Diet show was hard to take
Last updated 12:33, Saturday, 03 May 2008
What do maple syrup, cabbage soup and baby food have in common? Well, as I found out by watching Natalie Cassidy’s Diet Secrets, they are all types of diet.
I must admit, I don’t usually watch this type of programme but after sitting in front of the TV for a few minutes, I was fascinated.
After losing weight herself, the former Eastenders actress decided to investigate fad diets and, along with 20-year-old Vikki, decided to try what is know as the maple syrup diet.
Apparently the diet reduces calorie intake to just 300, which is nowhere near the amount of calories you need in a day just to survive, as pointed out by the programme’s dietician.
After several days on the diet Natalie admitted she felt unwell while Vikki, who has been trying fad diets since she was 12, seemed to be coping better. What worries me is that I was given the impression that if Vikki had not been forced by the programme’s doctor to stop the diet she may well have carried on with it for longer.
And even more worrying was the confusing message coming out of the programme.
It showed that the diet actually works, as both of the women lost weight in a short space of time.
At the same time, Cassidy seemed to be trying to make a point about the ill effects of this type of diet. Yet just showing that it works will surely put ideas in some people’s heads – and these will be the people who don’t have doctors monitoring them and telling them when to stop.
While I admit I was fascinated by the programme because I didn’t know anything about the maple syrup diet, I do think that Cassidy could have looked at how she lost weight originally and how she has managed to keep the weight off rather than showing dangerous diets which, whether she knows it or nor, might encourage others to try them.
