Fat 2 Fit Radio

Another Diet Scam: Kimkins

If you’ve been listening to the show, then you know we’ve talked about diet scams quite a bit. They are a huge waste of money and time. But while most scams will take your money and give you nothing more than promises in return, the worst diet scams will harm you physically. This is apparently the case with the Kimkins diet.

The Kimkins diet showed up on my radar while cleaning out the garage for a yard sale. I turned on the television that I keep in there to see if it was still working. Up on the screen popped the Fox Morning show. Their topic was the Kimkins diet. They had on a couple of women that had been harmed by the diet, (Below I’ll list some of the side effects of this diet.) and a couple women that were advocates of the diet. So I hadn’t thought too much of it. There is always controversy regarding diets. I made a mental note to check out the Kimkins diet. When I did look into it a couple weeks later, boy was I surprised.

One of the next things I found was a video of a deposition of the founder of the Kimkins diet. She went by the name Kimmer on the web site and supposedly lost 198 lbs. in 11 months. Her actual name is Heidi Diaz, she hasn’t lost 198lbs. and in the video she confesses to forging testimonials and photographs on her web site kimkins.com.

What is the Kimkins diet? Well, I’m not joining, so from the information that I’ve read on other web sites and reviews of the diet, it’s loosely based on the induction phase of the Atkins diet. The induction phase has the dieter eat no more than 20 grams of carbohydrates a day to force the body into ketosis. Last week we talked about the Tony Furguson diet that works in the same manner as Atkins. However the Kimkins diet goes further by being an extremely low calorie diet. The lowest of the different plans would have you eat NO MORE THAN 500 CALORIES A DAY. People who’ve used the Kimkins diet complained of side effects like hair loss, heart palpitations, fainting, and confusion. Some women that have used this diet have even had their menstrual cycle stop. The Kimmer also apparently advocated the use of laxatives to aid in weight loss. The list of bad things that have happened to Kimkins dieters goes on, but there are still those that claim the diet works. If you eat 500 calories a day you will lose weight, but that lifestyle is not sustainable.

Today I visited the site and found a statement about the “Kimkins Controversy” which tries to explain away everything that was said on the video linked to above: Why she has hair loss, why she concealed her identity. At the same time she does come clean that she did NOT lost 198lbs in 11 months, but a new version of the truth is revealed. She now has supposedly lost 100lbs in 6 months, but she gained it all back. That says a lot about the sustainability of the Kimkins diet. You cannot live on 500 calories a day. This is substantially below any BMR, basal metabolic rate of any adult. Your body would be consumed from the inside out trying to keep you alive, and you may in fact fail.

There is no quick fix for weight loss. Any diet that you cannot maintain for the rest of your life, is not the answer. By all means, look for the diet that works best for your lifestyle, but when someone offers you a magic pill for weight loss, don’t walk, run the other way.

Here are some more great links about the Kimkins diet:

• Kimkins Dangers
• KTLA Coverage Part 1
• KTLA Coverage Part 2
• KTLA Coverage Part 3
• About.com:The Kimkins Diet Controversy
• Kimkins Survivors
• Kimkins: Anatomy of a Diet Scam

Related Posts:

• Fat 2 Fit Show #17 – Fitness Scams Prey on Desperate Dieters
• Supplements – The Diet Industry’s Dirty Little Secret
• Fat 2 Fit Show #4 – Weight Loss Scams or Hard Work?
• Fat 2 Fit Show #5 – Susan Powter Made Me Fat

Tags: Atkins, diet scams, kimkins, low carb, low fat, tony furguson