Claim · 1890 · Arsenic slimming and complexion nostrums
Small regular doses of arsenic stimulate the system, carry off surplus flesh, and produce a slender figure.
The slimming claim, recorded by Zarzo and colleagues as the “arsenic diet” advertised to accelerate the metabolism. It is classified mechanism_only: the assertion rested on a vague notion that arsenic “stimulates” the system and burns flesh, with no measured endpoint. It is refuted: arsenic is a cumulative poison, not a fat-reducing agent, and any change in a habitual user reflected toxicity rather than a safe slimming effect. Whorton’s history documents arsenic taken for figure and complexion in the period; the modern toxicology is unambiguous that the substance does no such thing safely.
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Sources
- History of Slimming Diets up to the Late 1950s — Zarzo I, Boselli PM, Soriano JM. 'History of Slimming Diets up to the Late 1950s.' Obesities. 2022;2(2):115-126. doi:10.3390/obesities2020011.
- The Arsenic Century: How Victorian Britain Was Poisoned at Home, Work, and Play — Whorton JC. The Arsenic Century: How Victorian Britain Was Poisoned at Home, Work, and Play. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2010. ISBN 978-0-19-957470-4.