Judy Mazel

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. cite news |first= |last= |title= Judy Mazel|url=http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries.asp?Page=APStory&Id=13584|work=Associated Press |publisher= |date=2007-10-27 |accessdate=2007-11-05] 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. She moved to California but failed to become a professional actor. She began to struggle with her weight and began writing several diet books.

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

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

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. The Beverly Hills Diet often made many nutritionists' lists of their top 10 fad diets. 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.

Judy Mazel died of peripheral vascular disease at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, on October 12, 2007. She was 63 and was a long-time resident of Pacific Palisades, California at the time of her death.

External links

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/27/health/nutrition/27mazel.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin New York Times: Judy Mazel, Creator of Best-Selling ‘Beverly Hills Diet,’ Is Dead at 63]
* [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-mazel26oct26,1,7140321.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california Los Angeles Times: Judy Mazel, 63; author of 'The Beverly Hills Diet']
* [http://www.palisadespost.com/content/index.cfm?Story_ID=3325 Palisadian-Post: Judy Mazel, 63, Diet Book Author]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/26/AR2007102602585.html Washington Post: Judy Mazel; Author of Best-Selling 'Beverly Hills Diet']

References