Watching what you eat, counting calories, exercising, diet programs, weight loss pills, liposuction, slimming creams and soaps all of these seem to be a normal part of the worlds present culture. Did it ever occur to you that this obsession of weight loss must somehow have had a beginning?

Civilization With Our Diets

This history of fat loss is impressive and interesting. Although, you may think that the human race has been dieting since the beginning of time, this presumption is actually wrong.

The truth is, losing fat didn't seem to be an issue before. In fact, back then, people didn't really think about their weight. This was due to some economical factors. For instance, back then only rich people were the ones who got fat. The majority of the world was actually busy striving to survive and have at least one meal a day. It was never a problem for mankind, in general.

As time passed, wealth became more evenly distributed. This was the time in which more people became members of the middle and upper class. Since a lot of people came from starvation, they tended to eat excessively when they were able to reach a more economically stable of life. This led to an increase of people that were considered to be overweight and obese.

Sin, Dieting And Vegetarianism

Ironically, the first diets came from the traditional war against sin. Since gluttony was considered to be one of the seven deadly sins, there were religious institutions that preached on eating healthy and the perils of sickness. The first known preacher of this kind of principle was Sylvester Graham. He was ordained in 1826 and by 1830 he was preaching about the benefits of having a vegetarian diet.

The First Low-Carb Diet And Diet Book

During the 1850's a physician named Doctor Harvey in England had to treat a patient named William Banting regarding obesity. Harvey advised him to cut down the sugars and starches. He said not to eat any more than the minimum amount needed daily. This came to be the very first low-carb diet.

The plan worked so well, that even William Banting was able to write a book about the so-called diet. The book was published in 1862 and was called letter on Corpulence Addressed to the Public. This book came to be the very first diet book made in history.

Chewing Food The Right Way

During the end of the 19th Century, William Gladstone, Britain's 4 times Prime Minister, had advised that food must be chewed 32 times, before it should be swallowed. The theory was based on the principle that it can lessen ones appetite, which would lead to weight loss.

This simple advice, was so influential that it led to The Great Masticator named as Horace Fletcher. He took it a step further as he advised that food should be chewed until it became liquid in the mouth. He advised that all kinds of meat must be avoided along with tea, coffee and alcohol. It was he, who spread the principle that people shouldn't eat until they felt hungry and that people should have a happy disposition during meal times.

Calories In The Making

Wilbur Atwater, a chemist, was the one to discover the calorific value of food. It was only 2 decades after his discovery, in 1918, that the concept went mainstream and left the academic world.

A doctor named Lulu Hunt Peters, from California, was the first to introduce the calorie counting diet. A scientific method of losing fat, it sold like hotcakes. People were thrilled about it.

Combinations of Food

Then came the concept that how much you eat doesn't really matter at all, what mattered is your food choices and their combinations. It was William Hay who first introduced this concept. He held on to the theory that sugars, proteins and starches must be eaten separately in order for you to avoid adding extra pounds.

More Food, More Diets And More Claims

As time passed, people were exposed to more kinds of food, especially when the introduction of different kinds of cuisine from different countries became a fad. At the same time high technology was introduced, so came along fast foods. Losing weight became more different than before, and still more kinds of diets came introduced. Most of them are based on the diets mentioned above.

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