Editing Dieting (section)

==History==
[[File:William Banting.png|thumb|[[William Banting]] popularized one of the first weight loss diets in the 19th century.]]
The word ''diet'' comes from the Greek ''[[wikt:δίαιτα#Ancient Greek|δίαιτα (diaita)]]'', which represents a notion of a whole way healthy lifestyle including both mental and physical health, rather than a narrow weight-loss regimen.<ref name="Foxcroft2012">{{cite book |vauthors=Foxcroft L |title=Calories & corsets : a history of dieting over 2,000 years |date=2014 |publisher=Profile Books |isbn=978-1847654588 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ih5qnNit-KIC |access-date=6 June 2020 |archive-date=14 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114192810/https://books.google.com/books?id=ih5qnNit-KIC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20695743 | title=History's weirdest fad diets | work=BBC News | date=2 January 2013 | access-date=24 October 2019 | archive-date=30 June 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630112051/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20695743 | url-status=live }}</ref>

One of the first [[dietitian]]s was the English doctor [[George Cheyne (physician)|George Cheyne]]. He himself was tremendously overweight and would constantly eat large quantities of rich food and drink. He began a meatless diet, taking only milk and vegetables, and soon regained his health. He began publicly recommending his diet for everyone who was obese. In 1724, he wrote ''An Essay of Health and Long Life'', in which he advises exercise and fresh air and avoiding luxury foods.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ivu.org/history/williams/cheyne.html|title=The Ethics of Diet - A Catena|access-date=17 December 2012|archive-date=20 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820151827/http://www.ivu.org/history/williams/cheyne.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Scottish military surgeon, [[John Rollo]], published ''Notes of a Diabetic Case'' in 1797. It described the benefits of a meat diet for those with [[diabetes]], basing this recommendation on [[Matthew Dobson (physician)|Matthew Dobson]]'s discovery of [[glycosuria]] in [[diabetes mellitus]].<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Joslin EP |title=Joslin's Diabetes Mellitus: Edited by C. Ronald Kahn ... [et Al.].|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ohgjG0qAvfgC&pg=PA3|access-date=20 June 2013|year=2005|publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins|isbn=978-0-7817-2796-9|page=3}}</ref> By means of Dobson's testing procedure (for [[glucose]] in the urine) Rollo worked out a diet that had success for what is now called [[type 2 diabetes]].<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Chalem LD |title=Essential Diabetes Leadership|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-5BIoIJT5YC&pg=PA39|access-date=20 June 2013|date=5 September 2009|publisher=Laurence Chalem|isbn=978-1-4392-4566-8|page=39}}</ref>

The first popular diet was "Banting", named after the English [[undertaker]] [[William Banting]]. In 1863, he wrote a booklet called ''Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public'', which contained the particular plan for the diet he had successfully followed. His own diet was four meals per day, consisting of meat, greens, fruits, and dry wine. The emphasis was on avoiding sugar, sweet foods, starch, beer, milk and butter. Banting's pamphlet was popular for years to come, and would be used as a model for modern diets.<ref name=Britannica>{{cite EB1911
 | wstitle = Corpulence
 | volume = 7
 | pages = 192–193
 }}</ref> The pamphlet's popularity was such that the question "Do you bant?" referred to his method, and eventually to dieting in general.<ref name=Groves>{{Cite web | url = http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/banting.html | title = WILLIAM BANTING: The Father of the Low-Carbohydrate Diet | access-date = 26 December 2007 | vauthors = Groves B | year = 2002 | publisher = Second Opinions | archive-date = 11 June 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110611192236/http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/banting.html | url-status = live }}</ref> His booklet remains in print as of 2007.<ref name="Jennifer Petrelli; Kathleen Y. Wolin 2009 11"/><ref name=Cosimo>{{Cite book| vauthors = Banting W |title=Letter on Corpulence|orig-year=1863|url=http://www.cosimobooks.com/bookstore_a/book_description.php?book=83|access-date=28 December 2007|year=2005|publisher=Cosimo Classics|location=USA: New York|isbn=978-1-59605-085-3|pages=64 pages|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708193412/http://www.cosimobooks.com/bookstore_a/book_description.php?book=83|archive-date=8 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The first weight-loss book to promote calorie counting, and the first weight-loss book to become a bestseller, was the 1918 ''[[Diet and Health: With Key to the Calories]]'' by American physician and columnist [[Lulu Hunt Peters]].<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Kawash S |title = Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure|date = 2013|publisher = Faber & Faber, Incorporated|location = New York|isbn = 978-0-86547-756-8 |pages = 185–189}}</ref>

It was estimated that over 1000 weight-loss diets have been developed up to 2014.<ref name="Matarese2014" />