When I was growing up, I remember my mum using the phrase “I think he must have a tape worm.” to describe people who seemed to eat large amounts of food without putting on weight. Little did I think that several decades later, people would be voluntarily hosting tape worms in an attempt to lose weight. The idea is that you buy Taenia saginata tape worm eggs for around £55 each which then hatch in your gut and feed on the food you eat before it’s digested and stored as fat. When you’ve lost enough weight, you buy a Praziquantel tablet (no, I don’t know what it is either) to get rid of the worm.

The whole thing sounds horrific but it shows the lengths some  people are prepared to go to, in the quest to lose weight. If you’re looking for a ‘hungry market’ (literally!) you need look no further than this one.