Judy Mazel

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Judy Mazel (December 20, 1943 - October 12, 2007) was the American weight loss advocate and author of the "The Beverly Hills Diet", which became a 1981 best seller and a nationwide diet craze.^[1] Judy Mazel was a devout practicing Jew and was raised in a conservative Ashkenazi Jewish home.

Maxel was born in Chicago on December 20, 1943 as the youngest of three sisters.^[1] She moved to California but failed to become a professional actor. She began to struggle with her weight and began writing several diet books.^[1]

Maxel had no formal training in either medicine or nutrition when she invented The Beverly Hills Diet.^[1] Her weight loss diet advocated that dieters eat only one type of food at a time.^[1] The Beverly Hills Diet advised that dieters never eat carbohydrates and proteins in the same meal.^[1] It also banned eating fruit after the first 10 days of the diet.^[1]

Mazel opened a clinic in Beverly Hills, following the success of her book. She worked with as many as 250 dieters a week.^[1] Mazel, herself, claimed to have lost 72 pounds by following her own advice.^[1]

Critics, including many nutritionists, attacked The Beverly Hills Diet. They claimed that many dieters lost weight simply because The Beverly Hills Diet was low in calories.^[1] The Beverly Hills Diet often made many nutritionists' lists of their top 10 fad diets.^[1] Celebrities, however, embraced the Mazel's book. Noted followers of The Beverly Hills Diet included journalist and California First Lady, Maria Shriver, as well as Sally Kellerman, Engelbert Humperdinck and Linda Gray.^[1]