Extreme diets
Wednesday 20 May 2009
Celebs go to extreme lengths to lose weight fast but the process is rarely as glamorous as their photo.
Closer blows the lid on some of the most extreme weight loss methods - to see whether it’s really worth it.
LIGHTER LIFE
A punishing meal replacement diet of shakes and soups, consisting of 500 calories a day, and a recommended four litres of water.
The Lighter Life Programme provides food packs consisting of meals containing all the essential nutrients.
They take away the need to think about food and go to the supermarket, helping to cut out temptation.
Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen recently went from a size 18 to a 12 on the controversial diet plan and said: “I’ve felt so well on this diet – better than I’ve felt for ages.”
But, a reduced calorie programme can bring about side effects such as gallstones, fatigue, nausea and diarrhoea and a 40-year-old mother of five died recently after consuming four litres of water in two hours.
ALLI DIET PILL
An over-the-counter pill to aid weight loss when taken with a balanced low-fat diet. It can help people lose 50% more fat than dieting alone by stopping the fat from being absorbed. But that means the fat has to go somewhere, leading to unpleasant side effects.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain issued pharmacists with guidance for the drug.
Its overall assessment of Orlistat (the ingredient found in alli) is that it can help achieve steady, gradual weight loss, when used as directed.
Big Brother’s Kinga tried the pills after a constant battle with her weight and said she experienced some of the worst diarrhea of her life.
Even worse she said: “One morning, a week into taking the tablets, I woke up with a huge, dark yellow, oily stain all over my sheets.
“Fat, which looked exactly like olive oil, had been leaking out of my bottom. It was disgusting.”
Kinga lost a stone in a month but said she would never use alli again.
MARTHA'S VINEYARD DETOX DIET
A detox diet to cleanse the body of toxins and help you lose weight at the same time. Only to be followed for two, seven or 21 days at a time.
The diet requires you to eat up to 20 portions of liquidized fruit and veg a day while consuming supplements and enzymes – no solid food or alcohol.
Angelina Jolie used the detox diet, losing 21lbs in 21 days, to prepare for her role in her up-and-coming film, Salt, where she has to disguise herself as a man.
The star feared her curves would be unconvincing in the role but colleagues expressed their concern as she appeared weak and suffered fatigue on set.