"This diet has been around since the 1930's and is also called the Hollywood Diet or the Mayo Diet. It was created as a short term, quick weight loss plan for persons needing to lose a large amount of weight quickly - for example, someone needing surgery but the person was 50 pounds over weight and that increased the risk of problems during surgery would use this diet to achieve quick weight loss. An actor or actress would use this diet to lose weight quickly for a role.

Some people suggest this diet was a forerunner for other plans such as the Atkins diet. Most versions were intended to be on for about a two week period, so many variations came about. It was recommended that if you wanted to stay on it longer, you still needed to go 'off' the diet for two days before starting the next 12-day cycle.

A sample menu would look like this:

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 2 slices or bacon, black coffee, ½ grapefruit or 8 ounces grapefruit juice
Lunch - salad with dressing, unlimited meat and ½ grapefruit or 8 ounces of grapefruit juice
Dinner - red or green vegetables (except starchy ones such as peas, beans, corn or sweet potatoes) or salad, unlimited fish or meat, and ½ grapefruit or 8 ounces grapefruit juice
Bedtime Snack: 8 ounces skim milk

Any food or drink not listed in the actual plan is not allowed. You can only snack after dinner the one time and you must drink 64 ounces of water every day. The diet consists of about 800-1000 calories, so at this low a calorie level, most people would lose weight with or without the grapefruit. The primary weight lost is water weight.

There is no explanation of the mysterious component (certain enzymes) in grapefruit that would not be in other citrus foods. It does not magically melt fat. There have been no studies conducted to support the idea that there is scientific evidence to back up this claim.

The diet is very restrictive. The lack of variety is likely to make a person go off of it in a short period of time and the weight will be gained back quickly since most of it is water weight anyway. And weight cycling like this can lead to long term weight control problems.

This diet is not recommended for anyone who needs long term results and a meal plan that provides a healthy balance of foods."

--Diane King, Registered Dietician
Certified Athletic Trainer
Sports Medicine Program
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta