Polite Dissent

Image taken from the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices

Tapeworms as a diet aid? Legend has it that early in the twentieth century, tapeworms were sold as a diet aid. This story surfaced again in the 1950s when noted opera singer Maria Callas lost close to 80 pounds over the period of a year. It was widely claimed that she lost weight by intentionally ingesting a tapeworm. Another story has it that her weight loss was due to tapeworms, but ones acquired unintentionally through her love of steak tartare and other raw meat dishes. The singer herself claimed her weight loss was due to a sensible diet and regular exercise.
Snopes considers the tapeworm diet legend of “undetermined” veracity.

The concept of the tapeworm diet continues today, with at least one website* recommending tapeworms not just as a diet aid, but as a treatment for allergies and asthma. The weight loss ascribed to the tapeworms in the FAQ on the site is the same weight loss one would obtain from a healthy diet and exercise. Guess which one is better for you in the long term?

Medically, intentional ingestion of tapeworms strikes me as a very stupid idea — so I don’t want anyone to think I’m endorsing this. I’m not. I just find it fascinating that people would intentionally infect themselves with a parasite. Tapeworms are unpleasant and frequently cause abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal symptoms. They don’t just steal calories, but also vital nutrients. I think this quote from an article from the Arizona Republic sums up some of the other concerns well:

Do you know what ascites are? A big pool of fluid in your tummy caused by an immune response to something in your guts. Something like a tapeworm. It gives you a big potbelly, which runs kind of counter to the look you might be wishing for.

And a tapeworm might not necessarily just set up camp in your innards. It can also cause cysts in your muscles, liver and eyes. Your eyes!

So don’t you think it might be easier instead to just eat a bit less and exercise a bit more?

*I’m not going to provide linkage to the site due to its potentially dangerous “medical” advice, but if one were to Google for “tapeworm diet” I bet they could find it.