A Century of Evolution in Weight Loss Methods: Lessons from Smoking to Fenfen (Flavor-Free Drugs)
3. Weight loss in the 1960s
During this period, the One Food Diet, which mainly used cabbage, bananas, apples, milk, sweet potatoes, and other similar foods, was the most popular diet.
Most experts worry that eating only one type of food for a long time will lead to insufficient water and nutrients in the body, which may cause health problems.
4. Weight loss in the 1970s
Weight loss drugs began to appear during this period, which could cause people to vomit after taking them.
This weight-loss drug was immediately banned because it could cause brain hemorrhage.
Around the 2nd century AD, the Greeks combined laxatives and massage for weight loss, thus inventing the earliest weight loss drugs.
In the 1920s and 1930s, people discovered that as thyroid hormone metabolism accelerated, weight loss would occur, and they used this property to produce related drugs. However, because these drugs caused increased heart rate and insomnia, they were difficult to use.
DNP treatments were first used in 1933, but overdoses could cause fatal increases in body temperature.
Later, in the latter half of the 1930s, amphetamines began to be used. While they helped people lose weight, they also caused symptoms of excitement, which is why the name "rainbow pill" became widely known.
Later, people used diuretics, thyroid drugs, laxatives, etc. as weight loss drugs in large quantities, and many people even died as a result in 1967 and 1968.
In 1979, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began banning the use of amphetamines for weight loss.
Phenylephrine and phenoxyphene were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1959 and 1973, respectively, for weight loss treatment. Some papers have claimed that using the two drugs simultaneously for more than two years can result in a weight loss of more than 10%, thus fenphene is considered the best weight loss drug.
In the mid-1990s, dexfenfluramine replaced fluoroquinolone, but the combination of the two drugs could cause valvular heart disease, so the drug was gradually phased out in 1997.
In addition, drugs from the Ephedra genus were withdrawn from the market in 2004.
5. Weight loss in the 1980s
The Skarsdale diet was popular during this period, which involved a two-week diet high in protein, low in carbohydrates, and low in calories (1000 calories per day) for weight loss.
However, because extremely low-calorie diets can cause health problems, it is a very dangerous way to lose weight.
6. Weight loss in the 1990s
During this period, the Atkins diet (King's Diet) emerged, and because it was rumored that three saints had tried this method, it quickly spread at the time.
In 1958, this weight loss method became popular with the publication of Alfred Pennington's paper entitled "Weight Loss".
The main principle behind this method is to increase protein intake and avoid carbohydrate intake.
In 1972, with the publication of the book "Dr. Atkins's Weight Loss Revolution," the method became even more famous.
From this period onward, people began to believe that the main cause of obesity was carbohydrates rather than fat.
7. Weight loss in the 21st century
Most weight loss methods in the 21st century are simply modifications of older methods.
Moreover, methods such as the Suzuki diet, intermittent fasting, and the one-meal-a-day diet have generated a great deal of attention.
In addition, there is a weight loss method called the Weight Loss Bible, which a Crohn's disease patient named Rubin Claims claims cured him through.
He claimed that he lost weight by eating vegetables he grew himself that had been baptized by God. However, in 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration stated that the method had no scientific basis and therefore banned its sale. Since then, the weight loss method has gradually disappeared.
In addition, many other weight loss methods are being tried by people.
In recent years, health functional foods made from substances with weight-loss effects have been approved by relevant departments and have been selling very well.