Tapeworms and weight loss

People have been eating tapeworms in an attempt to lose weight for years.

Although this route of weight loss is known to be dangerous, Elizabeth Tucker, a distinguished service professor of English at Binghamton University, asserts that the ideas behind it are perpetuated by society’s ideals of being thin and losing weight.

“Like tape measures, tapeworms remind us of society’s standards for ideal weight,” said Tucker. “Dieters try to eat less and get thin, but tapeworms want to eat all they can; in doing so, they represent rebellion against societal restrictions on self-satisfaction.”

If you are really keen on this type of weight loss you can go to a ‘worm clinic’ and pay thousands of dollars for a couple of tapeworms or you can consume lots of sushi (probably lots and lots of sushi).

Earlier this year a Californian sushi consumer was appalled when a 1.7 m tapeworm exited his body, but although disgusting and causing gastro intestinal symptoms, the tapeworm was never going to be fatal.

There are more than 10,000 known species of tapeworm but only a small number can infect humans. Tapeworms from raw or undercooked fish can reach lengths of 25 m but are relatively harmless and easily treated with worming tablets.

However, really, just eat less and exercise more if you want to lose weight.

Image: Head of a tapeworm. Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Juan Gärtner