If you’ve never heard of a ‘starvation doctor’ before, that’s no surprise, because it’s not a real thing. Linda Hazzard, mother of the fad diet, made it up. Hazzard is the perfect example of a quack doctor, with no medical training or diploma to speak of. She did, however, obtain a medical licence issued by the state of Washington through a loophole in the system for the practice of alternative medicine. She referred to herself as a ‘fasting specialist’.