Fad Diets

Horace Fletcher 1870 invented one of America's first popular diet plans. Determined to shed 50 pounds and cure his chronic indigestion, Fletcher decided that the secret to wellbeing was to chew one's food carefully until it "swallows itself." To "fletcherize" became an expression known to nearly every American household. One of the leading proponents: Henry James. Once too flabby to pass an insurance physical, Fletcher celebrated his 50th birthday by riding 200 miles on a bicycle. Fie died a decade later of bronchitis.

A famous fletcherizer was the great ruminator Henry James.