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A (Brief) History of Diets

If you think diets are a relatively new phenomenon think again. Here’s a short history of some of the most popular (and crazy) diets from the last 200 years or so. Clearly, the more diets we have to follow, the fatter we become. Diets just don’t work for long-term weight loss. Don’t just lose fat fast; lose fat forever . . . and don’t diet!

  • 1820 - Vinegar and Water Diet
  • 1825 - Low Carbohydrate Diet (first appeared in The Physiology of Taste by Jean Brillat-Savarin)
  • 1830 - Graham’s Diet (only legacy: invented Graham Crackers)
  • 1863 - Banting’s Low Carbohydrate Diet (“Banting” becomes a popular term for dieting)
  • 1903 - Horace Fletcher promotes “Fletcherizing” (chewing your food 32 times)
  • 1917 - Calorie Counting (introduced by Lulu Hunt Peters in her book Diet and Health with Key to the Calories)v
  • 1925 - Cigarette Diet (“reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet”)
  • 1928 - Inuit Meat-and-Fat Diet (Caribou, raw fish and whale blubber)
  • 1930 - Hay Diet (carbohydrate and proteins not allowed at the same meal) and Dr Stoll’s Diet Aid (first of the liquid diet drinks)
  • 1934 - Bananas and Skim Milk Diet (backed by the United Fruit Company)
  • 1950 - Cabbage Soup Diet (flatulence is listed as a main side effect)
  • 1960 - Zen Macrobiotic Diet (created by Japanese philosopher George Ohsawa)
  • 1961 - Calories Don’t Count Diet (FDA filed charges regarding diet’s claims)
  • 1961 - Drinking Man’s Diet (Harvard School of Public Health declared diet unhealthful)
  • 1976 - Sleeping Beauty Diet (individual heavily sedated for several days) and Liquid Protein Diet (liquid protein drinks were low in vitamins and minerals)
  • 1981 - Beverly Hills Diet (only fruit for first 10 days but in unlimited amounts)
  • 1985 - Fit for life (avoid combining protein and carbohydrate foods) and Caveman Diet (food from the Paleolithic era)
  • 1986 - Rotation Diet (rotating number of calories taken in from week to week)
  • 1987 - Scarsdale Diet (low-carbohydrate, low-calorie diet plan)
  • 1990 - Cabbage Soup Diet (diet from 1950s resurfaces on the web)
  • 1994 - High Protein, Low Carb Diet (Dr Atkins’ version)
  • 1995 - Sugar Busters - Cut Sugar to Trim Fat (eliminates refined carbohydrates)
  • 1996 - Eat Right for Your Type (diet based on blood type)
  • 1999 - Juice, Fasting and Detoxification (perennial dieting favourites reappear in combination)
  • 2000 - Raw Foods Diet (focuses on uncooked, unprocessed organic foods)
  • 2001 - High Protein, Low Carb Diet (1994 diet updated)
  • 2004 - Coconut Diet (fats replaced with coconut oil)
  • 2005 - Cheater’s Diet (cheating on the weekend is required)
  • 2006 - Maple Syrup Diet (features a special syrup-lemon drink)
  • and the dieting merry-go-round continues . . .