History’s Weirdest Weight Loss Diet – When People Ate Tapeworm To Stay in Shape

Weight loss trends have always had its demand among people who are looking for ‘quick fixes’. Most of the time, these fad diets have long-term side effects on health, if not backed by a healthy lifestyle and balanced diet. Did you know people in the 1900s would go to the extent of eating a tapeworm to lose weight? This bizarre trend had dangerous health risks. What’s even worse is that this risky weight loss trend even made its way to the modern world via ‘illegal’ corners of the internet. 

We delved deeper into the journals, The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and Parasitologia, to understand how tapeworm diet emerged as a trend. 

How The Shocking Diet Trend of Tapeworm Emerged 

During the early 1900s, maintaining a slim body emerged as a trend. People started becoming increasingly obsessed with it. This led to the rise of many bizarre diet trends. The most shocking and dangerous among these trends was the intentional ingestion of tapeworms to promote rapid weight loss. 

People would willingly swallow pills that supposedly contained the eggs or small cysts of a tapeworm. These were usually sourced from beef. The underlying theory behind this diet was simple but horrifying: the swallowed tapeworm was believed to hatch, attach itself to the stomach lining, and grow by eating a portion of the dieter’s food. This meant a person could eat as much as they wanted without gaining any calories, leading to weight loss without much effort.

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The Risks of The Tapeworm Diet Trend

The reality of swallowing a live parasite was far in no way glamorous. In fact, it was much more dangerous than its advertisements promised. Tapeworms are living organisms that can grow up to 30 feet long inside a human's intestines. This can lead to severe malnutrition and discomfort. 

While this bizarre hack did help with weight loss by stealing nutrients, they also caused risky side effects such as severe stomach pain, chronic diarrhoea, and uncontrollable vomiting. In some cases, tapeworms caused dangerous blockages in the digestive tract that needed immediate and risky surgery to remove them. Moreover, the person who ate them eventually had to pass the massive tapeworm out of their body. This was often a traumatising and painful experience for the dieters.

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How Tapeworm Diet Made a Comeback

This Victorian era trend occasionally resurfaces on social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube. As per reports, people attempt to buy online ‘diet pills’ that claim to contain live worm eggs. Doctors are deeply shocked by the resurgence of this dangerous trend, especially when dieters purchase unregulated pills from the internet. 

A recent medical case reported how a woman who took these pills ended up developing a life-threatening condition known as disseminated cysticercosis. This takes place when a person accidentally ingests the eggs of the dangerous pork tapeworm, instead of the beef tapeworm cysts. The pork tapeworm eggs don't just stay in the stomach; they hatch into larvae that travel through the bloodstream. Then they invade the brain, muscles, and eyes. This horrific complication can cause intense seizures, permanent blindness, severe brain damage, and in the worst cases, death.

A Warning From Modern Medicine

Despite the massive health risks of eating a parasite, tapeworm diet pills are still occasionally sold today via illegal or unregulated online markets, suggests a report. Modern-day doctors strongly warn against this practice of intentionally infecting yourself with a tapeworm. It is neither a safe, nor an effective way to lose weight.

This practice has severe health complications, starting from extreme malnutrition to deadly brain infections. Its temporary weight loss benefits far outweigh its risks. Today, medical professionals highlight that achieving a healthy weight should only be done through balanced diets, regular exercise, and evidence-based medical treatments. Moreover, the tapeworm diet stands as a terrifying reminder of the extreme and dangerous lengths people can go to in the pursuit of losing weight.

ALSO READ- Bizarre History of Medical Cannibalism: Why Europeans Once Consumed Human Remains

Conclusion

The tapeworm diet is considered one of the most disturbing and hazardous weight loss fads in history. It is a stark reminder of the dangers and risks of extreme dieting. This bizarre hack did promise effortless weight loss, which is why people were tempted to seek out these illegal pills online in the modern day. However, one must keep in mind that this tapeworm diet has horrific medical risks, ranging from severe malnutrition to fatal brain infections. Its risks far outweigh any of its perceived benefits. Ultimately, safe and sustainable weight management comes from healthy, science-backed lifestyle habits, instead of relying on life-threatening shortcuts.