In Victorian times, a radical weight loss solution emerged, known as the tapeworm diet. The concept behind this unusual practice was straightforward: a person would consume a tapeworm egg, which would then hatch and grow inside their intestines. As the parasite developed, it would begin to consume the food that the person ate, allowing the individual to lose weight without reducing their food intake.
Though the idea may have seemed appealing to some, the tapeworm diet came with a host of potential health risks. Tapeworms can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue, and vitamin deficiencies. In more severe cases, tapeworms can lead to complications such as organ damage or even death. As medical knowledge and understanding of the risks associated with tapeworms evolved, this practice became widely discouraged.
At least it only gets like…20 feet long!
This is a terrible way to lose weight. Even though you lose weight, you don’t actually improve your eating habits or lifestyle, which is why when you get rid of the tapeworm, you just gain it back. For the same reason, taking weight loss supplements is a short-sighted approach to losing weight
A tapeworm cannot cause weight loss by stealing calories from its host. Weight loss is caused by diarrhea and malnutrition.
It is said that this was used as an over-the-counter diet pill. The person looking to lose weight would take the pill without realizing it contained a tapeworm and start losing weight. The problem is that tapeworms are parasites, and people are not designed for “symbiotic” relationships. Initially, you would lose weight, but eventually the parasite would cause malnutrition.
Isn’t it possible to monitor the tape worm and remove it when the ideal amount of weight has been lost, or when it has gotten too big?
You can’t always tell if you’ve removed the worm. A tapeworm’s body is segmented, and every segment can grow into a new tapeworm. Even if you accidentally miss a few segments, your guest will still stay.
During the Victorian era, beef tapeworms were used to lose weight since the worms absorbed nutrients and caused inflammation in the body that required more energy. On the down side, it’s disgusting, imagine spitting out a 1m worm or having something slither out of your anus half way through sleep. There is a possibility that the worms will migrate into your brain or muscles. Researchers found that worms modulate the body’s immune system against autoimmune diseases, so getting infected by them may be back in style.