1. Consume Nothing But BoozeOne day William the Conqueror (1028-1087 decided he needed to go on a diet. His solution? Get wasted and don’t leave bed for days. The pounds shed away, and William soon found he could ride his horse again, which he soon drunkenly fell off of and died.
2. The Diet Of Olympic ChampionsIn ancient Greece, the breakfast of champions wasn’t Frosties, but rather lots and lots of smoked pork. To get the ripped muscular bodies depicted in Greek tapestries and bathhouses, Olympic athletes were put on a strict meat-only diet.
3. Rub the Fat AwayZander rooms were popular two centuries ago. In them, overweight people would sit in a large contraption. This device would oscillate back and forth. The principle behind this was that a vigorous rubbing would make fat disappear.
4. the Liquefied DietAbout one hundred years ago, Horace Fletcher stumbled upon a stupid idea and sold it to millions. That idea was chewing your food until it liquefied before swallowing.
5. The vinegar detox programThe originators of the detox diet were most likely Egyptians. They would brew a foul primitive vinegar concoction and use it to cleanse their bodies of toxins. Side effects of this include vomiting and diarrhea, which means ... more weight loss!
6. Tapeworm dietTapeworms are parasites that live in a human’s stomach, eating all their food.This means you can eat all you want without actually eating it!
7. Eat Like A CavemanThe Paleolithic diet, created in the 1970s by Walter Voegtlin, restricts the dieter to eat only foods that were available in the Paleolithic era, which ended 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture.
6. Eat Nothing But AirThe Breatharian diet consists of air. No water, no food, just crisp, calorie-free air. Inedia is the term used to describe the ability to subsists entirely on air, since no human has ever shown this ability the diet makes absolutly no sense whatsoever.
7. Byron dietThis diet, made popular by Lord Byron in 1820, encouraged its followers to fast and subsist solely on water and vinegar. It should be noted that Lord Byron suffered from anorexia, so only use this diet if you want to be an anorexic male poet.
8. The Grapefruit DietThe 1920s and 1930s were a dangerous time for the waistlines of the public. The popularity of the Silver Screen led to an obsession with skinniness. Combine this with a general ignorance as to proper dietary health, and conditions were ripe for ridiculous diets to sweep the public. Enter the Grapefruit Diet. This diet makes the claim that unhealthy foods are fine to eat, as long as they are eaten with grapefruit. The theory is that grapefruit makes some sort of ysterious change in your stomach, becoming a magic fat-preventing super fruit.
9. Roman methodThe Romans really liked to live large, enjoying extravagant meals. However, their enormous appetites didn’t match their stomachs, and they often found themselves full before they had experienced every course of the meal. So, they would throw up to enjoy eating even more food.
10. Prolinn DietOne of the worst diets however is not from thousands of years before standardized medicine, but rather from a few decades ago. In 1970s, Dr. Roger Linn advocated eating nothing at all but his miracle liquid called Prolinn. Prolinn consisted of ground-up and crushed animal horns, hooves, hides, bones and other slaughterhouse byproducts that were treated with artificial flavors, colors, and enzymes to break them down.