Eating Tapeworms for Weight Loss? 5 Crazy Fad Diets You Probably Shouldn't Try

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You'd be surprised to know just how far people would go to shed off that excess pounds. Eating tapeworms? Apparently, that's not so far-fetched an idea these days. Here are some of the more off-the-wall fad diets that could throw you off knowing that people actually do them for the sake of a smaller tummy. And, we didn't think there's a need for us to dissuade you from trying it.

The Sleeping Beauty Diet

This diet did not come straight out of some fairy tale book, but one of its characters may have inspired the name. Well, the idea is quite simple. Just sleep for days and, naturally, you will lose weight.

The sleeping beauty diet is made popular by the legendary Elvis Presley who was said to have been a fan of it. Sedatives are used to help the dieter get more sleep than usual in order to avoid eating and, at the same time, force the body to burn stored calories, says Diets in Review.

The Tapeworm Diet

So, you really thought we're just making this one up?

"A tapeworm may look like something from a Discovery Channel documentary, but they're actually ribbon-shaped creatures that live inside animals and humans and absorb their nutrients and calories, wrote Latina.com.

"Naturally, a few brave, foolish individuals decided that they would love have a creepy little creature living in their digestive system and sucking out all their calories." Let's just move on to what's next on the list, shall we?

The Cotton Ball Diet

Now, this one is less revolting, albeit just as eccentric. The idea is to drench five cotton balls in an orange juice or lemonade and eat them afterwards. For the proponents of this diet, doing so gives them the feeling of being full without having to consume food high in calories. The problem with taking in cotton balls is that they are made from polyester and synthetic fibers that could pose some health problems.

The hCG Diet

Hormone injection anyone? According to EverydayHealth, the diet involves consuming a 500-calorie-a-day diet and getting daily injections of the hormone human choriogonadotropin (hCG), which is produced in early pregnancy. The hormone was not approved by the FDA for weight loss, but rather for fertility treatment.

The Fletcherizing Diet

This one is courtesy of Horace Fletcher, an American and health food enthusiast who lived in the 19th century. His technique called "Fletcherism" encourages people to chew their food not less than 32 times before swallowing it. Apart from its weight loss benefits, Fletcher also claimed that the Fletcherizing diet can help you stave off diseases, says the Telegraph.