The headquarters of the 70-year-old Rice Diet, which Buddy Holly and other celebrities participated in back in the day, has closed its doors.
The once-famous diet, created by Dr. Robert Rosati, was centered on white rice and fruit, but has been overshadowed by stomach surgeries and other fads, the Associated Press reported via USA Today.
"I think the whole business was challenged during the hardest part of the recession, and also my husband was ready to retire," Kitty Rosati, the owner's wife and author of the book "Rice Diet Solution," told the AP.
The couple tried to close a deal with several potential buyers of the N.C. headquarters, but all of them fell through. But Rice Diet isn't dead yet, the couple plans to run retreats that teach the weight-loss regimen. A separate businessman also plans to open a weight-loss center that will use many of the same principles.
"The thing about nutrition is you blink your eyes and things change. People are looking for the freshest, the hottest, the latest, the greatest. The Rice Diet is nutritionally sound," Amy Jamieson-Petonic, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, told the AP. "Because it's not the latest and the greatest, I'm wondering if it kind of fell out of popularity."
Dr. Walter Kempner, who founded Rice Diet in the 1930s, hoped to combat "high-blood pressure, diabetes, and hearth disease." Kempner was extremely serious about the technique, and participants said the Rice Diet residential facility was like "boot camp."
"One ate rice and fruit and walked. The staff didn't care what you thought, only what you ate and how often you exercised," Jean Renfro Anspaugh, author of "Fat Like Us," which chronicles her Rice Diet journey, said.
Dieters are promised a dramatic 20 to 30 pound weight loss over only the first month, WebMD reported.
The first day of the diet consists of only 800 calories, and gradually adds 200 calories per week after that.
