10. Tapeworms were allegedly marketed during the early 20th century as a dietary aid for easy weight loss
Tapeworms, or Cestoda, are a class of parasitic worms whose bodies are comprised of small dischargeable units, known as proglottids, which serve as bags containing dozens of tiny eggs to be shed in an effort to infect other nearby organisms; measuring up to and exceeding 100 feet in length, the size of a tapeworm is commonly dependent on that of its host. Capable of living for years in an otherwise healthy host, continuing to reproduce throughout this time and discharging offspring in feces, tapeworms typically live in the digestive tracts of vertebrates; humans are most susceptible to infection through the consumption of undercooked meat and poor hygienic conditions.
Although unproven, with some historians claiming the use of tapeworms in this fashion to be merely a hoax or a satirical parody based off of the absurdist and widespread use of diet pills in the 1950s and 1960s, it has been widely suggested and corroborated that during the early 20th century the “tapeworm diet” was medically proposed and supported as a means of achieving weight loss. Advertisements surviving from this time detail the sale of tapeworm eggs to the public under the moniker of slimming tablets; one particular advert, depicted above, claims “no ill effects” and that “fat: the enemy” could be “banished” with the use of “sanitized tapeworms”.