The History of Diets

The incredible obsession with dieting and weight-loss has been around for hundreds of years.  And what's most amazing is that none of them work.  The results are false and short-lived.  Yet, we continue to follow the wrong paths.  The following is a recap of some of the more interesting and famous diets.

1700's            Dieting to reduce body weight emerges as a western concept.  Trendy Madame de Pompadour, at 5'1" and 111 lbs., declares herself "skeletally thin."  The corset is invented.

1828               French food aesthete Brillat-Savarin suggests moderation, not for health reasons, but as a sign of refinement.  Diets are de rigueur.  Godey's Lady Book promotes fashionably thin models.

1864               William Banting drops 46 pounds eating mutton, eggs and vegetables, as described in his best-selling Letter on Corpulence.

1917               Diet and Health is first published by Lulu Hunt Peters, a chronically overweight person.  Peters teaches readers about "calories," a term previously used only in physics, and advises a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet.

1930s             Movie stars popularize the Hollywood 18-Day Diet.  It consists of grapefruit, melba toast, green vegetables and boiled eggs.

1933               Mayo Clinic's scientific diet, the Mayo Food Nomogram, is mistaken for a complicated word game and fades into obscurity.

1939              Miracle diet pills, a.k.a. amphetamines, generate sales of $30 million annually before the FDA steps in.  Bathing-suit ad slogan:  "Suit by Jantzen.  Body by Dexaspan."

1943               Metropolitan Life publishes Ideal Weight Table for women.

1947               Psychoanalyst Hilde Bruch says the glandular theory of obesity is not true.  "The blubbery patient belongs not in the gym, but in the psychiatrist's office."

1951-1952     The New York Times claims overweight is our number-one health problem.  Reader's Digest admonishes wives to "Stop Killing Your Husband."

1959               The New York Times now reports that Americans suffer "a dieting neurosis."  Gallup Poll finds 72 percent of dieters are women.  Metracal, the first liquid diet proclaims: "Not one of the top 50 U.S. corporations has a fat president."  Girdle sales reach record highs.

1960               Stillman Diet, requiring eight glasses of water and filet mignon every day, is introduced.  Overeaters Anonymous, inspired by AA is founded.

1961               A Queens, New York, housewife, Jean Nidetch, starts dieting discussion group.  Seventeen years later, sells her Weight Watchers empire for $100 million.

1963               Coca-Cola introduces TAB.  However, men won't drink from a pink can.

1966               Atkins Diet published in Harper's Bazaar.  Eggs, bacon even pork rinds allowed; broccoli is restricted.

1967               Twiggy, 5'7" and 91 lbs., appears on cover of Vogue four times.

1970               Seventy percent of American families using low-cal products;  Ten billion amphetamines manufactured annually.

1977               Liquid protein diets banned after three deaths.

1979               The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet becomes a best-seller.  Success is short-lived for creator, Dr. Herman Tarnower.

1982               John Hopkins University researchers calculate that Americans have swallowed more than 29,068 "theories, treatments and outright schemes to lose weight."  NFL endorses Diet Coke for men.

1990               Oprah Winfrey loses 67 pounds on Optifast;  One year later, Oprah gains back 67 pounds and declares, "No more diets!"

1992               The National Institutes of Health champions moderation and daily exercise as the best diet.  Extreme obesity is declared a disease.

1995               Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everret Koop initiates “Shape-Up America.”

2000               American Home Products continues to defend against more than 2,000 class action suits brought against the company by parties claiming damaged from the company’s fen-phen-based products. 

2001               Atkins returns along with South Beach as they and other low-carb diets become the new trend in weight-loss.  Body Solutions, another quick-fix diet pill, files bankruptcy

2002              Ephedra-based products are banned in California and other states as research points to overuse and abuse causing serious injury and or death.  Obesity reaches highest levels in U.S. history.

2003              Cortislim is charged by the FTC for “claiming, falsely and without substantiation, that their products can cause weight loss and reduce the risk of, or prevent, serious health conditions.”

2004              Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig continue to dominate the commercial weight-loss industry with new claims and new games.  The USDA introduces the new MyPyramid.  It creates even more debate among food experts and fitness professionals.  Atkins Nutritionals files Chapter 11.  TrimSpa generates more than $141 million in sales of weight-loss pills. 

2005              Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig continue to dominate the commercial weight-loss industry with new claims and new games.  The USDA introduces the new MyPyramid.  It creates even more debate among food experts and fitness professionals.  Atkins Nutritionals files Chapter 11.

2006              Hoodia, a plant-based appetite suppressant, begins heavy marketing to U.S. markets without much success.  Jenny Craig introduces new weight-loss programs starring celebrities, including Kirstie Ally, Vallerie Bertinelli and Queen Latifah.

2007              TrimSpa agrees to pay $1.5 million in January to settle allegations of false and misleading advertising brought by the Federal Trade Commission.  In February, TrimSpa spokes model Ana Nicole Smith is found dead in her apartment from a drug overdose.

2008              NutriSystem introduces new Advanced Program with pre-packaged foods delivered to consumers’ doors.  Endorsees include Dan Marino, Don Shula and other sports celebrities.