William Banting - Undertaker

William Banting Esq.

London undertaker, William Banting had failed in his efforts to control his weight. On the recommendation of his doctor he adopted a diet that had been suggested in France, but had it's origins in Germany.

Banting's diet was included in the medical text-book "The Principles and Practice of Medicine," by Sir William Osler, then a physician at Johns Hopkins (1892).

The father of nutritional science in Germany was Dr Wilhelm Ebstein, who was interested in obesity and gout. Ebstein was the first nutritional scientist to recommend a high fat and low carbohydrate diet to reduce obesity, in the 1880's.

It often took a very long time for knowledge to become understood and widely accepted.

Sometimes things we once knew, disappear from public knowledge. That may be a sign of progress, or it might simply be taking a wrong turn. With regard to diet, I think the after WWII, we took a wrong turn.

A Short History of Dietary Ideas

Greek Athletes

Some ate bread and potatoes before events. - Carbohydrate - Glucose metabolism.

Some ate only meat before events. - Lipids - Fatty acids and ketone metabolism.

Sailors Diets - Scurvy

In 1747 Lime juice was recommended by naval physician James Laird

In 1777 Captain James Cook won a medal for "winning the battle against scurvy." But they were still not sure how that was done.

Regular use of lime juice by British sailors was only common after 1800.

Living Without Vegetables - Arctic Exploration

In 1840 - Sir John Frankin, with two ships and 129 men disappeared in the arctic.

In 1879 - Lt. Fredrick Schwatka, of the US Army, spent 11 months searching for the Franklin Expedition. He returned with all his party.

They had lived with the Inuit, eating only the Inuit diet for 11 months. Seal meat and seal fat, with a little fish. Schwatka's report to the US Army was ignored. Not considered relevant.

Banting's Success

His diet worked well and was widely adopted.

Quoted in "The Principles and Practice of Medicine," 1892, by Harvard University Press.

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