Tapeworms have been monopolising this world of beauty since the Victorian 1830s.
Naturally, achieving these unnatural heights of beauty required unnatural methods.
Thats when bathing in chemicals like arsenic and ingesting poisonous ammonia came into play.
Another external tool, which many would have considered less hazardous than exposure to toxins, was the tapeworm.
Prescribing tapeworms was no less than a clinical practice in the Victorian era.
Women of the time would ingest tiny pills that contained larvae.
No danger, no diet, no exercise.
as it was later described in the 1920s.
But sometimes, things are too good to be true.
The perfect weight loss method would reveal its imperfections near the end.
The other way was to insert a pail of fresh milk towards the anus to coax the worm out.
The reports were all anecdotal claims which left the veracity of pills effectiveness in murky waters.
There was barely any evidence to suggest that the pills contained tapeworm larvae in the first place.
The end result was often fatal, earning the tapeworm diet an ill reputation.
That, until notions of beauty began to demand once again, this time around the 1920s.
A slender, curveless body was not easy to attain, but women were resilient.
A fad diet started once again with tapeworm pills being circulated in the markets.
As late as 2013, a woman in Iowa reportedly ingested a tapeworm to lose weight.
Tapeworms can grow as long as 30ft in length.
If beauty comes from within, this would be a distasteful sight.
Moreover, tapeworm diet can cause nausea, headaches, vision impairment and also dementia and epilepsy.
But isnt it important to be better in our own eyes before being better for others?
References#VICE#Atlas Obscura#BBC
