How far would you go to lose weight? Would you let a 15-foot tapeworm live in your stomach in order to shed those unwanted pounds? The Tyra Show recently featured two women who would.

Click on the video above to see what a tapeworm looks like.

Chalk it up to shock TV, but it's true that some people become so desperate when traditional diets fail that they are willing to swallow a parasite to consume their extra calories. While this is arguably one of the most extreme methods of losing weight, it's actually nothing new. Ads dating back to the late 1800's feature a woman promoting the "easy to swallow, sanitized" tapeworms in order to lose weight without diet or exercise. Sounds like a magic diet pill -- eat whatever you want and still lose weight. Except this is no pill. It's the same parasite found in undercooked meat and seafood that can make people extremely ill.

In case you're not totally grossed out yet, here is how the tapeworm diet works: People ingest a tapeworm cyst from a cow (some come from pigs and fish too, but those are considered more dangerous). The tapeworm then grows inside the digestive tract absorbing calories from your body, which can result in losing one to two pounds a week. Once the target weight is lost, an antibiotic is taken to get rid of the tapeworm.

Last night, my fiance and I sat down and watched an episode of The Biggest Loser. I tell you, what a great show that is. The amount of weight the contestants have lost so far has been nothing short of astonishing. The program truly is a testament to how effective exercise and proper diet can be in helping to shape a healthier body.

What's equally refreshing about the show is that it does not pull any punches. It makes it quite clear; if you want to get into better shape, you have to work HARD. At no point did I see any of the trainers pushing any quick-fix diet solutions or pills on the contestants. Do you know why? Because 99.9 percent of those quick-fix diets are completely ineffective, that's why.

A great article was brought to my attention by a reader, highlighting The 25 Most Ridiculous (and Ineffective) Popular Diets. Click HERE to read the full article, which was published this past Tuesday on RNCentral.com. Or, just take a quick look below at how they ranked each diet.

1. The Atkins Diet

2. The Subway Diet

3. Cabbage Soup Diet

4. The Tapeworm Diet

5. The Cereal Diet

6. The Low-Fat Diet

7. Hallelujah Diet

8. South Beach Diet

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