Fad Diets throughout History Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alcohol

Even in 1087, England's royalty was conscious about their appearance. William the Conqueror was no different, and had packed on the pounds in his later years. Apparently, he was having trouble riding a horse without injuring the poor beast, and the final straw occurred when France's King Phillip told him that he looked pregnant. William believed if he gave up food in favor of drinking nothing but alcohol he would eventually wake up one day and be thin. This story might be apocryphal. What we do know is that William, who was still significantly overweight, died after falling from his horse.

History does not mention that he was tipsy at the time. Apparently, he was so large the clergy could barely fit his body into the stone sarcophagus.

Answer: Move to a desert-dry climate.

Thomas Short's theory was published in "A Discourse Concerning the Causes and Effects of Corpulency."
There is no word on how well this theory was received, or if anyone actually took his advice.

Answer: Animal products and spices lead to impure thoughts of sex.

Graham believed that consuming animal byproducts caused a person to become lustful, which then in turn could cause diseases like epilepsy and tuberculosis. He also believed ketchup and mustard could cause insanity.

A key part of his diet included eating the whole-grain cracker he invented, which became known as the "Graham cracker."

The dietary reform that Graham had hoped for was only briefly successful with a small puritanical faction of the American public. The diet was, however, adopted by the administration of Oberlin College and imposed on its students for a couple of years. Off campus eating by students became very popular during this time.

Nabisco reworked Graham's original recipe making their version of the cracker sweet and delicious as opposed to Graham's, which has been tasteless and bland.

Answer: The Great Masticator

Horace Fletcher was a San Francisco art dealer who believed that chewing food until it was completely liquefied, and then spitting out any solid bits was the gateway to thinness.

Amazingly enough, this idea caught on in turn of the century America, and the technique became known as "Fletcherizing." Fans included novelist Henry James, John D. Rockefeller and cereal baron John Harvey Kellogg. Kellogg was so much the fan of Horace Fletcher's work, he wrote a song called "Chew, Chew."

Answer: Tapeworms

Yes, it is horrifying, but true. The weight loss industry did market pills containing "sanitized tapeworms" to help women lose weight and stay thin.
One hopes that perhaps the pills didn't actually contain tapeworms, but were sugar pills. Either way, tapeworm usage for weight loss was not a widespread phenomenon.

There is, of course, the famous legend that 1950's opera star Maria Callas used tapeworms to lose weight. While there is evidence that she did at one time lose 60 pounds, and she did at one time have a tape worm, there is no clear evidence that the two episodes were related.

Answer: The Inuit Diet

Vilhjalmur Stefansson was a Canadian Arctic explorer and ethnologist. While living among the Inuit peoples of Arctic Circle he observed that for the most part, they only ate caribou, raw fish and whale blubber. And yet they seemed to be a perfectly healthy and hardy people. While they were with the Inuit, Stefansson and his other European companions changed their diet to match that of the natives and remained in excellent health.

Fascinated with his observations, Stefansson returned home and put himself on this diet for a year, under the supervision of doctors at New York's Bellevue Hospital.

This meat and protein diet concept would prove to be highly influential on diet gurus later on in the century.

Answer: Calories Don't Count

Dr. Herman Taller was a Romanian born Obstetrician whose book became a smash success, selling more than 2 million copies. Unfortunately for him, however, his diet did not work and his safflower pills were worthless. He was eventually found guilty of mail fraud and conspiracy in 1967. He was fined and put on probation.

Answer: 1,000 calories

The Scarsdale diet is another low fat/ low carbohydrate diet, but differs from others because of its extremely low caloric allowance, and very structured 14 day menu plans.
This diet received a resurgence in popularity when its founder was murdered in 1980 by his scorned lover Jean Harris. The lurid details of their life together made for a sensational trial.

Answer: Unsweetened Fruit Juice (on the days when fruit is allowed)

The Cabbage Soup diet is an old stand-by for modern day fad dieters. It is set up in 7 day intervals, every day eating the cabbage soup, along with some other add on, like fruit, vegetables or a particular protein.

The weight comes off fast at first, but it is very difficult to stick to for more than a few weeks. Critics fret over its nutritional inadequateness.

Answer: The Master Cleanse

Also known as the Lemonade Diet, The Master Cleanse was invented by Stanley Burroughs and claims to cleanse your body of heavy metals, Candida and toxins. The Cleanse, if done twice a month, will supposedly increase the metabolism, burn fat and result in quick weight loss.
Its popularity usually waxes and wanes depending on which Hollywood Celebrities are on it.