Exploring What Was the Original Low-Carb Diet?

December 18, 2025 •

4 min read

The first widely documented low-carbohydrate diet dates back to the mid-19th century, not the 1970s as many believe. Answering the question of what was the original low-carb diet requires traveling back to 1863, when an obese undertaker published a pamphlet that would influence generations of dieters. This foundational diet set the stage for virtually all modern low-carb eating plans.

Quick Summary

The original low-carb diet was popularized by William Banting in the 1860s, a century before Dr. Atkins, emphasizing meat, fish, and vegetables while limiting starches and sugar. Subsequent versions include the ketogenic diet for epilepsy and later mainstream weight-loss plans.

Key Points

Origin of Low-Carb: The first documented low-carb diet was the 'Banting' diet, popularized by William Banting's 1863 pamphlet Letter on Corpulence.
Banting's Method: The original low-carb diet was a high-protein, high-fat regimen that eliminated sugar, starches, and processed grains, focusing on meat, fish, and greens.
Ketogenic Diet's Start: The medically-supervised ketogenic diet, developed in the 1920s to treat childhood epilepsy, predates Atkins and has a distinct purpose from Banting's weight-loss plan.
Atkins' Modernization: Dr. Robert Atkins popularized the low-carb diet for the modern era with his 1972 book, introducing a phased approach to carbohydrate restriction.
Contemporary Offshoots: Banting's and Atkins' concepts led to modern variations like Paleo, modern Keto, and LCHF (Low-Carb, High-Fat) diets.
Historical Controversy: Low-carb diets, including Banting's, have historically faced skepticism from the medical community, a trend that continues today regarding long-term health implications.
Core Principle: Across all versions, the central tenet remains the restriction of carbohydrates to encourage the body to burn alternative fuel sources, such as fat.

The Banting Letter: The True Origin of Low-Carb

In 1863, a London undertaker named William Banting published a pamphlet titled Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public detailing his success with a diet prescribed by his surgeon, William Harvey. Banting, who stood 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighed 202 pounds and was struggling with poor health. After adhering to Harvey's advice to avoid sugar, starches, and fats, he lost 46 pounds over a year, prompting him to share his method with the public. His approach, which became known as 'Banting,' is widely considered the first recognized low-carb diet.

Banting's plan focused on consuming a high-protein, high-fat, very-low-carbohydrate diet. The key was to avoid certain categories of food entirely. This was a radical departure from the common eating habits of the era. He documented his daily intake, which was centered around meat, fish, and green vegetables, with limited portions of wine. The core principle was that the body's fat stores could be burned for energy by restricting the intake of starches and sugars.

Banting's Restricted Food List

Banting was quite specific about which foods to eliminate or severely limit:

Sugar and sweets
Starchy vegetables like potatoes
Bread and other grains
Beer and other sugary alcoholic drinks
Milk and some dairy products

In essence, Banting's diet provided a simple, easy-to-understand framework for weight management, and its public dissemination sparked the first true low-carb movement.

The Ketogenic Diet's Medical Roots

While Banting introduced the low-carb concept for weight loss, the ketogenic diet, a more restrictive form of low-carb, has a different origin. In the 1920s, doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital developed a high-fat, low-carb, moderate-protein diet to treat children with epilepsy. The diet was found to reduce seizures by forcing the body to use fat for energy instead of glucose, a metabolic state known as ketosis. Unlike Banting's plan, which was primarily a weight-loss method, this early ketogenic diet was a therapeutic tool under strict medical supervision. This original application highlights that low-carb approaches have a long history in the medical field, not just as a tool for reducing body mass.

The Rebirth of Low-Carb: Dr. Atkins and Beyond

Decades later, in 1972, cardiologist Dr. Robert Atkins published Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution, reintroducing the low-carb concept to a new, modern audience. Atkins' diet, while based on the same fundamental principles of carbohydrate restriction, was structured into distinct phases:

Phase 1 (Induction): A very strict, short-term phase to initiate weight loss by severely limiting carbohydrates to under 20 grams per day.
Phase 2 (Ongoing Weight Loss): Gradual reintroduction of select carbohydrates like nuts, seeds, and berries.
Phase 3 (Pre-Maintenance): Closer to the goal weight, with further increases in carb intake to determine a personal threshold.
Phase 4 (Maintenance): Long-term, sustainable eating based on the individual's carbohydrate tolerance.

Atkins' approach, with its phased structure and targeted marketing, made the low-carb diet a household name and a permanent fixture in the diet industry. It moved the concept from a niche medical treatment and a historical anecdote to a mainstream consumer phenomenon.

Evolution into Today's Low-Carb Movements

The low-carb idea has continued to evolve and splinter into various modern dietary movements. The Paleo diet emerged from the idea of eating like our Stone Age ancestors, eliminating grains and processed foods, which naturally leads to a lower carbohydrate intake. The modern ketogenic diet is a refined version of the 1920s therapy, now primarily used for weight loss and improved metabolic health. Other variations like LCHF (Low-Carb, High-Fat) and the South Beach diet have also adopted and adapted the core principle of restricting carbohydrates.

Low-Carb Diet Comparison Table


Feature	Banting Diet (c. 1863)	Atkins Diet (c. 1972)	Modern Ketogenic Diet
Primary Goal	Weight Loss	Weight Loss	Therapeutic (epilepsy), Weight Loss
Carb Restriction	Severe (but not quantified)	Quantified, Phased Reduction	Very Low (~20-50g/day)
Protein Intake	Moderate	Unrestricted (early versions)	Moderate
Fat Intake	High	Unrestricted (early versions)	Very High
Food Focus	Meat, Fish, Green Veg	Meat, Fish, Eggs, Veg	High-Fat Meats, Fats, Nuts, Seeds, Low-Carb Veg
Structure	General guidelines	Structured phases	Strict macronutrient ratios

Criticisms and Controversies Over Time

The low-carb diet has faced controversy throughout its history, and skepticism from the medical community is not a recent phenomenon. Early versions, including Banting's, were criticized for their high fat and protein content, potentially raising concerns about heart health. In the 20th century, the rise of the low-fat movement positioned low-carb diets as counterintuitive and potentially harmful. Modern versions face scrutiny regarding long-term sustainability, potential nutritional deficiencies (especially fiber), and side effects like the "keto flu". The debate persists, with research yielding conflicting results on long-term health outcomes, emphasizing the need for individualized dietary approaches. A comprehensive narrative review of low-carb diets, their efficacy, and safety concerns is available [PMC article on LCD] (https://pmc.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8066770/).

Conclusion: The Enduring Legacy of Low-Carb

From a London undertaker's personal health quest to a global mainstream diet phenomenon, the low-carb story is a testament to the enduring appeal of this dietary principle. What was the original low-carb diet—William Banting's 1863 plan—laid the conceptual groundwork, emphasizing reduced carbohydrate intake to address weight issues. The subsequent development of the ketogenic diet for epilepsy further solidified the medical basis, while Robert Atkins's phased approach brought the concept to the masses. The legacy continues today in the form of Paleo, Keto, and LCHF diets, which all trace their lineage back to these historical milestones. The evolution of low-carb diets shows how a simple idea can be refined and re-marketed over time, always sparking a mix of fervent adherence and scientific debate.

Frequently Asked Questions

William Banting was a London undertaker in the 19th century who popularized the first low-carb diet for weight loss through a widely circulated pamphlet. His diet became known as 'Banting's diet' and is the historical ancestor of modern low-carb plans.

The original Banting diet forbade sugar and sweet substances, starchy vegetables like potatoes, bread and grains, beer, and milk. The focus was on protein and fat from meat and fish, with minimal carbs from green vegetables.

The Banting diet was a set of general guidelines from the 1860s, while the Atkins diet was a more structured, phased plan from the 1970s. Both focused on reducing carbs, but Atkins quantified carb intake and systematically added foods back, making it more prescriptive.

No, while similar in principle, they are different. The ketogenic diet originated as a medical therapy for epilepsy in the 1920s and requires very strict macronutrient ratios to achieve ketosis. Banting's diet was a less rigid, non-medical plan for weight loss.

The Banting diet was based on advice from a surgeon, William Harvey, and was widely adopted, but faced skepticism in the medical community of its time. The subsequent ketogenic diet of the 1920s was, however, developed specifically by medical professionals for a therapeutic purpose.

Low-carb diets experienced a resurgence in the 1970s with Dr. Robert Atkins' book, which marketed the concept directly to the public as a revolutionary new weight-loss method. His promotional efforts and structured plan brought the idea back into the mainstream.

The low-carb concept has evolved from Banting's simple restrictions to Atkins' phased plan, and into modern variations like the Paleo diet (ancestral eating), the stricter modern ketogenic diet (focused on ketosis), and the LCHF (Low-Carb, High-Fat) lifestyle.