Ridiculous History: A Ridiculous History of "Fad Diets," Part Two – Beverly Hills, Scarsdale and More

Podcast: Ridiculous History
Hosts: Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown
Date: January 8, 2026

Main Theme & Purpose

The episode continues Ridiculous History’s deep dive into the most outlandish, infamous, and sometimes dangerous fad diets from the 20th century through today. Picking up from their first installment on the topic, Ben and Noel chart the peculiar rise, cultural context, and surprising lore behind diets like the Scarsdale Diet, Beverly Hills Diet, Eggs and Wine Diet, and SlimFast, as well as reflections on why these quick-fix solutions persist and what they say about our societal relationship with food, health, and body image.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Cyclical Nature of Fad Diets

• Concept of the Fad Diet

  • Defined as "a popular dietary pattern that's often sold as a quick fix for obesity and marked by specific claims that rarely measure up scientifically."
    • (Ben, 05:23)
  • Fad is a term applied only in hindsight: “No one putting forth any of these diets would classify them as fads … it’s a pejorative.”
    • (Noel, 05:53)
  • As science on nutrition improves, some diets progress, but the appeal of extreme quick-fix solutions persists.

• Social Impact

  • Diet trends often align with beauty standards (e.g., return of “heroin chic”).
  • New diet drugs, like GLP-1s, are shifting the cultural approach but resemble old cycles of rapid weight-loss solutions.

The Scarsdale Diet: Aspiration and Tragedy

• Origins & Rules

  • Developed by cardiologist Dr. Herman Tarnower in 1978 for cardiovascular patients; promoted as “lose 20 pounds in two weeks” with strict 1,000-calorie days.
  • Banned foods: butter, pasta, beans (!), lentils, potatoes, sugar, salad dressing, alcohol.
    • (Ben, 11:34)
  • Sample menu: Lunch – “two eggs any style (but cooked with no fat), low-fat cottage cheese, zucchini, protein bread”; Dinner – “roast/broil/barbecue chicken, no skin or fat, unlimited spinach, green peppers, string beans.”
    • (13:02–15:01)

• Analysis

  • Hosts point out unsustainability and dangers of sub-1,000 calorie daily intakes: “That’s quite a restriction and not very sustainable.”
    • (Noel, 11:56)
  • Connection to status: Named for affluent Scarsdale, NY, linking weight loss to the wealthy elite.

• Real-Life Tragedy

  • Tarnower was murdered by his girlfriend, Jean Harris, in a sensational case with feminist and social overtones; the publicity ironically boosted the diet's fame.
    • (Ben/Noel, 18:29–19:23)

The Eggs and Wine Diet: The Flirty and the Farty

• Overview

  • Instructions: For 3 days, only eggs and wine (plus dinner steak) – "You are basically drinking at minimum a bottle of wine a day. Breakfast wine."
    • (Noel, 21:11)
  • Originated in the 1962 book Sex and the Single Girl and revived by Vogue in 1977.

• Rationale & Outcomes

  • "Alcohol makes the menu more palatable… The diet didn’t even promise major weight loss – only about five pounds in three days, mainly as crash-diet prep for events."
    • (Ben/Noel, 23:49)
  • Quote: “Even if you’re drunk off your ass by 11am and your farts smell of sulfur.” – Ren (Researcher, quoted by Ben, 24:24)

The Beverly Hills Diet: Pineapples, Celebs & Pseudoscience

• Origins

  • Created by Judy Mazel, a non-nutritionist, inspired by an "inner voice" telling her to buy cashews.
    • (Ben, 25:40)
  • Promoted elaborate food order rules and fruit-only for the first 10 days.

• Celebrity Endorsement

  • Gained popularity through stars like Linda Gray, Maria Shriver, Engelbert Humperdinck.

• Key Rules

  • “It’s not just the food you eat, it’s the order… You can only eat fruit for breakfast, and once you eat protein, no more fruit that day.”
    • (Ben/Noel, 28:30)
  • "10 days of just fruit, then add protein and a little carb as a treat."
    • (Ben, 29:04)
  • Champagne is ‘neutral’ - can be consumed with anything.
    • (Ben/Noel, 30:41–31:02)

• Risks

  • Unsurprisingly, led to digestive issues; dismissed by nutritionists as “quack science.”
  • Mazel persisted, building a career out of "nutritional advice" inspired by intuition rather than research.

SlimFast & The Rise of Meal Replacement Industry

• Origins & Marketing

  • Launched in the late 1970s; peaked in the 1980s-90s as a billion-dollar business.
    • (Noel, 33:33)
  • Early versions included “pre-digested liquid protein” (gross, quickly recalled for bacterial contamination).
  • Model: a shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch, and a “sensible dinner.”
  • Pivoted away from bodybuilders to a female mass market: “What if we sold this protein powder not to bodybuilders… but to regular people, especially women?”
    • (Ben, 38:38)

• Connection to Place-Name Diets

  • Cambridge Diet: ultra-low-calorie plan (330 calories/day!) sparked FDA warning, which SlimFast capitalized on by presenting itself as a safer, more rounded alternative.
    • (Noel, 39:33)

• Modern Equivalents

  • Soylent, Huel, and others echo the same shake-based, meal-replacement model today.

The Persistence of Fad Diets & Takeaway Messages

• Diet Trends Resurface
  • "By the 2000s, diets cycle away from medicalized shakes to ‘ancestral’ or ‘caveman’ eating patterns (paleo, etc.).”
    • (Ben, 42:10)
• Diversity of Needs
  • “Bodies are different. Some things work for some, not for others… Just try to be a little bit sensible.”
    • (Noel, 42:58)
• Psychological and Societal Pressures
  • “Be kind to yourself… Don’t let society foist expectations on you.”
    • (Ben, 42:58)
• Dangers of Quick Fixes
  • “When you run into a fad diet that seems too good to be true, history has proven it probably is.”
    • (Ben, 43:39–43:50)
  • The modern era is rife with misinformation and new 'miracle' supplements; the hosts warn listeners to pursue sustainable, scientifically-backed habits.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “A fad inherently is something that is a flash in the pan… no one would call their religion a cult necessarily. It’s a designation of… less than quality.”
  – Noel, 05:53

• “If you follow the Scarsdale Diet, says Herman, you can lose 20 pounds in two weeks — as long as you adhere strictly…”
  – Ben, 10:50

• “I was also surprised to see beans on the list.”
  – Ben, 12:37

• “You are basically drinking at minimum a bottle of wine a day. Breakfast wine.”
  – Noel, 21:11

• “The Egg and Wine Diet… even if you’re drunk off your ass by 11 AM and your farts smell of sulfur.”
  – Ren (via Ben), 24:24

• “Champagne is neutral. It can be consumed with anything.”
  – Ben/Noel, 31:02

• “It’s not just what you eat, it’s when you eat that matters… Back in the 1970s, there was an extreme version, the Scarsdale Diet — starving on purpose.”
  – Ben, 08:57

• “Just having that water bottle and drinking it instead of soda… has really made a huge difference in the way I feel.”
  – Noel, 01:49

• “When you run into a fad diet that seems too good to be true, history is proven it probably is.”
  – Ben, 43:39

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-------------|-----------------------------------------------| | 04:55 | Fad diet definition & history | | 10:35 | Scarsdale Diet rules and origins | | 15:01 | Full Scarsdale sample menu breakdown | | 18:29 | The Jean Harris murder scandal | | 20:24 | Eggs and Wine Diet explained | | 24:24 | Eggs and Wine recap: “flirty & farty” | | 25:40 | The Beverly Hills/Pineapple Diet intro | | 29:04 | Beverly Hills Diet food sequencing | | 30:41 | Champagne is diet ‘neutral’ | | 33:33 | SlimFast and the meal replacement boom | | 39:33 | Cambridge Diet, FDA warnings, SlimFast pivot | | 42:10 | Rise of ‘ancestral’ diets/paleo era | | 43:39 | Final reflections on social pressures/fads |

Tone & Language

Ben and Noel balance humor with skepticism, using playful asides and pop-culture references (from 50 Cent’s Vitamin Water hustle to Always Sunny’s “Fat Mac” season), but always circle back to tread lightly with listeners’ health. They lampoon the absurdities of the diets while urging self-compassion and skepticism.

Final Takeaways

• Fad diets are not new and usually overpromise, under-deliver, and cycle through history in new disguises.
• Many diets mix a grain of health truth with much unscientific or even dangerous advice.
• The human tendency for quick fixes and aspiration (to celebrity, wealth, thinness) fuels the endless fad diet churn.
• Listeners are urged to treat “miracle” solutions with skepticism, to be kind to themselves, and to seek sustainable, individualized health strategies.

For more on odd, entertaining, and sometimes dark historical rabbit holes, listen to Ridiculous History via iHeartPodcasts.