William Banting

So let me start with a story.

This is William Banting.

He was a London undertaker.

And he lived in the 1796 to 1878.

So if you look back at the history of obesity medicine, what you can see is that people didn't really ever talk about calories.

The first sort of diet book was actually written by William Banting in 1863.

It was called Letter on Corpulence.

And what his strategy was, was to avoid all, basically, carbohydrates.

Paleo encourages belief in keto, gluten-free, and clean.

The earliest fad diet to reach celebrity status was the Banting diet of the Victorian period.

It was a carbohydrate-reduced diet touted by William Banting, a retired undertaker.

He ate four meat and veg da- meals a day with charred bread and port.

He self-published a testimonial-filled book, and Banting became the first smash fad diet.

Doing Banting was a way of telling people that you were reducing.

It's been recycled endlessly.

Atkins, paleo, and keto all pay direct homage to his original concept.