10 PART I: INTRODUCTION
that he had been treating symptoms, not the root cause. Once he xed his
diet, his other problems went away. He could walk down the stairs again.
We’ve known that obesity is bad for a very long time. In the fourth century
BCE, Hippocrates, called the father of medicine by Western scholars,
wrote, “Corpulence is not only a disease itself, but the harbinger of others.”
And the Bible is lled with warnings about overconsumption. Proverbs
23:20–21 says, “Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of esh:
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness
shall clothe a man with rags.”
However, for thousands of years, obesity was usually a disease affecting
only the most afuent. Food—especially the delicious, calorie-dense
stuff—was simply too expensive for the average person to obtain. Few
could afford to be fat, and thus being so was often considered a way to
display one’s prosperity.
Then a great technological shift happened, much like the one that we
faced in the second half of the twentieth century. New technology and new
techniques increased our food supply. The steam engine, crop rotation, and
the iron plow revolutionized agriculture in Europe between the 17
th
and
19
th
centuries, alongside a variety of sociopolitical changes, including the
rise of the merchant class. The food supply became more abundant, and
access to it improved. Obesity was no longer just for a fortunate few.
It was in this context that Banting decided to share his results with the
world. In 1863, he published Europe’s rst modern diet book, Letter on
Corpulence, and sold an astounding 63,000 copies for a shilling each. It
was the rst diet craze of the West (called, appropriately, banting), and
thousands were inspired to lose weight with his diet. The book also had
global reach. It was translated into multiple languages and according to
Banting, achieved good sales in France, Germany, and the United States.
The medical community treated it as old news. Their critique wasn’t an
assault on the idea, but they questioned why Banting’s letter was so popular
in the rst place. Similar works had been published prior to his, but they
were written by physicians, for physicians. Letter on Corpulence was
written by a suffering person, for suffering people. His message resonated.
People were ready to hear it. And Banting provided it in a form they could
understand.
In the fourth edition of his letter, Banting spends upwards of seven pages
defending himself against a medical fraternity that disputed his story,
claiming that he must not have sought the attention of particularly good
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