William Banting

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

The paper entitled " Open Letter on corpulence, addressed to the whole audience," [note 1] which appeared in 1863, was translated into several languages ​​and triggered the end of the 19th century a diet wave in Europe. Banting was then used in English as a synonym for the implementation of a diet; in Swedish from the official term was bantning. He was a distant relative of Sir Frederick Grant Banting, Nobel laureate and co-discoverer of insulin.

Life

William Banting was born in London in 1797 and belonged to the upper middle class. Banting learned carpenter, and used his knowledge for the manufacture of coffins. He had a funeral at St. James Street 27, which he had inherited from his father Thomas Banting. His family had received the royal permission to bury members of the royal family. This permission was maintained until 1928.

"I can now confidently say did quantity of diet 'may be safely left to the natural appetite; and did it is the quality only, Which is essential to abate and cure corpulence. "

"I can now say with a clear conscience that the M close the food is best left to the natural appetite, and that it's just the texture is the same, which you have to keep in mind in the prevention and cure of obesity. "

1862 began Banting, who weighed almost 92 kg at this time, with a special low-carb diet, compiled by the London physician William Harvey. He took in a year supposedly from 23 kg. The diet consisted mainly of meat.

• The breakfast consisted of four to five ounces of beef, mutton, liver, roasted fish, bacon or cold meat except pork, a large cup of unsweetened tea without milk and a small biscuit or a dried slice of toast.
• At noon there was five to six ounces of fish except salmon, meat except pork, vegetables except potatoes, one ounce of dried toast, the fruits of a dessert, poultry or game, and two or three glasses of claret, sherry or Madeira wine - champagne, port wine or beer were forbidden foods.
• "Five - clock tea" consisted of two or three ounces fruit, one or two rusks and from a cup of unsweetened tea without milk.
• Evening there was a three to four ounces of meat or fish plus or two glasses of red wine.
• Before sleeping, when it was needed, he drank a tumbler of grog (gin, whiskey or brandy, without sugar) or one to two glasses of red wine or sherry.

Inspired by the results of the diet, Banting wrote his experiences with the diet in a small book down, which he published under the title Open Letter on corpulence, addressed to the whole audience. It was an immediate bestseller, it quickly sold out, was reprinted and came on over 63,000 copies sold. Within two years it had the sixth edition. achieved. The term " Bantingism " and the verb "to bant " were incorporated into the English language as synonyms for the words "diet " and " diet make ." Since Banting and Harvey were not looking for publicity, to Banting refused to call his doctor in the first four editions of the book.

Although William Banting wrote in subsequent editions that he was happy about the weight loss of the reader, he felt uncomfortable with the commercial success of the diet. Since he considered it unethical to make money with the suffering of others, he donated all profits to charity and provided a detailed accounting in the last edition dar.

End of the 19th century, the diet under the name " Banting cure" was also popular in Germany. In Meyers encyclopedia, she was referred to as " new method to cure the excessive corpulence and obesity ."

Reception and criticism

Contemporary reception

Although the audience enthusiastically welcomed the book Banting, the diet in the medical community was very controversial. The editor of The Lancet rejected the Banting diet and said that they only repeat information known in medical circles. The main cause of their anger was that William Banting was not a doctor, and he was warned in the medical journal The Lancet: " Each of its kind to not interfere in the medical literature, but to look after his own affairs. "

Some newspapers even reported briefly that William Banting died after the diet. But this newspaper reports contradicted Banting, who remained alive and healthy until the age of 81 years. William Banting photographed in his old, loose garments to convince the critics, as there is no more photographs of him were from before the diet, making it difficult to convince them of the effect of diet. The press of the era drew William Banting, with cartoons and satirical songs like Mr. Double Stout.

20th century

• Some authors believe that the stigmatization of overweight began only in the 20th century and that Banting's book has contributed to this development. Banting looked fat body as something alien and Parasitic.
• According to others, such as Hamilton and Greenway, the works of William Banting considered as an extraordinary historical document.