Diet & Fitness 

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The thin line

Follow us on a chronological tour of diets through the ages

So, you want to lose weight? These days you can take your pick from the handful of extreme diets advertised everyday. From the well-publicised and controversial Atkins diet (which advocates few carbs and high protein) to Sugar Busters (where sugar is the enemy), and the lesser-known chewing gum diet (this one is self-explanatory), we are constantly bombarded with new and increasingly sparse eating regimes. But, is the yearning to be lean a totally modern scourge? Apparently not. From Ancient Greece to the second millennium, people have always found imaginative ways to abuse their relationship with food.

• 500 B.C: Fruit and vegetable diet
  The Ancient Greek Mathematician Pythagoras and his followers practised one of the first recorded diets, known as vegetarianism. Although Ancient Greeks did have a penchant for the athletic look, Pythagoras’ abstinence from the heartier foods in life had little to do with becoming a perfect size ten. Vegetarianism was, in fact, the only way to ensure you were not eating your grandmother or another relative, whose soul could have transmigrated to your neighbour’s pig (remember, reincarnation was a popular belief in the Ancient world). The great mathematician was so passionate about his diet that he is said to have met his death defending a bean field.
• 45 B.C: Vomitorium vulgaris
  Romans in the time of Caesar had special rooms in which to expel their feasts, but this was for the sake of gluttony rather than wanting to be thin. They would purge between courses to make room for every dish on offer.
• 1 AD-2000 AD: The Jesus Diet
  One of the oldest diets in history – if you believe the Jesus diet website (www.jesusdiet.com). The proponents of this eating regime claim that almost all diseases and pains can be healed by prayer and fasting. You are only allowed to eat raw food (excluding meat) and, even then, dine only twice a day at the most. These two meals have to be restricted to one or two pounds (there seems to be no biblical justification for this restriction, however). To top it off, fasting completely for at least one day a week is recommended. The rationale being that if you have the energy to feel anything at all (including pain) after eating like this, then you must truly be touched by the Lord.
• The Middle Ages: Bulimia or ox-hunger
  Some say bulimia, curiously called ox-hunger long ago, first began in the Middle Ages. People at celebrations gorged on food and then induced purging through vomiting. Like the Romans, this early form of bulimia was not motivated by a desire to be slim for fashion’s sake. Instead, eating a lot is believed to have been a sign of wealth and status.

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