In Victorian times, a radical weight loss solution emerged, known as the tapeworm diet. The concept behind this unusual practice was straightforward: a person would consume a tapeworm egg, which would then hatch and grow inside their intestines. As the parasite developed, it would begin to consume the food that the person ate, allowing the individual to lose weight without reducing their food intake.
Though the idea may have seemed appealing to some, the tapeworm diet came with a host of potential health risks. Tapeworms can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue, and vitamin deficiencies. In more severe cases, tapeworms can lead to complications such as organ damage or even death. As medical knowledge and understanding of the risks associated with tapeworms evolved, this practice became widely discouraged.
In 1000 ways to die, a woman got a tapeworm inside her to lose weight and it worked well at first, and she was telling her friends how great it was. As a result, she died as a result of malnutrition and not getting enough nutrients. A veteran from Afghanistan got a tapeworm accidentally after eating food as a guest at someone’s house in a documentary. The only thing he had to do was take the right medication to kill it, and he was fine after that.