The New Beverly Hills Diet Rules
As with the original diet, the main concept of the New Beverly Hills Diet is âfood combining.â
Judy Mazel, the dietâs creator, states that it is not what you eat or in what quantity that leads to weight gain, but rather when and in what combination food is eaten. She claims that combining the wrong foods together leads to inefficient digestion, which then triggers weight gain. Dieters are told that they can expect to lose around 10-15 pounds in the first 35 days of the program.
During the 35-day initiation plan, you will eat mostly fruit. There are also some âall proteinâ days and a few days when you can eat whatever you like.
After the five-week induction phase is over, dieters are instructed to follow Mazelâs four âconscious combiningâ principles:
1. Fruit must be eaten alone at all times
2. Protein can be combined with fat, but not carbohydrates
3. Carbohydrates can be combined with fat, but not protein
4. Most alcoholic beverages are carbohydrates: wine should be treated as fruit and champagne is âneutralâ (so it can be consumed with any type of food)
Moreover, Mazel recommends that everyone begin each day with an âenzymatic fruitâ such as a prune, apricot, pineapple, or persimmon. She also claims that certain fruits have weight-loss enhancing properties: papaya is said to soften fat in the body, pineapple burns off the fat and watermelon flushes it out of the body.
In terms of protein: once youâve eaten a protein food, 80% of what you eat the rest of the day should also be protein.
Exercise is not a requirement of the diet, but Mazel does recognize the beneficial effects of physical activity to improve cardiovascular health and achieve emotional balance. She encourages followers to work out at least twice a week.
The New Beverly Hills Diet Menu
There is no calorie counting, and after the first five weeks, no portion control on the New Beverly Hills Diet. You can eat as much as you want as long as you follow the specific rules listed above.
Mazel does not prohibit any foods, but she does note that artificial sweeteners, additives, non-dairy creamer, margarine and other artificial butter should be avoided because they cause digestive problems.
This table explains how common foods are divided:
Category | Examples |
---|---|
Proteins | Beef, cheese, chicken, eggs, fish, flan, ice cream, milk, nuts, pork, seeds, shellfish, yogurt |
Fats | Butter, heavy cream, mayonnaise, oil, sour cream, whipped cream |
Carbohydrates | Fruits, vegetables, grains and alcohol |
50/50s (protein/carb) | Avocados, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, lentils, peanuts, soybeans |
Here is a sample menu:
- Breakfast: Unlimited fresh pineapple
- Lunch: Pasta with cheese, side salad of lettuce, tomato and cucumber
- Dinner: Chicken with soybeans and avocado
This menu features an all-fruit breakfast, which means you would need to wait at least one hour before eating any other fruit and at least two hours before eating any other food.
At lunchtime if you choose to eat protein this means that you cannot eat carbohydrates with it and you would also need to make the rest of your meals that day 80% protein, so the only way to consume carbohydrates is at lunchtime with fat or other carbs.
Dinner is most likely the meal where you would eat protein, but as you cannot eat this with carbohydrates, you could only combine this with the 50/50s or fats.
Beverly Hills Diet Pros and Cons
Pros
- Easy meal prep the during the five week initiation phase (mostly fruit)
- No calorie counting or portion estimation
- All foods are permitted
Cons
- Overly-restrictive and not suitable for people with diabetes
- Very low in calories, protein, essential fats and minerals during the first five weeks
- Based on unclear rules that make the diet confusing
- Not based in science or facts (no proof of efficacy)
- Not designed to produce any long-term behavioral change
This diet has many limitations and is based on theories with no scientific evidence. If food is not digested properly its calories cannot be used by the body, so the idea that undigested food makes people gain weight is incorrect.
Moreover, this plan is dangerously low in calories and lacking in many nutrients â especially during the initiation phase â and the principle of food combining makes social eating difficult. This diet will likely lead to weight loss, but only because of the plethora of confusing and restrictive rules.
The most successful diets are ones that you can stick with and make part of your lifestyle, so we do NOT recommend the New Beverly Hills Diet as a method for achieving healthy, sustainable weight loss.
Instead, Phen.com recommends a balanced diet and regular exercise to achieve weight loss goals. Combining a healthy, sustainable diet with our supplement, Phen Caps, will make your weight loss a more achievable AND sustainable goal.
References
Winchester Hospital. (n.d.). The New Beverly Hills Diet. Retrieved from https://www.winchesterhospital.org/health-library/article?id=205087
PagĂĄn, C. N. (2018, February 21). The New Beverly Hills Diet Review: Phases, Foods, & More. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/diet/a-z/new-beverly-hills-diet