Patient Care

The Beverly Hills Diet, critiqued by two physicians in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is based on incorrect principles such as the idea that only undigested food leads to weight gain and that enzymes from certain fruits can make foods less fattening. The diet, which involves eating only fruit for the first 11 days and has strict rules about food combinations and timing, can lead to protein deficiency and hair loss (telogen effluvium), as well as severe diarrhea that may result in hypovolemic shock, potassium deficiency, and arrhythmias. Pharmacists are advised to discourage patients from following this diet and to refer any patient insisting on the diet to their physician if they show symptoms of protein deficiency. Additionally, the document warns asthmatics about the risks of taking nonprescription antihistamines, which can relieve allergy symptoms but may aggravate asthma due to their anticholinergic and sedative effects. Asthmatics should be informed that once asthma develops, they will require antiasthmatic medication.