Feast, Famine, and Murder: The Shocking History of Diet's and a Murder

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Strange History Podcast, the podcast where we

0:04 Speaker 1: dive deep into the weird, wild, and sometimes downright dangerous.

0:10 Speaker 1: From the absurd to the extreme, people throughout history have

0:15 Speaker 1: gone to great lengths to shed pounds and chase the

0:18 Speaker 1: elusive dream of the perfect body. Today, we're taking a

0:22 Speaker 1: journey through time, exploring the diets that have captivated and

0:27 Speaker 1: sometimes harmed those in search of a quick fix. So

0:31 Speaker 1: grab a grapefruit, chew your food thirty two times, and

0:35 Speaker 1: get ready for a history lesson you won't forget. Our

0:39 Speaker 1: story begins in the early nineteenth century with Lord Byron,

0:43 Speaker 1: the brooding poet known for his romantic verses and his

0:46 Speaker 1: obsession with staying thin. Byron popularized what may be one

0:51 Speaker 1: of the earliest recorded fad diets, the vinegar diet. He

0:55 Speaker 1: believed that drinking vinegar daily would cleanse the body and

0:58 Speaker 1: suppress appetite. While it probably did curb his hunger, since

1:02 Speaker 1: consuming too much vinegar can lead to stomach distress, it

1:06 Speaker 1: also made him sickly pale. But in an era where

1:09 Speaker 1: thinness was equated with intellectualism and beauty, many followed his example,

1:14 Speaker 1: even if it meant sacrificing their health. Historical accounts show

1:18 Speaker 1: that Byron's diet had widespread influence. In eighteen twenty, young

1:24 Speaker 1: women across England and France started following his example, leading

1:28 Speaker 1: to an uptick in reported fainting spells and malnutrition related illnesses.

1:33 Speaker 1: Physicians at the time even warned of byron Mania affecting

1:36 Speaker 1: young society women. Then there was Sylvester Graham, the man

1:40 Speaker 1: who gave us the Graham Cracker. You might think of

1:43 Speaker 1: them as the base for s'mores, but Graham's original version

1:47 Speaker 1: was anything but sweet. His strict vegetarian diet aimed to

1:50 Speaker 1: curb sinful desires, including lust. His followers, known as Grahemites,

1:56 Speaker 1: believed in a diet free from spices, meat, and profit

2:00 Speaker 1: cessed flour. Sound familiar. Many of today's clean eating trends

2:04 Speaker 1: echo these ideas. In eighteen thirty seven, a group of

2:08 Speaker 1: Graham's followers established one of the first health food communes

2:12 Speaker 1: in upstate New York. However, the rigid dietary restrictions led

2:17 Speaker 1: to severe deficiencies, and many members abandoned the movement after

2:21 Speaker 1: suffering health problems. Fast forward to the nineteen twenties, a

2:26 Speaker 1: time of jazz prohibition, and believe it or not. The

2:30 Speaker 1: cigarette diet ads encouraged people to reach for a lucky

2:35 Speaker 1: instead of a suite, promoting smoking as an appetite suppressant,

2:39 Speaker 1: and it worked. Nicotine does suppress hunger, but at what cost.

2:43 Speaker 1: The obvious dangers of smoking eventually led to a decline

2:46 Speaker 1: in this deadly diet strategy, but not before it hooked

2:50 Speaker 1: millions on tobacco. Hollywood actress Bette Davis was known to

2:54 Speaker 1: use cigarettes to maintain her thin frame, and many aspiring

2:58 Speaker 1: actresses followed suit. Some even reported fainting on set due

3:02 Speaker 1: to malnourishment caused by excessive smoking. In the nineteen fifties,

3:07 Speaker 1: enter the cabbage soup diet the promise eat as much

3:10 Speaker 1: cabbage soup as you want and the pounds will melt away.

3:14 Speaker 1: But anyone who tried it quickly realized the side effects

3:17 Speaker 1: a bored palette and well, let's just say, an overly

3:20 Speaker 1: active digestive system. A famous case from the nineteen sixties

3:24 Speaker 1: involved a group of flight attendants who were placed on

3:27 Speaker 1: the cabbage soup diet by their airline to maintain appropriate

3:31 Speaker 1: weight standards. Several reported severe dizziness and fatigue, leading to

3:35 Speaker 1: policy changes regarding employee diets. Hollywood always had a love

3:40 Speaker 1: affair with dieting, but the nineteen sixties took it to

3:42 Speaker 1: another level. Enter the Sleeping Beauty diet, where people were

3:46 Speaker 1: sedated to sleep through hunger pangs. Yes, you heard that right,

3:50 Speaker 1: sleeping instead of eating. Even Elvis Presley reportedly tried this one.

3:56 Speaker 1: Elvis Presley's physician, doctor George Nicopolis, was known to prescribe

4:01 Speaker 1: heavy sedatives to help him lose weight. Tragically, these medications

4:06 Speaker 1: contributed to his deteriorating health and eventual death in nineteen

4:11 Speaker 1: seventy seven. Then the nineteen seventies brought us the Scarsdale Diet,

4:16 Speaker 1: a highly restrictive, low carb plan that promised dramatic weight

4:20 Speaker 1: loss in just two weeks. Its creator, doctor Hermann Tarnower,

4:26 Speaker 1: gained notoriety when his lover murdered him in a fit

4:29 Speaker 1: of rage, a diet scandal with a true crime twist.

4:34 Speaker 1: Doctor Tarnauer was not just known for his medical expertise.

4:38 Speaker 1: He was also infamous for his tumultuous personal life. He

4:42 Speaker 1: had been in a long term relationship with Jean Harris,

4:45 Speaker 1: the headmistress of the Madeira School for Girls in Virginia.

4:48 Speaker 1: Two Their relationship spanned over fourteen years, but it was

4:52 Speaker 1: far from perfect. Tarnower was known to have multiple affairs,

4:56 Speaker 1: including one with his much younger secretary. On March tenth,

5:01 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty, Jean Harris drove from Virginia to Tarnauer's home

5:05 Speaker 1: in Purchase, New York. She carried a point three to

5:08 Speaker 1: two caliber revolver with her. Harris later claimed she intended

5:12 Speaker 1: to commit suicide after confronting Tarnower one last time. However,

5:19 Speaker 1: upon discovering evidence of Tarnawer's affair in his bedroom, an

5:23 Speaker 1: argument ensued. According to Harris, Tarnauer dismissed her as crazy

5:29 Speaker 1: and demanded she leave. In the heat of the moment,

5:33 Speaker 1: a struggle over the gun occurred. Tragically, Tarnauer was shot

5:37 Speaker 1: four times at close range and died from his injuries.

5:41 Speaker 1: Harris was arrested and charged with second degree murder. The

5:45 Speaker 1: trial that followed captivated the nation. Harris claimed that the

5:49 Speaker 1: gun had discharged accidentally during their struggle. Despite her defense,

5:54 Speaker 1: Jean Harris, Tarnauer's lover, was convicted of his murder in

5:58 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty one, claiming she had endured years of emotional

6:02 Speaker 1: turmoil due to his obsession with dieting and other women.

6:06 Speaker 1: The case dominated headlines and even inspired a TV movie.

6:11 Speaker 1: The murder of doctor Herman Tarnower remains one of the

6:14 Speaker 1: most sensational cases in true crime history. It serves as

6:18 Speaker 1: a stark reminder of how passion and betrayal can lead

6:21 Speaker 1: to devastating consequences. The nineteen eighties introduced liquid meal replacements

6:27 Speaker 1: like slim Fast and Oprah Winfrey's infamous Optifast journey, where

6:31 Speaker 1: she lost sixty seven pounds, only to gain most of

6:34 Speaker 1: it back after reintroducing solid food. The diet industry was booming,

6:40 Speaker 1: but so was diet failure. Oprah's highly publicized weight loss

6:44 Speaker 1: on Optifast culminated in her nineteen eighty eight talk show

6:48 Speaker 1: episode where she wheeled out sixty seven pounds of fat

6:51 Speaker 1: in a wagon. However, she later admitted that liquid dieting

6:56 Speaker 1: was unsustainable, leading to a shift in how America viewed

7:00 Speaker 1: quick fixed diets. The nineties and two thousands saw the

7:03 Speaker 1: rise of low carb madness, first with the Atkins diet

7:07 Speaker 1: and later the Keto diet. Cutting carbs became the holy

7:11 Speaker 1: grail of weight loss, and while some found success, others

7:15 Speaker 1: experienced extreme fatigue and nutrient deficiencies. Doctor Robert Atkins himself

7:21 Speaker 1: reportedly suffered from severe heart disease despite advocating for a

7:26 Speaker 1: high fat, low carb lifestyle. His critics pointed to this

7:30 Speaker 1: as a cautionary tale against extreme dieting. Then there was

7:33 Speaker 1: the Master Cleanse, a concoction of lemon juice, maple syrup,

7:37 Speaker 1: and cayenne pepper. Beyonce famously used it for rapid weight loss,

7:43 Speaker 1: leading fans to gulp down spicy lemonade in the hopes

7:46 Speaker 1: of achieving a bootylicious body. Many who followed the Master

7:50 Speaker 1: cleans reported severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. Several emergency room

7:55 Speaker 1: cases were linked to this diet, showing its potential dangers.

8:00 Speaker 1: And let's not forget the celery juice diet, the latest

8:03 Speaker 1: craze claiming to detox the body. Spoiler alert, your liver

8:10 Speaker 1: already does that. But hey, if you like celery, go

8:14 Speaker 1: for it. So what have we learned? Fads come and go,

8:18 Speaker 1: but balance, sustainability, and overall health should always be the goal.

8:22 Speaker 1: If a diet sounds too good to be true, it

8:25 Speaker 1: probably is. Thanks for tuning in, hit subscribe, leave a review,

8:29 Speaker 1: and tell us what's the weirdest diet you've ever tried.

8:33 Speaker 1: Until next time, eat well, stay informed, and don't believe

8:38 Speaker 1: everything you read on the internet.