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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
A Tribute to Trailblazers
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Simple Lifestyle Tweaks to Keep Your Blood Sugar in Check
A Witty Journey Through Quirky Sayings
One-Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
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The Power of Planning Something to Look Forward To
Bizarre Beliefs of the 19th Century
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‘ELECTRIFIED’ WAISTS AND FAT-FIGHTING WORMS Shocking Health Practices From the Victorian Era
Looking to lose weight? Try a diet of worms! Have back trouble? Cover yourself with magnets! If you lived in Great Britain in the 19th century, you would likely have been familiar with these popular remedies for common health concerns. Although these long-abandoned solutions sound crazy by today’s standards, it’s worth noting that doctors in the U.S. used chloroform as an anesthetic during the same period. Medicine is an ever-evolving science, and today’s medical marvels may be tomorrow’s laughably primitive practices. That said, the Victorians’ idea of better health was wild . Many women of the era would ingest a tapeworm egg to achieve most people’s dream of losing weight while eating whatever they wanted. Once hatched, the parasite would theoretically eat part of whatever
their hostesses consumed — a diet method more “Alien” than Atkins. In addition to the questionable practice of allowing a worm to live inside them , Victorian ladies also had to figure out how to remove it once they had achieved their ideal weight. Placing a glass of milk near one’s bottom to lure it out was among the most popular methods. If squatting over dairy to extract a creepy crawly resulted in back pain, sufferers could take advantage of a widespread treatment: the “electric corset.” Billed by manufacturers as “scientifically constructed” and “the ‘very thing’ for ladies,” this device used magnetized steel plates — not electricity — to supposedly bring “health, comfort, and elegance” to the person wearing it. Unsurprisingly, the product was largely dismissed as a fraud by the late 1800s.
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