grapefruit is supposed to be eaten before or with every single meal for 10-12 days. The diet claims to help people lose up to 10lbs. I highly doubt the diet is that effective. Most importantly, is it even good for you?
4. 1950s: Tapeworm Diet
The Tapeworm Diet is by far the most concerning diet trend. It involves taking a pill with tapeworm eggs in it and letting a tapeworm grow inside of you. The main idea is that you can eat whatever you want and the tapeworm will eat it instead. This diet is extremely dangerous and can lead to complications. I would much rather go to the gym than swallow a giant tapeworm on purpose.
5. 1970s: Atkin’s Diet
This is one of the more tame and reasonable diets. It involves a low-carb diet which steadies sugar-levels and decrease fat storage and hunger cravings. Dr. Atkin, a cardiologist, recommended his patients eat less sugar and carbs and they showed dramatic weight loss that they were able to keep off.
6. 1980s: Paleo Diet
The Paleo Diet involves eating food that was presumed to be available to early humans in the paleolithic era. The basic rule is if a caveman didn’t eat it, neither can you. Fish, meat, leafy greens and fruits are all fine. Pasta and cereal will have to go!
Some current food trends include juice cleanses, fasting and even tea detoxes. I love trying something new, but I’m going to pass on a lot of these historic diets. Although there are definitely days I wished I was a little slimmer, I won’t be growing tapeworms or smoking cigarettes. Health isn’t determined by your weight, it comes from your level of activity and the nutrients you ingest.