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Diet & Health: with Key to the Calories
In this groundbreaking book Dr. Peters captures the distinct flavor of her times and America in the early 20th Century. This is not just a diet and health book. It is a historic artifact as well. It is a glimpse of American life when cars and phones were just becoming a part of daily life, there were no televisions and the 1920s were just beginning to Roar. Men, and even women, like Dr. Peters, were going off to war in Europe. 'Diet & Health with Keys to the Calories ' is where it all started. It is the first modern day simple and basic guide to eating right and losing weight. What was sound advise in 1918 is still sound today. It may also have been the friendly, perky, yet direct way that Dr. Peters addresses the issue of weight that earned her such a large following in the 1920s. We've taken a simple book and improved it and made it more accessible. To make it easier on the eyes we've enlarged the type (12 pt.) and used a new character font (Georgia). We didn't just scan an old book and put a new cover on it. We enlarged the book size to 6"x 9". And, we've given you additional dietary ideas in a new final chapter. We've left nothing out, nor edited Dr. Peters. She speaks for her self as she did almost a century ago.
- GenresHealth
156 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1918
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26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 17, 2020
the book is kinda funny maybe it's because of the different time periods the advice in it are really good especially considering it was written nearly 100 years ago. I'm curious to know the author reaction to the 21st century united states had she seen it. I didn't give it 5 stars because some of the advice are technically wrong (a very small proportion and not wrong in a major way).
March 23, 2021
Fun read
Very enjoyable, lighthearted look at weight control from 100 years ago. Amazing how much advice sounds like it was written yesterday.
Very enjoyable, lighthearted look at weight control from 100 years ago. Amazing how much advice sounds like it was written yesterday.
January 22, 2022
Very good advice even though it was written over 100 years ago.
June 2, 2025
This book was written in 1918 and it has the delightful use of words and phrases that reflects that period of American history. The author avoids slang. She addresses her audience directly with care and a sense of humor.
I read this book as part of research to understand how dietary advice from physicians has changed over the years. Has it changed?
For weight loss Dr. Peters is behavioral and calorie focused. Calories have recently been defined and the calorie theory of weight and metabolism is new. The author uses this new information to advise a calorie restricted diet. This sounds like the same advice that Weight Watchers used for decades. Dr. Peters had it figured out in 1918.
Exercise is supplemental but the doctor tells her readers what I told my patients, "it is practically impossible to lose weight through exercise alone..." She gives suggestions for some simple exercises and advice ce about exercise at home or the gym. Stick drawings done by her 10yo nephew illustrate the advice.
Much of her advice is behavioral, and this has not changed much either. She wants commitment, and she advises her readers to form groups to use group pressure to motivate them. She advises careful planning, devising calorie reduced meals and ways to com bat the inevitable failure to stick to the diet. Document weight once per week , etc. All common sense.
And then .. she suggested fasting for a day! "Your stomach h must be disciplined!" Fasting will show your stomach who is the boss! You can drink water, hot or cold as you prefer. Skim mild or fruit juice may be added on a schedule to amount to no more than 400 calories during the day.
She once fasted, or juiced, for 5 days. These"low calorie days" can be repeated once a week if necessary to keep the stomach in order. (She knows nothing of insulin or regulatory hormones, but she recognizes that fasting gives the dieter power over their desires and cuts calories as well). She also recommends a "no breakfast" or "no lunch" plan as a way to reduce calories. My current intermittent fasting plan includes no breakfast days as well as no dinner days.
Like my 1967 macrobiotic diet, she recommends mastication. And water, lots of it.
The rest is all about counting calories. So, what's new?
She is writing in 1918 during WWII and she hopes that by spending less money on food by dieting, her readers can contribute to the war effort. "Food will win the war... WATCH OUT WEIGHT," she admonishes her readers.
For the fifth edition in 1922 Dr. Peters adds some recipes to fill out the little book. She also mentions that "every once in a while you will hear that the caloric theory has been exploded. Then she adds, "there is no caloric "theory." Calories are simply units for measurement...".
All in all the advice from Dr. Lulu Hunt Peters is strikingly similar to diet advice that has been popular for the last 100 years. Now we have new theories to back up the advice, and we have names for all the vitamins. We understand hormones and counter-regulatory hormones and we have drugs that can augment "willpower," but the idea of calories in and calories out remains hard to dismiss.
I gave the book five stars because it is so delightful to read. Enjoy.
I read this book as part of research to understand how dietary advice from physicians has changed over the years. Has it changed?
For weight loss Dr. Peters is behavioral and calorie focused. Calories have recently been defined and the calorie theory of weight and metabolism is new. The author uses this new information to advise a calorie restricted diet. This sounds like the same advice that Weight Watchers used for decades. Dr. Peters had it figured out in 1918.
Exercise is supplemental but the doctor tells her readers what I told my patients, "it is practically impossible to lose weight through exercise alone..." She gives suggestions for some simple exercises and advice ce about exercise at home or the gym. Stick drawings done by her 10yo nephew illustrate the advice.
Much of her advice is behavioral, and this has not changed much either. She wants commitment, and she advises her readers to form groups to use group pressure to motivate them. She advises careful planning, devising calorie reduced meals and ways to com bat the inevitable failure to stick to the diet. Document weight once per week , etc. All common sense.
And then .. she suggested fasting for a day! "Your stomach h must be disciplined!" Fasting will show your stomach who is the boss! You can drink water, hot or cold as you prefer. Skim mild or fruit juice may be added on a schedule to amount to no more than 400 calories during the day.
She once fasted, or juiced, for 5 days. These"low calorie days" can be repeated once a week if necessary to keep the stomach in order. (She knows nothing of insulin or regulatory hormones, but she recognizes that fasting gives the dieter power over their desires and cuts calories as well). She also recommends a "no breakfast" or "no lunch" plan as a way to reduce calories. My current intermittent fasting plan includes no breakfast days as well as no dinner days.
Like my 1967 macrobiotic diet, she recommends mastication. And water, lots of it.
The rest is all about counting calories. So, what's new?
She is writing in 1918 during WWII and she hopes that by spending less money on food by dieting, her readers can contribute to the war effort. "Food will win the war... WATCH OUT WEIGHT," she admonishes her readers.
For the fifth edition in 1922 Dr. Peters adds some recipes to fill out the little book. She also mentions that "every once in a while you will hear that the caloric theory has been exploded. Then she adds, "there is no caloric "theory." Calories are simply units for measurement...".
All in all the advice from Dr. Lulu Hunt Peters is strikingly similar to diet advice that has been popular for the last 100 years. Now we have new theories to back up the advice, and we have names for all the vitamins. We understand hormones and counter-regulatory hormones and we have drugs that can augment "willpower," but the idea of calories in and calories out remains hard to dismiss.
I gave the book five stars because it is so delightful to read. Enjoy.
January 20, 2022
Free thinking kooky misinterpretation of nutrition
I like the method for determining the ideal body weight, and I especially like that there is no variance permitted. However, this whole book is for women alone. Men are intentionally excluded, and rightly so.
Any man reading this work would be properly angry! The authoress accuses her husband of wanting her to be fat, of liking fat women. Well, rightfully so! Scrawny women are less fertile, and even when they have children, the mother’s milk is less nutritious and nursing hinders the mother’s health! Also, buy today’s standards, this woman had a BMI of 25.8 on her wedding day. That’s technically overweight, but hardly so. Her ideal body weight by her calculations, should be 148.5 pound, on the upper end of our healthy bmi calculation.
While this book is interesting in a historical context, keep in mind, CiCo works, just as she claims, but it doesn’t accurately reflect a woman’s nutrition needs, and her addendum, included “by request of her publisher “ is beyond defective. She advocates a very low protein, high carbohydrate diet. Fortunately, real fats, like butter are allowed, and oils, being unavailable, aren’t indicated. That might be the only healthy part!
This book, really, in my opinion, is offensive, denying the high calling of motherhood. It also advocates emasculating one’s husband, by questioning his ability and willingness to provide for his family. It isn’t that women cannot or should not think for themselves, they should. But it destroys families for a wife and mother to oppose her husband. Besides no children need to overthink their food. It causes eating disorders, including overweight, which the diet Mrs. Peters follows causes.
I like the method for determining the ideal body weight, and I especially like that there is no variance permitted. However, this whole book is for women alone. Men are intentionally excluded, and rightly so.
Any man reading this work would be properly angry! The authoress accuses her husband of wanting her to be fat, of liking fat women. Well, rightfully so! Scrawny women are less fertile, and even when they have children, the mother’s milk is less nutritious and nursing hinders the mother’s health! Also, buy today’s standards, this woman had a BMI of 25.8 on her wedding day. That’s technically overweight, but hardly so. Her ideal body weight by her calculations, should be 148.5 pound, on the upper end of our healthy bmi calculation.
While this book is interesting in a historical context, keep in mind, CiCo works, just as she claims, but it doesn’t accurately reflect a woman’s nutrition needs, and her addendum, included “by request of her publisher “ is beyond defective. She advocates a very low protein, high carbohydrate diet. Fortunately, real fats, like butter are allowed, and oils, being unavailable, aren’t indicated. That might be the only healthy part!
This book, really, in my opinion, is offensive, denying the high calling of motherhood. It also advocates emasculating one’s husband, by questioning his ability and willingness to provide for his family. It isn’t that women cannot or should not think for themselves, they should. But it destroys families for a wife and mother to oppose her husband. Besides no children need to overthink their food. It causes eating disorders, including overweight, which the diet Mrs. Peters follows causes.
April 8, 2022
1918, con 2 milioni di copie vendute, Lulu Hunt Peters pubblica quello che viene considerato il primo libro bestseller a tema dieta.
Mi capita davvero di rado di non avere un’idea chiara sulla valutazione di un libro.
Il testo di L. H. Peters se letto secondo il modo di pensare odierno è profondamente sbagliato e offensivo: l’autrice sostiene di essere stata grassa a causa del marito, in quanto “a lui piacciono giustamente le donne grasse, perché sono più fertili e il loro latte materno è più nutriente di quello delle donne magre”.
Ecco, affermazioni come questa funzionano solo se contestualizzate a quel preciso momento storico.
Inoltre, alche il calcolo del BMI è sbagliato in quanto, secondo l’autrice, il suo peso ideale sarebbe al limite superiore di quello che oggi noi consideriamo normopeso.
Ciò che forse mi fa un po’ rabbia è che L. H. Peters con questo libro ha posto le basi della nostra cultura dietetica e di quella febbre malsana del contare le calorie di ogni singolo alimento, sempre, perché se non calcoli le calorie non puoi alimentarti in modo sano.
Mi capita davvero di rado di non avere un’idea chiara sulla valutazione di un libro.
Il testo di L. H. Peters se letto secondo il modo di pensare odierno è profondamente sbagliato e offensivo: l’autrice sostiene di essere stata grassa a causa del marito, in quanto “a lui piacciono giustamente le donne grasse, perché sono più fertili e il loro latte materno è più nutriente di quello delle donne magre”.
Ecco, affermazioni come questa funzionano solo se contestualizzate a quel preciso momento storico.
Inoltre, alche il calcolo del BMI è sbagliato in quanto, secondo l’autrice, il suo peso ideale sarebbe al limite superiore di quello che oggi noi consideriamo normopeso.
Ciò che forse mi fa un po’ rabbia è che L. H. Peters con questo libro ha posto le basi della nostra cultura dietetica e di quella febbre malsana del contare le calorie di ogni singolo alimento, sempre, perché se non calcoli le calorie non puoi alimentarti in modo sano.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews