As soon as people became wealthy enough not to have to spend every waking hour of their day, working, cleaning, hunting or cooking, they had enough to look in the mirror and decide what they didn’t like about themselves.

From the truly horrific and crippling footbinding practices in imperial china to modern day plastic surgery, people have been searching for ways to achieve their body goals. Victorian England, the initial setting for todays story, was possibly one of the craziest times in history when it came to the number of diet fads and body morphing practices. So what better place to dive in and see where the stories take us.

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Thank you to Athletic Greens for being a sponsor for this episode.

To make it easy, Athletic Greens will give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit www.athleticgreens.com/EMERGING to take ownership of your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance!

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Thank you also to Startuprad.io - The Authority on German Startups for supporting this episode.

Startuprad.io is an English-only startup podcast with exclusive startup content, including regular news, and interviews. They are the international voice of the German-speaking startup scene. Find them on whichever platform you prefer to listen on.

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References:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-horrifying-legacy-of-the-victorian-tapeworm-diet
https://www.vice.com/en/article/xw5nnq/inside-the-lasting-legacy-of-tapeworm-diets
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20695743
https://www.historyextra.com/period/modern/weird-fad-diets-weight-loss-history-new-year/