Shame On You: Kevin Trudeau (Part 6)

Now that Kevin Trudeau has shared some of his "earth-shattering" secrets for warding off sickness with us, let's take a peek at chapter eight, titled "How to Lose Weight Effortlessly and Keep It Off".

This was one I was anxiously awaiting and simultaneously afraid to read.

Trudeau begins this chapter by setting up an all-too familiar tale. Once an overweight child, he was always conscious of his weight.

He claims to have done everything under the Sun to lose weight through adulthood (even "exercising as much as five hours a day," which sounds more like hyperbolic prose than reality), but it wasn't until he "went abroad" that he found the answer.

"While living abroad, I ate everything I wanted, yet began to lose weight without trying," he confides.

While it is true that obesity in the United States is reaching unbelievable proportions, the rest of the world isn't immune. For instance, 12% of French adults are obese and 40% are overweight, while half of Great Britain's adult population is overweight.

Truth is, downing croissants and hot cocoa for an entire month will add on pounds, whether you're doing it in Seattle or the Alps.

Over the next few weeks I'll analyze some of the "secrets" Trudeau claims are 100% guaranteed to help you lose weight.

Hopefully, with each passing week you share my disbelief that this man has sold five million copies of Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You To Know About.

"Do not eat after six p.m."

One of the most aggravating nutrition myths. For some reason, Oprah loves to dispense this "tip" to her viewers anytime she discusses weight loss.

The fact of the matter is, calories do not care when you eat them. A 600 calorie ice cream sundae will provide 600 calories whether you have it for breakfast or at 10 PM.

Trudeau claims, "... the good news is you can virtually eat like a pig all day long. And if you stop eating after 6 p.m., you will still lose weight."

Really? I dare anyone who normally eats 2,000 calories to consume 3,500 calories between 9 AM and 6 PM and drop half a pound.

Not to mention, why is 6 PM the "magic number"? Why not 7? Or 8? Or 10? Beats me! Trudeau appears to have picked this number out of thin air. There is absolutely no research proving that eating carelessly all day and abstaining from food starting at 6 PM results in weight loss.

Not eating after 6 PM might be plausible if you go to bed at 7:30, but if you don't hit the sack until 11 PM or midnight, going to bed on an empty stomach does not make you thinner.

Trudeau should be emphasizing healthy habits, not telling people to down as many calories as they want while the sun is up with the ridiculous claim that as long as they keep their mouths shut after 6 PM they'll lose weight.

The only thing this 6 PM rule is likely to do is decrease your total caloric intake each day, resulting in weight loss. People fall prey to unhealthy snacking late at night, so cutting that out (along with the extra calories) will obviously result in some weight being shedded.

"Do a colon cleanse."

I went over this in a previous post -- but allow me to repeat. This results in immediate water weight loss, but you will not burn fat or truly lose weight by flushing out your colon.

"Eat organic grapefruits all day."

Uhhh. OK. The reasoning behind this? "There is an enzyme in grapefruit that burns fat. Eating grapefruits all day, as many as you desire, will speed the fat burning process."

People are too quick to select an isolated enzyme that shows promise in a controlled lab setting and attribute it to a food. Yes, true, there is an enzyme in grapefruits that speeds up the fat burning process, but not enough to help anyone lose weight just by having some grapefruit slices.

Remember, grapefruits still have calories. So if you are eating 8 grapefruits a day (which I guess is allowed according to Trudeau since he's encouraging people to eat them "all day long"), that's 640 calories added to your day.

There is no food that, when eaten, results in negative total calories. None.

Also, what kind of nutrition advice is it to tell someone to eat a food "all day" in unlimited quantities?

"Absolutely no aspartame or artificial sweeteners."

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I wouldn't tell someone currently not consuming artificial sweeteners to start, but an occassional diet Coke or sugar free popsicle will not kill anyone.

Regardless, this is more of a wellness/health debate, not a weight loss one. Aspartame does not contribute calories. Having it does not contribute to weight gain.

As I have mentioned before, though, the problem with artificial sweeteners is that they are often found in foods that are nutritionally empty and offer nothing in terms of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and antioxidants.

"No fast food or chain restaurants."

Well, depends on what you're eating -- and how much! As Dr. Lisa Young recently told us, portion sizes in fast food restaurants have been exploding. So, yes, it is easy to consume half (or more!) a day's worth of calories in one sitting when an order of large fries is as large as a toddler's head.

However, according to Trudeau, the problem isn't the food itself, but rather the hidden dangers found in food produced by chain restaurants.

"You can actually eat French fries and cheeseburgers and lose weight, provided that the ingredients they use are all organic and contain no chemical additives," he throws out with quite a bit of chutzpah.

This is another huge myth. Organic food (while lacking pesticides and being environmentally friendly) is not less caloric or fattening than the same conventional product. Organic butter has as many calories per teaspoon as non-organic butter, and an organic hamburger bun is still lacking the fiber in a Wonder Bread hamburger bun.

Trudeau contends that fast food restaurants are placing addictive chemicals into their food that keep us coming for more, which in my opinion is a provocative, yet feeble, conspiracy theory.

I always find it funny that a food is only considered "addictive" when it is unhealthy.

For instance, someone eating nine grapefruits a day (which Trudeau appears to be so fond of) might be considered a "health nut". No one would ever dream of pointing the finger at the grapefruit and accusing it of being a dirty, rotten fruit that drives people to addiction.

However, change that grapefruit for a Dorito and suddenly Frito-Lay is suspected of throwing in a pinch of crack in their nacho cheese flavoring.

If hamburgers and fries are a daily staple for you -- whethey they are organic or not -- you've got your weight loss goal cut out for you.

Next week -- more of Trudeau's "secrets" (and my eye rolls).