Marilyn Diamond, who with her husband at the time, Harvey Diamond, wrote a blockbuster 1985 diet book, “Fit For Life,” which attracted millions of adherents to their fruit-and-vegetable-based regimen but which also drew sharp criticism from the medical establishment, died on Sunday in Roanoke, Va. She was 81.
Her daughter, Lisa Lusk, said the death, at a care facility, was caused by complications of dementia.
“Fit for Life,” which spent some 35 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list, promoted a diet rich in fruits and vegetables with little or no meat, a regimen that nutritionists have long embraced. The book also presented ideas that were ahead of their time, like veganism, caloric restriction and drinking oat and nut milk to replace dairy.
Above all, the Diamonds emphasized the importance of diet to a person’s overall health; until then, dieting had primarily been seen as a means for weight loss.
But Mrs. Diamond and her husband, neither of whom had a conventional background in nutrition, drew critical responses from many health experts, who said that some of the Diamonds’ recommendations had no scientific basis, like alternating breathing between nostrils to balance the body’s energy or not drinking liquids with meals to enhance digestion.
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