Who Would Have Guessed Tapeworms are a Bad Idea

Many people have tried Dr Michael Mosley’s 5:2 Diet, but I doubt many people will be eager to try the new weight loss study he has undertaken himself. In order to see whether they truly aid weight loss, as Victorian women believed, Dr. Mosley ingested three tapeworms.
Tapeworms are one of those things that we all know about, but would prefer not to. A long (up to 20 feet!) white worm living in our bellies and eating our food. Umm, no thanks. But the logic of this has lead to rumours of, and also to historical accounts suggesting Victorian women turned to, tapeworms as a way to slim down.
Mosley set out to see if any of these rumours are true, and recorded a food diary before and after hatching the worms in his gut to see how it affected his appetite, and also kept a strict record of his weight. This was all for a BBC4 TV show.
He found that his appetite increased a bit, particularly of chocolate, which contains carbohydrates which the parasites like. He said that “I like finding things out through my own personal experience of it”. And there are few experiences more personal!
However, he also gained 2lbs, showing that the rumours are false. Of course, the study would be better improved by trying it on many other people in case Mosley was an anomaly, but there are not likely to be very many volunteers.
If you needed any persuading then, the tapeworm approach to weight loss is not likely going to make you lose weight, and you will be better off exercising and not overindulging on sweets!