Israeli Army Diet

The Israeli Army Diet was a fad diet that was popular in the 1970s. It had no connection with the Israeli Army. It was probably suggested by the Israeli defense forces for new recruits.

The diet was recommended for eight days, during which only one type of food article was allowed on two consecutive days.

On the first and second days, only apples were allowed to be eaten. On third and fourth days, only cheese was allowed to be eaten. On the fifth and sixth days, only chicken could be consumed. On day seven and eight days, only salads could be eaten.

Black tea and coffee are allowed throughout the diet.

Disadvantages

The diet gradually lost its popularity because:

• it was not nutritionally balanced in calories, proteins and other nutrients
• the monotony was difficult to follow, especially since it was difficult to eat only cheese for two days
• it led to weight loss in the short-term, but once a normal diet was resumed the lost weight was regained