5 Quotes & Sayings By William Banting

William Banting was a British soldier who lived from 1811 to 1878. He is best known for being the first recorded person to have been cured of obesity by dieting, through a low-carbohydrate diet that restricted his calorie intake to about 800 calories per day. In 1863, he published a pamphlet entitled Letter on Corpulence Addressed to the Public. In this letter, Banting denounced his own obesity with great passion and described his unsuccessful attempts to lose weight throughout the previous decade Read more

He advised the public to control their appetites and live on a low-calorie diet devoid of sugars, starch, and refined carbohydrates.

1
I am most thankful to Almighty Providence for mercies received, and determined still to press the case into public notice as a token of gratitude. William Banting
2
I am now in that happy comfortable state that I do not hesitate to indulge in any fancy in regard to diet, but watch the consequences, and do not continue any course which adds to weight or bulk and consequent discomfort. William Banting
3
For the sake of argument and illustration I will presume that certain articles of ordinary diet, however beneficial in youth, are prejudicial in advanced life, like beans to a horse, whose common ordinary food is hay and corn. William Banting
4
My diminished girth, in tailor phraseology, was hardly conceivable even by my own friends, or my respected medical adviser, until I put on my former clothing, over what I now wear, which is a thoroughly convincing proof of the remarkable change. William Banting