{{Short description|Type of diet}} {{for|the "Weird Al" Yankovic song|Running with Scissors ("Weird Al" Yankovic album)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}} {{Use American English|date=March 2023}} thumb|1929 article on the 18-Day Diet The '''Grapefruit diet''' (also known as the '''Hollywood diet''' and the '''18-Day diet''') is a short-term fad diet that has existed in the United States since at least the 1930s.<ref name="ivillage p1-2">{{cite web|url=http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/diet-fitness/grapefruit.html|title=Grapefruit diets|last=Grieger|first=Lynn|date=2007-11-08|work=Your Total Health|publisher=iVillage|pages=1–2|access-date=2009-03-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090409065141/http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/diet-fitness/grapefruit.html|archive-date=2009-04-09|url-status=dead}}</ref> There are variations on the diet, although it generally consists of eating one half of a grapefruit at each meal, along with meat, eggs, other foods that are rich in fat and protein, and certain vegetables. Sugar, fruits (other than grapefruit), sweet vegetables, grains and starchy vegetables are to be avoided. The grapefruit diet is thus a low-carbohydrate diet. A typical breakfast menu usually includes bacon and eggs. The diet is based on the claim that grapefruit has a fat-burning enzyme or similar property. The grapefruit diet does not require exercise. The grapefruit diet lasts for 10 to 12 days followed by 2 days off.
==History==
The grapefruit diet originated in the 1930s.<ref name="Williams2013">{{cite book|author=William F. Williams|title=Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: From Alien Abductions to Zone Therapy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vH1EAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT135|date=2 December 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-95522-9|page=135}}</ref> initially, it was referred to as the "eighteen-day diet" in 1929 , consisting of grapefruit, orange, toast, vegetable and egg combinations for 18 days, totaling approximately {{convert|500|kcal}}.<ref name="Addison 2003">{{cite book |last=Addison |first=Heather |year=2003 |title=Hollywood and the Rise of Physical Culture |publisher=Routledge |page=39 |isbn=9780415946766 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JaKF7CABtKgC&pg=PA39 }}</ref> The originator of the diet is not known. One rumour traces the diet to actress Ethel Barrymore, who is alleged to have paid William James Mayo and his brother 500 dollars ({{Inflation|US|500|1930|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) to create a special diet for her.<ref name="Addison 2003"/> The diet then became a fad in Hollywood and spread throughout America.<ref name="Addison 2003"/> The Mayo Clinic has disavowed the grapefruit diet.<ref>Buchwald, Henry; Cowan, George S. M; Pories, Walter J. (2007). ''Surgical Management of Obesity''. Elsevier. p. 84. {{ISBN|978-1-4160-0089-1}}</ref>
Novelist Fannie Hurst was a notable devotee of the diet.<ref>[https://sites.utexas.edu/ransomcentermagazine/2009/12/08/fellows-find-fannie-hurst-and-diets/ "Fellows Find: Fannie Hurst and Diets"]. Ransom Center Magazine. Retrieved 4 January, 2020.</ref> It was re-popularized in the 1980s and nicknamed the "10-day, 10-pounds-off diet".<ref name="clinical">{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Keith B.|author2=Anthony|others=Luean E.|title=Clinical Nutrition|publisher=McGraw-Hill|date=1983|pages=170|isbn=0-07-063185-9|quote=The Grapefruit Diet: Another name for this diet is the "10-day, 10-pounds- off diet." The premise of this diet is that grapefruit eaten before each meal acts as a "catalyst" to burn body fat and thereby causes hastened weight loss. This claim has no support from a biochemical standpoint and cannot be substantiated.}}</ref> The idea that grapefruit eaten before a meal acts as a "catalyst" to burn body fat has no evidence from biochemistry.<ref name="clinical"/>
==Health risks==
The diet was criticized as early as 1935.<ref name="Malmberg 1935">Malmberg, Carl. (1935). [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003489162&view=1up&seq=105 ''Diet and Die'']. Hillman-Curl, Inc. pp. 99-100</ref> Carl Malmberg commented that it lacks in all the necessary minerals (calcium, phosphorus and iron) and in vitamin A. He noted that many people became ill on the diet and "casualties" were heavy around Hollywood.<ref name="Malmberg 1935"/> In 1936, Lewis Wolberg described the diet as "nonsensical, irrational and even dangerous".<ref>Wolberg, Lewis. (1936). [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89043225358&view=1up&seq=144 ''The Psychology of Eating'']. New York: R. M. McBride & Company. p. 128</ref>
The variations of the grapefruit diet that are too low in calories (below 800–1,000 calories a day), too low in carbohydrates, or too low in essential micronutrients are considered unhealthy and potentially dangerous.<ref name="AOL">{{cite web|url=http://www.aolhealth.com/diet/grapefruit-diet/review|title=Grapefruit Diet Review|last=Asp|first=Karen|publisher=AOL Health|access-date=2009-03-23|archive-date=December 14, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091214214017/http://www.aolhealth.com/diet/grapefruit-diet/review|url-status=dead}}</ref> While eating half a grapefruit with every meal may be a good way to incorporate more fruit in the diet of a healthy person, grapefruit and grapefruit juice is harmful if the dieter is allergic to citrus, or is taking medicines that can interact with grapefruit juice.<ref name="ivillage p3">{{cite web|url=http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/diet-fitness/grapefruit.html|title=Grapefruit diets|last=Grieger|first=Lynn|date=2007-11-08|work=Your Total Health|publisher=iVillage|pages=3|access-date=2009-03-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090409065141/http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/diet-fitness/grapefruit.html|archive-date=2009-04-09|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="health.com">{{cite web|url=http://eating.health.com/2008/04/18/the-grapefruit-diet/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530154233/http://eating.health.com/2008/04/18/the-grapefruit-diet/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-05-30|title=The Grapefruit Diet|last=Callahan|first=Maureen|publisher=Health.com|access-date=2009-03-23}}</ref> This diet will not be beneficial to anyone when followed long-term, as the extremely low calorie intake could lead to malnutrition and many health problems.
== See also == * List of diets § Fad diets
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-grapefruit-diet WebMD Grapefruit Diet Page]
{{Fad diets}}
Category:Grapefruit Category:Fad diets Category:Low-carbohydrate diets Category:Pseudoscience