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CHAPTER 1

Lessons from Obesity

“What we know about diets hasn’t changed. It still makes sense to

eat lots of fruits and vegetables, balance calories from other foods,

and keep calories under control. That, however, does not make

front-page news.”

—Marion Nestle, Food Activist

William Banting learned the hard way that you are what you eat, and as a

result, he invented what we know today as the modern diet.

An undertaker from Great Britain, Banting found himself suffering from

“failing sight and hearing, an umbilical rupture requiring a truss, and

bandages for weak knees and ankles.” He reported not being able to walk

down stairs without help, or to touch his toes. He went to see many doctors

for his various conditions but claimed that, “not one of them pointed out

the real cause of my sufferings, nor proposed any effectual remedy.” The

real cause of Banting's suffering wasn't that he couldn't walk down stairs,

it was that he was obese.

After he started losing his hearing, he nally sought specialized medical

attention and found himself in the care of “the celebrated aurist” Dr.

William Harvey. The physician put him on a diet inspired by a lecture he’d

heard about treating diabetes: ve to six ounces of meat or sh three times

a day, accompanied by stale toast with cooked fruit. Beer, potatoes, milk,

and sweets were not allowed. Alcohol was, though: four to ve glasses of

wine a day, a glass of brandy in the evening, and sometimes even a wake-up

cocktail in the morning were called for.

Banting reported losing 13 inches off his waist and 50 pounds of weight

over the course of a couple of years. It was only then that Banting realized

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