William Banting

William Banting, after his weight loss

William Banting (* 1797 ; † March 16, 1878 in London ) was an English undertaker who recorded and published the first commercial diet that his doctor had prescribed for him to lose weight. He is known as "the father of the low-carb diet".

The publication entitled “Open Letter on Obesity, addressed to the whole public” , which appeared in 1863, was translated into several languages ​​and triggered a diet wave in Europe at the end of the 19th century. Banting was then used in English as a synonym for dieting; in Swedish it became the official term bantning . He was a distant relative of Sir Frederick Grant Banting , the Nobel Prize winner and co-discoverer of insulin .

Life

William Banting was born in London in 1797 and belonged to the upper middle class. Banting learned to be a carpenter and used his knowledge to make coffins. He had a funeral home at 27 St. James Street that he inherited from his father, Thomas Banting. His family had obtained royal permission to bury members of the royal family. This permit was retained until 1928.

“I can now confidently say that quantity of diet may be safely left to the natural appetite; and that it is the quality only, which is essential to abate and cure corpulence. " "I can now say with a clear conscience that the size of the food is best left to the natural appetite, and that it is only the nature of the same that one has to keep in mind when preventing and curing obesity." - William Banting : Open letter on obesity addressed to the whole public

In 1862, Banting, who at the time weighed almost 92 kilograms, began a special low-carbohydrate diet compiled by the London doctor William Harvey. He allegedly lost 23 kg within a year. The diet consisted mainly of meat.

• Breakfast consisted of four to five ounces of beef , mutton , liver, roasted fish, bacon, or cold cuts other than pork, a large cup of unsweetened tea without milk, and a small biscuit or slice of dried toast .
• At lunchtime there was five to six ounces of fish except salmon , meat except pork, vegetables except potatoes , an ounce of dried toast , the fruit of a dessert , poultry or venison , and two or three glasses of claret , sherry or Madeira wine - champagne , port or beer were forbidden foods.
• "Five o'clock tea" consisted of two or three ounces of fruit, one or two rusks, and a cup of unsweetened tea without milk.
• In the evening there was three to four ounces of meat or fish and a glass or two of red wine .
• Before going to sleep, if necessary, he drank a tumbler of grog ( gin , whiskey or brandy , without sugar) or one or two glasses of red wine or sherry .

Inspired by the results of the change in diet, Banting wrote his experiences with the diet in a small book, which he published under the title Open Letter on Obesity, addressed to the entire audience . It became an instant bestseller , sold out quickly, was reprinted, and sold over 63,000 copies. It had reached its sixth edition within two years. The term "bantingism" and the verb "to bant" were adopted in the English language as synonyms for the words "diet" and "diet". Since Banting and Harvey were not out for publicity, Banting refused to call his doctor for the first four editions of the book.

Although William Banting wrote in subsequent editions that he was glad of the weight loss readers, he was uncomfortable with the diet's commercial success. Since he considered it unethical to make money with the suffering of others, he donated all profits to charity and presented a detailed account in the last edition.

At the end of the 19th century, the diet was also popular in Germany under the name "Banting cure". In Meyer's Konversationslexikon it was described as a "new method for curing excessive obesity and obesity ".

Reception and criticism

Contemporary reception

Although the audience enthusiastically welcomed Banting's book, the diet has been very controversial in medical circles. The editor of The Lancet opposed the Banting Diet, saying it was only repeating known information in medical circles. The main source of their anger was that William Banting was not a doctor, and he received a warning in the medical journal The Lancet : "Everyone of his kind should not meddle in the medical literature, but rather mind his own business."

Some newspapers even briefly reported that William Banting died after the diet. Banting, who remained alive and well until the age of 81, contradicted these newspaper reports. William Banting photographed himself in his old, baggy clothes to convince the critics that there were no more photographs of him from before the diet, which made it difficult to convince them of the effects of the diet. The press of the era roused William Banting, with cartoons and satirical songs like Mr. Double Stout .

20th century

• Some authors believe that the stigma of being overweight did not begin until the 20th century, and that Banting's book contributed to this development. Banting viewed fat as something alien and parasitic.
• In the view of others, such as Hamilton and Greenway, the work of William Banting is considered an exceptional historical document.

Web links

• Open letter about obesity addressed to the whole public . In: Julius Vogel: Obesity, its causes, contraception and cure through simple dietary means: using the experiences of William Banting (PDF), Ludwig Denicke, Leipzig,.
• Letter on corpulence, addressed to the public (PDF; 2.8 MB), reprint of the Banting diet from the 3rd edition.
• The Diets That Time Forgot , Channel 4 series about diets first and William Banting
• The grave of William Banting , in Brompton Cemetery.

Remarks

1. ↑ The original title in English was LETTER ON CORPULENCE, Addressed to the Public .

Individual evidence

1. ^ D. Haslam: Obesity: a medical history . In: Obesity Reviews . 8, No. s1, 2007, pp. 31-36. doi : 10.1111 / j.1467-789X.2007.00314.x .
2. ^ ^{A b} Sander L. Gilman: Diets and Dieting: A Cultural Encyclopedia . Routledge, 2008, ISBN 978-0-415-97420-2 , p. 15.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Julius Vogel: Obesity, its causes, contraception and healing through simple dietary means: using the experiences of William Banting (PDF), Ludwig Denicke, Leipzig,.
4. ^ ^{A b c} Joyce L. Huff: A “Horror of Corpulence” . In: Bodies out of bounds . University of California Press, 2001, ISBN 0-520-22585-6 , p. 40.
5. ↑ ^{a b c} The first diets in history? - The diets that time forgot . Channel 4. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
6. ^ The Atkins economy - How to lose weight and make money with low carbohydrate diets . In: The Economist , August 14, 2003. Retrieved February 26, 2011. 
7. ^ ^{A b c} Charlotte Edwardes, Duncan Abey: Mr Banting's Old Diet Revolution . In: The Telegraph , September 14, 2003. Retrieved February 26, 2011. 
8. ^ ^{A b} William Banting: Letter on Corpulence . Harrison, 1869. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Retrieved August 17, 2011).  
9. ^ ^{A b c} William C. Roberts: Facts and ideas from anywhere . In: Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings . 13, No. 3, 2000, p. 304. PMC 1317063 (free full text).
10. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Legacy of a fat man . In: The Guardian , September 20, 2003. Retrieved February 26, 2011. 
11. ↑ Christian Pfister, Kaspar Staub: The old dispute about the "correct" diet (PDF) In: Tabula 03/2006 . sge-ssen.ch. Pp. 8-9. August 1, 2006. Retrieved on March 4, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ^ ^{A b c} Elizabeth Lane Furdell: Fatal Thirst: Diabetes in Britain until Insulin . Brill, 2009, ISBN 978-90-04-17250-0 , p. 131.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
13. ↑ Banting Cure. In: Meyers Konversationslexikon. circa 1890.
14. ^ 0. Conor Ward: Down's 1864 report case of Prader-Willi syndrome: a follow-up report . In: Journal of the Royal Medical Society of Medicine . 90, 1997, p. 696. PMC 1296748 (free full text).
15. ↑ Christopher Gillberg, Gregory O'Brien: Developmental disability and behavior . Cambridge University Press, 2000, ISBN 1-898683-18-2 , p. 110.
16. ^ Lillian E. Craton: The Victorian Freak Show: The Significance of Disability and Physical Differences in 19th Century Fiction . Cambria Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-60497-653-3 , p. 110.
17. ↑ M. Hamilton, F. Greenway: Evaluating commercial weight loss programs: an evolution in outcomes research . In: Obesity Reviews . 5, No. 4, 2004, pp. 217-232. PMID 15458396 .