Back in Time Today
The 1970s weren’t just about disco, bell bottoms, and lava lamps—they were also a golden age of weird, wild, and downright dangerous diet fads. In a decade obsessed with thinness and instant results, people were willing to try just about anything to drop a few pounds. Some trends bordered on science fiction, while others were just plain unhealthy. Here are 20 of the most outrageous diet fads of the ’70s—ending with the one that took things way too far: the infamous Grapefruit Diet.
1. The Cookie Diet
Why eat real food when you could snack your way to skinny? Dr. Sanford Siegal’s Cookie Diet involved eating specially formulated “meal replacement” cookies several times a day. Dieters swore by it, but nutritionists were horrified.
2. The Wine and Eggs Diet
Yes, this was real—and even published in a magazine. You’d have one egg and a glass of wine for breakfast, more eggs and wine for lunch, and—you guessed it—wine for dinner. Moderation? Never heard of it.
3. The Sleeping Beauty Diet
Made famous by Elvis, this “diet” encouraged heavy sedation to sleep through meals. The logic? If you’re unconscious, you won’t eat. Doctors strongly disagreed.
4. The Cabbage Soup Diet
This low-calorie plan had people guzzling bowls of watery cabbage soup for every meal. You’d drop weight fast—mostly water—but at the cost of taste, nutrition, and probably your sanity.
5. The Drinking Man’s Diet
A bachelor’s dream, this diet let you enjoy steak, whiskey, and martinis—so long as you skipped the bread and carbs. It was basically Atkins meets Mad Men.
6. The Banana and Skim Milk Diet
Popularized by 1970s magazine spreads, this short-term diet involved eating nothing but bananas and skim milk. Not surprisingly, it lacked pretty much every essential nutrient.
7. The Celery and Peanut Butter Diet
This one had a bit more balance, but it was still odd. You’d eat celery sticks with a dab of peanut butter as your main sustenance. Low calorie, yes—but also low everything else.
8. The Raw Egg Diet
Inspired by Rocky, some believed chugging raw eggs in the morning would kick-start metabolism and weight loss. Unfortunately, it mostly kick-started salmonella outbreaks.
9. The Rice Diet
Initially designed to treat kidney disease, this ultra-low-sodium plan morphed into a weight loss craze. The menu? Rice, fruit, and not much else.
10. The Pineapple Diet
Like the grapefruit plan, this tropical twist had dieters eating pineapple at every meal. Too much of the acidic fruit led to ulcers and a strong hatred for pineapple.
11. The Hollywood Diet
Touted by starlets, this plan centered around fruit juice cleanses and eating very little. It promised rapid weight loss but left many feeling faint and fatigued.
12. The Watermelon Diet
Another mono-food miracle. Devotees claimed eating only watermelon could detox the body and melt fat. In reality, it just left you hungry and running to the bathroom.
13. The Ice Cream Diet
Sounds like a dream, right? Some versions of this diet claimed that including a scoop of ice cream in a low-calorie plan helped with “calcium-induced” weight loss. Sadly, science disagrees.
14. The Steak and Grapefruit Diet
A mashup of meat-heavy and citrus-heavy diets, this plan paired grapefruit with every protein-rich meal. The logic was murky, the results even murkier.
15. The Apple Cider Vinegar Diet
Long before it was trendy on TikTok, 1970s dieters drank vinegar before meals believing it curbed appetite. It mainly curbed stomach comfort.
16. The Alkaline Ash Diet
Based on the idea that certain foods leave behind “acidic ash,” this diet restricted acidic items in favor of “alkaline” ones. It was pseudoscience then—and still is today.
17. The Peanut Butter Diet
Popularized in some women’s magazines, this plan pushed peanut butter as a protein-packed meal base. While it wasn’t the worst idea, portion control was rarely emphasized.
18. The Apple-Only Diet
Apples for breakfast, apples for lunch, apples for dinner. It was the original cleanse… and proof that too much of a good thing really is too much.
19. The Ice Diet
Some people believed that eating ice burned calories, since the body had to “heat it up.” Technically true—practically useless.
20. The Grapefruit Diet
No diet dominated the ’70s quite like this one. The Grapefruit Diet promised fast weight loss by eating grapefruit before every meal, based on the claim that it had a “fat-burning enzyme.” Often paired with eggs, bacon, and minimal carbs, it became a Hollywood favorite. But the science was shaky, the calories were dangerously low, and extended use caused nutritional deficiencies. It went from fad to phenomenon—then quickly to flop.