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                          THE FIRST SLIMMING-DIET                            
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The first slimming diet, scientifically planned, was prescribed for a gross- 
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ly overweight London undertaker called W.Banting by Dr Harvey, an ear specia-
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list, in 1862. The Banting diet, later enshrined in the verb "to bant", was  
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based on the reduction of carbohydrates, and was thus the precursor of most  
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of the weightreducing systems in use today. In Banting's case, it meant that 
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the undertaker was obliged to forgo pastry, potatoes, pies, and all sweet-   
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stuffs and restrict himself to lean meat, fish and fruit.                    
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His new regime consisted of the following:                                   
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Breakfast: 120 gr. lean meat, fish or bacon; 30 gr. toast.                   
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Dinner: "A little more meat", vegetables (no potatoes); fruit; 30 gr. toast. 
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Tea: Tea without milk; a rusk; fruit.                                        
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Supper: 120 gr. meat or fish.                                                
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Within a year Banting had decreased his 95 kilo bulk to a graceful 70 kilo,  
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and was encouraging others to follow his example.                            
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At first dieting tended to be a male preoccupation, but became a fashionable 
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activity among women when they ceased to distort their figures with corsets  
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and stays after 1914.                                                        
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