The “Byron Diet” is named after Victorian poet Lord Byron who would eat bizarre foods such as potatoes drenched in vinegar in an effort to look fashionably thin and pale.

Greek physician and philosopher Galen explained 2,000 years ago that “bad humors” were the cause of obesity. He prescribed massages, baths, and “slimming foods” such as greens, garlic, and wild game as a way to lose weight.

When subjects were shown pictures of food they like, the parts of the brain that lit up were the same parts that were activated in drug addicts.

Healthy nutrition and exercise do not make fat cells disappear. Instead, fat cells become like deflated balloons, waiting to be refilled again.

During the 19th century, a diet called “Fletcherism” became popular. Introduced by American Horace Fletcher (“the Great Masticator”), the diet promoted chewing a mouthful of food at least 32 times or until it was turned into liquid. He argued his method of eating could help people avoid disease and lose weight.

Female breasts are almost made up entirely of fat. This is why breasts tend to reduce in size before other parts of the body with weight loss.

Elvis Presley was famously a fan of the “Sleeping Beauty Diet,” or a diet where a person is sedated for days at time. The reasoning behind the diet was that a sleeping person wouldn’t eat.

Losing weight alters brain activity. For example, after following a weight loss program for 6 months, women scored better on memory tests. Research has also linked obesity to poor memory, especially in overweight pear-shaped women.

Regularly smelling peppermint may help decrease hunger and, consequently, caloric intake. Researchers believe the strong scent is distracting and helps keeps a person’s mind off of their appetite.

A fat cell lives for about 7 years. When a fat cell dies, a new grows to replace it. The body keeps track of how many fat cells it has as well as the amount of fat in each cell. If fat cells are removed by liposuction, for example, the body compensates by growing new fat cells in other areas of the body.

In the first half of the 20th century, cigarette makers regularly touted their produces as a weight loss aid. One 1929 advertisement proclaimed, “Light a Lucky and you’ll never miss a sweet that makes you fat.”

In the 1970s and 1980s, “jaw wiring” gained traction as a treatment for obesity.

Muscle uses more calories to maintain itself than any other body tissue. For every pound of muscle someone puts on, they automatically burn an extra 22 to 36 more calories a day.