What did it take for human beings to start controlling what they ate — and why did "health" so quickly become a cover

story for something else? How did a Venetian nobleman's wine-heavy calorie restriction become a blueprint for the

modern diet industry? And, when tobacco companies, Hollywood, and the beauty industry all decided women's body

anxiety was a market opportunity — who, exactly, was the diet really for?

Peter and Afua trace the history of the human body as a commercial battleground: from the first diet books in 1558,

through the birth of the calorie and the explosion of Weight Watchers, to the heroin chic 90s and the disordered eating

it left behind.

0:00 The Venetian nobleman who invented calorie restriction — and still drank 14oz of wine a day

7:30 George Cheyne: 32 stone, no meat, no alcohol, and a bestselling book in 1740

14:00 Empire, refrigeration, and why cheap food created the first diet industry

21:30 The discovery of the calorie — the invention Afua still resents

25:30 Freud's nephew, cigarettes, and the moment thinness became a product to sell

31:00 Weight Watchers, zero-fat yoghurt, and the 80s: cottage cheese as cultural trauma

36:30 The 90s: heroin chic, cellulite alerts, and the era that hospitalised a generation

40:00 Keto, Atkins, and the diet that keeps reinventing itself

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Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas:

Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

Join Legacy+ for bonus episodes, early access, Q&A's, fewer adverts and more.

legacy.supportingcast.fm

Stay connected with Legacy:

Instagram: @originallegacypodcast

TikTok: @legacy_productions

Explore more from Peter and Afua — essays, sources, and ideas: Substack: peterfrankopan.substack.com | afuahirsch.substack.com

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