The craziest weight loss trends over the years.
In pursuit of a perfect waist and thin hips, we are literally ready for anything, even to sit on terrible diets that significantly undermine health and lead to gastritis. Fancy diets have been around at all times, especially a couple of centuries ago, and only recently have they become more reasonable, because they are compiled by real specialists. Let’s find out which diet was at its peak in the year you were born.
2000
18 years ago there was a popular diet that everyone called “Subway”. Indiana University student Jared Fogle weighed 193 kilograms, and this weight spoiled his health and made life difficult. Then he decided to change his lifestyle and came up with a diet: he walked into Subway, ordered an 18-centimeter turkey sandwich for lunch and a vegetable sandwich for dinner. After a year of such a nutritional system, he lost 111 kilograms. After the management of fast food restaurants found out about this, Jared was invited to appear in commercials and tell his story.
No wonder that then everyone got hooked on sandwiches, which do not contain mayonnaise and butter, and tried to lose weight.
1996 – 2000
Is it possible to determine by blood group which foods can be eaten and which not? There is no scientific evidence for this, but this did not stop naturopathic physician Peter D’Adamo from releasing the book 4 Blood Types – 4 Lifestyles. He tried to prove that people with different blood groups are directly related to the evolutionary process, so they should eat exactly like their ancestors (I blood group is the most ancient, people with this blood group are “hunters”; II group – “farmers” and vegetarians; III – “nomads”; IV – chameleons). In the late 90s, the book was purchased by more than 7 million people around the world.
1995
Biochemist Barry Sears in 1995 published the book “Health Zone”, which talked about the zone diet. Its essence lies in dividing proteins into blocks, as well as observing their ratios at each meal: 30 percent – proteins, 30 percent – saturated fat, 40 percent – simple carbohydrates. Even Madonna, Renee Zellweger, and Demi Moore were thrilled with this diet.
1994
This year, Dean Ornish’s book “Eat More and Lose Weight” was published in America. In it, the nutritionist said that you should forget about counting calories and start counting the amount of fat you eat. If fat is less than 10 percent per day, then the process of losing weight is started. Optimal Foods to Eat: Whole, unprocessed foods such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, legumes, and grains.
1993
It seems that this year absolutely everyone was obsessed with the “miracle pills” Phen375. They helped to lose weight very quickly, but were not at all safe. In 1997, these pills were banned due to the fact that they caused heart valve disease.
1992
Dr. Atkins published Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution, which dealt with a low-carb diet. In his opinion, it was this diet that provided an improvement in metabolism – more calories are spent on burning fat, respectively, a person loses weight faster.
1991
This year there has been a real boom in low-fat foods. This nutritional system assumed the use of only low-fat foods – lean meat, vegetables, eggs, low-fat cottage cheese and yoghurts. Even MCDonald’s has a beef burger that’s 91 percent fat-free.
1989 − 1990
In one of her shows in 1989, Oprah Winfrey said that she lost weight thanks to a liquid diet. After her miraculous transformation, all the girls began to adhere to this particular nutritional system. It consists in the fact that you need to eat only liquid food, for example: a decoction of oatmeal, juice from vegetables, broth from lean meat. However, you can observe it for no more than a week, since then the stomach begins to be lazy.
1988
Elizabeth Taylor publishes a self-help book called Elizabeth Takes Off, and naturally all women do their best to live like her. The secret of her perfect figure? Eat raw vegetables, but sometimes let yourself relax and eat what you’ve been dreaming of, like fried chicken. For motivation, she even hung the scariest photo of herself on her refrigerator – it was a reminder of what she would be like if she quit the diet.
1986 − 1987
A new book called Fit for Life argues that perhaps weight loss is not what you eat, but when you eat. Authors Harvey and Marilyn Diamond put forward the theory of food compatibility: if certain foods are eaten incorrectly, then they become unhealthy, and you get fat, that is, you gain weight from eating protein and starchy foods. Diamonds advise eating only one “concentrated” product at a time.
1985
The current popularity of the paleo diet can be traced back to 1985, when S. Boyd Eaton and Melvin Conner published an article on paleo nutrition in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1985. It is this study that is considered the forerunner of today’s diet, which allows for lean meats, nuts, seeds, and some fruits and vegetables, but completely eliminates dairy, grains, and processed foods.
1984
The Australian company Jenny Craig made its way to the States and became very popular in the early 80s. Brand founder Jenny Craig has become a leader in fitness and nutritional products. Celebrities such as Valerie Bertinelli, Mariah Carey and Kirsty-Ellie have been involved in nutritional health promotion campaigns for years and she remains one of the most recognized weight loss brands.
1982 − 1983
A new diet pill called Dexatrim has been an indispensable weight loss aid for many women. It contained the decongestant phenylpropanolamine (PPA) and the amphetamine-like ephedra. The formula remained unchanged until 2000, when scientists found a link between diet pills and an increased risk of stroke (like many other diet pills).
1981
The Beverly Hills Diet was published in 1981 and immediately became a bestseller. The bottom line was that the followers of the diet could only eat fruit for the first 10 days. After 10 days, butter, bread and corn were allowed. Proteins like steak were not allowed until day 19.
1980
Ayds’ Appetite Suppressing Diet Bars were a popular weight loss product in the late 70s and early 1980s. With an unfortunate name, they quickly disappeared from the shelves after the crisis at the beginning of the decade.
1979
Although it was founded two years earlier, Slim Fast began to be taken as a dietary supplement in 1979. Mixed with milk, creamy and sweet cocktails were to replace both breakfast and lunch.
1978
The best-selling book, The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet, was published in 1978 and was incredibly popular with women. Dr. Hermann Tarnauer’s Low Carb Mediterranean Diet was popular among women until 1980.
1977
Diet “Sleeping Beauty” was on everyone’s lips, because Elvis Presley loved it. The point of the diet was that the patient slept for several days in a row (thanks to sleeping pills, of course), and since he was asleep, it means that he did not eat. Many doctors and nutritionists called it very dangerous to health: in addition to problems with sleep and the nervous system, the risk of death was very high.
1976
Diet Last Chance was published by Dr. Robert Lynn in the 1970s. Although it became popular years later (he made $ 40 million in book and product sales). However, the FDA intervened in his business after 30 dieters died. Concept: Drink something called Proline, a high-protein drink made from slaughterhouse leftovers such as cowhide and tendons.
1975
After developing heart disease at the age of 42, Nathan Pritikin pioneered a cardio-carbohydrate, low-sodium, low-fat diet. In 1975, he opened the Pritikin Longevity Center in Florida, where patients could stay for weeks while following his plan and losing weight.
1974 − 1969
The grapefruit diet has been popular over the years. The idea was to eat grapefruit with every meal. Any weight loss achieved as a result of this diet is likely due to an increase in fiber and calorie restriction, rather than any magical ingredient in the grapefruit itself.