The Strange, Unusual, and Downright Crazy Diet Trends of the 20th Century
From the Cabbage Soup Diet to the Sleeping Beauty Diet, throughout the 20th century, people have tried all sorts of unusual diets in an effort to get fit. While many of these diets have been debunked as ineffective or downright dangerous, some have remained popular for several decades. Let’s take a look at some of the craziest diet trends that have been adopted over the last 100 years.
The Cabbage Soup Diet
The Cabbage Soup Diet is a fad diet that has been around since the 1950s. This diet consists primarily of eating cabbage soup for seven days with different restrictions depending on which day it is. The theory behind this diet is that because it is so low in calories, it will help you lose weight quickly. However, while this may be true in the short term, it can also lead to serious health complications due to its lack of essential nutrients. Additionally, most people tend to gain back any lost weight once they go off the diet.
The Sleeping Beauty Diet
Believe it or not, there was once a time when people thought they could lose weight by simply sleeping! This strange idea was popularized by none other than Elvis Presley himself in 1975 when he used it as an attempt to shed some extra pounds for his upcoming movie roles. As insane as it sounds, there are some people who still subscribe to this idea today – though we wouldn’t recommend trying it!
The Grapefruit Diet
This one dates all the way back to 1933 and has seen several revivals over the decades since then. It involves eating half a grapefruit before every meal because proponents believe that its high acidity helps burn fat faster than other fruits do. Unfortunately for them though, scientific studies have found no evidence that grapefruit has any effect on weight loss whatsoever – so save yourself some money and skip buying all those grapefruits!
Throughout history, humans have come up with some pretty wild ideas when it comes to trying to lose weight fast. Many of these diets are unsafe or just plain ridiculous – but they continue to be circulated and even celebrated by certain crowds none-the-less. While we certainly don’t advise anyone try any of these crazy diet trends from history – like Elvis Presley’s Sleeping Beauty – they do make for an interesting read!
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