William Banting - Letter of Corpulence

[LoraJR72]

Want to go truly "old school" low-carb? This was mentioned on Jimmy Moore's blog the other day and being curious, I did a little research and printed out for free, Mr. Banting's 22-page book. The fourth edition was first published in 1869. Price of the booklet at the time? One shilling.

Mr. Banting describes how one of his doctors., Mr. William Harvey, advised him of this plan and was suprised at his patient's "rigid adherence" to it.

His starting weight on August 26, 1862 was 202lbs.

It took him a year to lose 46lbs. and a month or so, lost another 4lbs. to lose a total of 50lbs.!

I don't see anywhere in the booklet where his exact height is given but there is a chart given to him from a Dr. John Hutchinson who worked for an insurance company.

Here is the chart:
Stature. Weight
5 Feet 1 should be 8 stone 8oz. or 120lbs.
5 Feet 2 9 0 126
5 Feet 3 9 7 133
5 Feet 4 9 10 136
5 Feet 5 10 2 142
5 Feet 6 10 5 145 (I am a few pounds short of this number.)
5 Feet 7 10 8 148
5 Feet 8 (Not listed) - Maybe this was Mr. Banting's height?
5 Feet 9 11 8 162
5 Feet 10 12 1 169
5 Feet 11 12 6 174
6 Feet 0 12 10 178

Now, you are curious about his eating? Okay. Here is his plan listed word for word:

For breakfast, at 9.0 A.M., I take five to six ounces of either beef mutton, kidneys, broiled fish, bacon, or cold meat of any kind except pork or veal; a large cup of tea or coffee (without milk or sugar), a little biscuit, or one ounce of dry toast; making together six ounces solid, nine liquid.

For dinner, at 2.0 P.M., Five or six ounces of any fish except, salmon, herrings, or eels, any meat except pork or veal, any vegetable except potato, parsnip, beetroot, turnip, or carrot, one ounce of dry toast, fruit out of a pudding not sweetened, any kind of poultry or game, and two or three glasses of good claret, sherry, or Madeira - Champagne, port, and beer forbidden; making together ten to twelve ounces solid, and ten liquid.

For tea, at 6.0 P.M., Two or three ounces of cooked fruit, a rusk or two, and a cup of tea without milk or sugar; making two to four ounces solid, nine liquid.

For supper, at 9.0 P.M., Three or four ounces of meat or fish, similar to dinner, with a glass or two of claret or sherry and water; making four ounces solid, and seven liquid.

For nightcap, if required, A tumbler of grog - (gin, whisky, or brandy, without sugar) - or a glass or two of claret or sherry.

By the way, a rusk is according to wiki - a rectangular, hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. I think it looks like Melba Toast.

Mr. Banting mentions he ate rusk for breakfast as well.

It is a fascinating read if you are curious and there are mentions of how even in the 1860's that obesity was on the rise. Mr. Banting did not want to be obese and his body hurt all the time and he could not walk very much if his knees hurt. He exercised by walking.

Thank you.

[CarolynF]

I've read this and it is very interesting..Thanks for alerting us about it...

[LowCarbRachel]

I like his weight table. It puts me under goal. LOL

[ketosis]

Fascinating!

Given all that he imbibed I wonder if he had gout? That could have made his walking painful.

I also wonder if the rusk and biscuit or toast were whole or sprouted grains back then? Certainly they would have been way less processed than the products we see nowadays.

[LoraJR72]

The diet helped his joints and I don't believe he had gout. (Does this mean I have to read the booklet again? LOL)

I may do some research about that rusk. I know he wrote he liked the hard bread or stale bread to be dipped into the "spirits".

[Ailuros]

I have a book on bread that was written at about the same time as Banting was writing. A good half of the book is given over to the terrible quality of a lot of the bread on sale, and the way the bakers would mix the flour with cheaper things that at best were less nutritious, and at worst actually poisonous. I think it was better if you lived in the countryside, but by that time England was already quite industrialised, and many people lived in cities, and weren't close to the source of food production.

[Purple Crayon]

Used to be able to buy a product called Holland Rusk in the store. It was like round Zwieback.

[LoraJR72]

They sell Rusk or Zwieback at my local grocery store. They have an imported foods section.