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
Supplements - The Diet Industry’s Dirty Little Secret
Like any industry out there, the goal of the Diet Industry is to make money. It is the perfect business to be in because of all the repeat business. Almost all diets fail because 95% of the successful dieters, put the weight back on within a few years. The only way to be truly successful with a diet is to NOT go on a diet, but go on a “lifestyle” change. Simply put, if you want to look like a slender person, eat and exercise like a slender person - you will eventually get there.
Over the last few years, the diet industry realized that they can make more money after selling a diet program, than they made from selling the diet program in the first place. They started making and selling their own diet supplements - everything from meal replacements, vitamins, nutrition bars, fiber supplements etc.
Take a look at the Atkins Diet. You can buy Atkins Vitamins and Atkins meal replacement bars. The same is even true for diets such as the Zone and South Beach diets. Even the regular “Diet Centres” such as Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig sell their own supplements and vitamins.
This is such a lucrative business that companies are now creating supplements and meal replacements and then creating the diet program in order to sell them.
The most well known diet that did this was “Body For Life” by Bill Phillips. Bill Phillips is the owner of the giant supplement company EAS which makes the meal replacement called Myoplex. It is no surprise that the suggested menus in this program all list 2 meals per day of Myoplex.
In almost every instance, it is better to eat “real food” instead of a meal replacement shake or bar. To digest real food, your body burns calories in the digestion process, so your net calories are lower than the actual calories that you just ate. This is great if you are concerned with losing weight, not to mention that real food isn’t as painful on your pocketbook!
Many of these diet programs that are based on a supplement product are not necessarily bad though. If the program suggests a balanced diet, there is nothing wrong with an occasional supplement product once and while. There is also nothing wrong with eating a sensible balanced meal instead of a suggested supplement and still have success on any program.
Unless you are planning to continue to take all of these extra supplements and meal replacement products for the rest of your life after you reach your goal, it would be wise not to become used-to or dependent on them for long term weight loss.
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