Have you ever heard of the Beverly Hills diet? It is a diet plan which, like any other, focuses on losing weight – but only in a different way.

Can this diet be suitable for you? How effective can this diet regime be in helping you lose weight? This post gives you the answers. Keep reading to know more.

The Beverly Hills Diet – An Overview:

The Beverly Hills Diet was made popular by Judy Mazel (1). It is a 35-day diet, which was introduced in 1981. Later, a modified version of the diet was also revealed. It requires you to eat fruits exclusively for ten days and use various types of food separately and in a planned manner to lose weight.

History Of The Beverly Hills Diet:

Mazel said that it is not foods, but the way foods are eaten that makes people fat. She developed the diet with the theory that you could lose weight by eating food in the right order. The diet helps you retrain your digestive system with the consumption of fruits (2).By adhering to a combination of protein, fats, and carbohydrates, you can shed 15 pounds in just 5 weeks, according to Mazel.

Mazel struggled with her weight since childhood and was told by doctors that nothing could be done about it. She tried to lose weight with other diets, all of which failed to work. While recuperating from a skiing accident in her 20s, she read about the nuances of metabolism and role of foods. This prompted her to develop the diet and write a book on it. She developed it with a nutritionist, and it helped her shed over thirty kilos. She remained in shape after that too. The original book sold like hotcakes and the revised version was brought out in 1996. She also wrote a cookbook later to aid the followers of the diet. She became popular with the publication of the book on the diet and got several celebrity clients after opening a weight loss center in LA.

Nuances Of The Beverly Hills Diet:

As per the Beverly Hills Diet, foods are categorized into the following groups:

• Fruits: Carbohydrates with fast digestive attributes
• Fats: Avoiding saturated and animal fat is necessary as they slow down digestion
• Protein: Derived mostly from meat, dairy, and a few vegetable sources

Order Of Eating:

Mazel wrote in her book that when your digestion happens properly, foods you eat get metabolized well, leaving no room for fat accumulation in the body. The diet advises you not to mix carbs and protein while eating. It results in slower absorption and accumulation of fat in the body. Fat can be eaten with other groups except fruits.

As per this diet, fruits should be taken alone and before everything in a day. To get the desired results, individual fruits should be eaten separately. After starting a day with fruits, you can eat carbohydrates. It can be followed by protein. However, once you change to the food group, you cannot eat from the previous group on the same day. A gap of 2 hours is required before you can eat from a different food group.

Foods You Can Eat:

While adhering to the Beverly Hills diet, it is important that you stick to the specified foods for each day. For the first 35 days, you will be eating more fruits than anything else. There is a chart for which fruits should be eaten on specific days.

There are all-protein days, but those days are few. After the 35-day duration, the followers can eat more freely. However, they should adhere to the basic rules of this diet to benefit in the long run. The stress remains on eating fruits at the beginning of the day and not combining specific food types with another. You cannot eat many types of fruits at the same time either.

For example, the protein can be mixed with fat, but not with any carb. Carbohydrates can be mixed with fat.

Quirky Aspects Of Beverly Hills Diet:

Unlike some other diets, the Beverly Hills diet does not restrict the followers from consuming alcohol. While most alcoholic beverages are taken as carbohydrates under this diet, red and white wine is categorized as fruits. Champagne is deemed as neutral, and you can have it with all other food types.

Under this diet, there is nothing like portion control. As long as you do not mix food categories, there are no portion restrictions. Mazel says you should not include margarine, additives, and artificial sweeteners. Consuming diet drinks is also prohibited in this diet plan.

Mazel has not said anything specifically on combining the diet regime with workouts.

Modifications Introduced In The New Version:

The original version of this diet was met with strong criticism from the medical community and diet experts. Later, Mazel introduced some changes in the plan which made it more flexible and easier to follow. Originally, the followers were asked to eat just fruits for ten days at the beginning. Also, it did not allow any animal protein based food till the 19^th day. The modified version requires the followers to eat only some fruits on particular days. In the new version, some amount of carbohydrates and vegetables are included in the first week.

Advantages Of The Beverly Hills Diet:

• This diet helps you lose weight fast. On an average, you can lose 9 kg in 35 days.
• When following this diet, you end up eating very few foods with artificial substances.
• The fruit-heavy diet helps in detoxifying the body to an extent.
• Eating fresh fruits and vegetables offers your body with high antioxidant quotients.
• It involves few foods with harmful fat, and so your body gets rid of trans-fat.

Drawbacks Of The Beverly Hills Diet:

As a matter of fact, the Beverly Hills Diet met with scathing criticism since its debut in the 1980s. The American Medical Association lambasted the original diet asking physicians to stop people from trying it. It was called a fad diet by the AMA.

The critics say it allows protein, but followers are advised to take protein irregularly and in small amounts. This can lead to a protein deficit in the long run and lead to several health problems. It can also cause vitamin deficits.

While following the diet, you are required to eat only fruits on some days. Eating only fruits can lead to the onset of diarrhea. Besides, people who are allergic to specific foods and fruits mentioned in the diet will not be able to adhere to it. Another concern is it can cause the blood pressure levels to fall drastically.

Even in the Beverly Hills diet’s website, which is not active anymore, precautions are mentioned. It is not deemed as suitable for breastfeeding and pregnant women. People with irritable bowel disease forms are not suited for it either.

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by Renold Rajan via STYLECRAZE