Marilyn Diamond, Who Wrote a Blockbuster Diet Book, Dies at 81

Marilyn Diamond, who with her hubby astatine the time, Harvey Diamond, wrote a blockbuster 1985 fare book, “Fit For Life,” which attracted millions of adherents to their fruit-and-vegetable-based regimen but which besides drew crisp disapproval from the aesculapian establishment, died connected Sunday successful Roanoke, Va. She was 81.

Her daughter, Lisa Lusk, said the death, astatine a attraction facility, was caused by complications of dementia.

“Fit for Life,” which spent immoderate 35 weeks connected the New York Times best-seller list, promoted a fare affluent successful fruits and vegetables with small oregon nary meat, a regimen that nutritionists person agelong embraced. The publication besides presented ideas that were up of their time, similar veganism, caloric regularisation and drinking oat and seed beverage to regenerate dairy.

Above all, the Diamonds emphasized the value of fare to a person’s wide health; until then, dieting had chiefly been seen arsenic a means for value loss.

The mates besides promoted the conception that definite foods should not beryllium eaten unneurotic — for example, proteins and carbohydrates — because, they wrote, they “cannot digest efficiently successful the tummy astatine the aforesaid time.”

Among their astir contentious ideas was “natural hygiene” — that with a due fare the body, erstwhile afflicted by disease, could heal itself without the request for aesculapian intervention.

The publication offered “a dangerous, unbalanced, protein-deficient diet, based connected pseudoscientific nutritional principles,” Theodore Berland, a fare adept and a erstwhile president of the American Medical Writers Association, told The Ottawa Citizen successful 1986.

For amended oregon worse, galore of the book’s ideas, similar drinking earthy cow’s beverage oregon avoiding cooked foods, person go fashionable tenets successful immoderate parts of today’s wellness movement. So has the couple’s anti-establishment stance: They insisted that their credentialed critics were beholden to large concern and intent connected keeping Americans improperly nourished.

“The Diamonds show the aforesaid hatred toward wellness professionals that Al Capone had for lawmen,” 1 of their galore critics, the hematologist Victor Herbert, wrote successful 1988.

Such disapproval did not halt millions of Americans from pursuing “Fit for Life.” The mates became predominant guests of daytime tv speech shows, similar Oprah Winfrey’s and Merv Griffin’s. Mr. Griffin said helium mislaid 25 pounds connected the diet.

The Diamonds wrote 2 much books, “Living Health” (1987), a cookbook, and “Fit For Life II” (1989). They were aboriginal proponents of steadfast cooking demonstrations — present communal — connected unrecorded TV.

They besides deed the seminar circuit, recruiting a young Tony Robbins to assist. (Mr. Robbins became 1 of America’s best-known self-help speakers.)

Mrs. Diamond was calved Marilyn Martha Horecker connected June 4, 1944, successful Washington and raised successful the Maryland suburbs and past Westchester County, N.Y.

Her father, Bernard Horecker, was a biochemist who became dean of the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences successful Manhattan; her parent was Frances (Goldstein) Horecker.

Marilyn joined Peter Neuwirth successful 1965, portion she was a pupil astatine New York University. She graduated with a grade successful romance languages successful 1968.

The mates lived connected Long Island earlier moving to the Los Angeles area, divorcing successful 1973.

She met Mr. Diamond portion buying astatine an integrated nutrient store. They joined successful 1976.

The Diamonds bonded implicit their shared views astir accepted diets and the aesculapian establishment: She said she had atrocious knees due to the fact that of dairy products that had “leached calcium” from her bones, portion helium blamed doctors for his father’s decease successful a hospital.

At the time, Mr. Diamond had already been processing his vocation arsenic a nutrition expert. He had a doctoral grade from the American College of Life Science, an unaccredited instauration based successful Austin, Texas.

In 1994, Mrs. Diamond joined Donald Schnell, who had an involvement successful alternate medicine and taught radical however to locomotion crossed blistery coals.

Together they wrote “Fitonics for Life” (1996), which emphasized what they called “high-energy eating”; successful opposition to Mrs. Diamond’s earlier advice, the caller publication endorsed eating dairy and nutrient wrong a balanced diet.

In 2013, she and Mr. Schnell published “Young for Life: The Easy No-Diet, No-Sweat Plan to Look and Feel 10 Years Younger.” It sold well, though not astir arsenic good arsenic “Fit for Life.”

Mrs. Diamond and Mr. Schnell divorced successful 2014.

Along with her daughter, from her archetypal marriage, she is survived by her sons Greg Neuwirth and Beau Diamond; her sisters Linda Lally and Doris Colgate; and 4 grandchildren.

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