LA weight loss centers have been known for the hard sell with reports of a classic bait and switch rampant. Instead of the advertised $7 a week plan, you are strongly urged to pay $400 for the yearly plan and another $28 dollars per week for their LA lites nutrition bars. So buyer beware!

As for Whoopi, I find it interesting that before her LA weight loss gig, she has a spokeswoman for Slim-fast. She got canned by Slim-fast when she made some sexual puns about President Bush at a Kerry fund raiser that even the Kerry camp admitted “crossed the line.” hmmm… Whoopi looks to be a serial weight loss spokeswoman as well as a serial dieter.

His infomercials promise:

“…it’s easy to do, you can do it at home…”

“I can attest, it was the easiest, simplest, most effective thing I’ve ever done.”

“And when you’re done with the protocol, eat whatever you want and you don’t gain the weight back.”

“I can eat whatever I want now, anything and as much as I want any time I want. No restrictions now. And the weight’s not coming back. You don’t gain the weight back.”

The Weight Lose Cure Diet Plan

• Phase one includes getting 15 “colonics” from a licensed colon therapist during a 30-day period, walking outside for one continuous hour each day, taking saunas as often as possible, eating six times a day, eating only organic meat and dairy, and eating 100 grams of organic meat right before bed.
• During the required third phase, the consumer can eat as much as they want for 21 days, but the foods must be only 100% organic, with no sweeteners (natural or artificial), no starches (bread, pasta, potatoes, white flour, etc.), no nitrites, and no trans fats. In addition, the book strongly recommends that consumers get massages, take saunas often, take homeopathic human growth hormone, and limit their exposure to air conditioning and fluorescent lighting.
• Requires a 500 calorie/day diet for 21 to 45 days, and the consumer cannot use any medicines, including over-the-counter and prescription drugs, most cosmetics, and no creams, lotions, or moisturizers.
• Consumers must follow the fourth phase of the protocol for the rest of their lives, with severe dietary prohibitions, including: no “brand name” food; no fast food, regional, or national chain restaurants; no food that is not 100% organic; no super highly refined sugars; no artificial sweeteners; no trans fats; no monosodium glutamate; no food with nitrites; no meat, poultry, or dairy that is not 100% organic; no farm-raised fish; and no food cooked in a microwave.

Kevin is a obviously a favorite around the FTC offices considering:

• FTC first sued Trudeau in 1998, alleging that he made false and unsubstantiated claims for hair growth, memory, and weight loss products sold through infomercials.
• In 2003, the FTC challenged Trudeau’s marketing of Coral Calcium Supreme and Biotape, a purported pain-relief product. To settle the FTC’s charges, in 2004 Trudeau paid $2 million and agreed to a court order banning him from infomercials, with a narrow exemption for infomercials for books and other publications that specifically required that Trudeau not misrepresent the contents of the books or publications. The violation of this exemption is the basis for this latest suit.

Celebrity Diet Doctor Weigh in…
Kevin Trudeau has certainly gained unfavorable attention of the FTC. I guess Mr Trudeau was referring to the FTC as “they” when he says “the weight loss cure ‘they’ don’t want you to know about.”

While some of his recommendations are dubious (colonics, very low calorie diet plan, eating organic meat before bed time), he does make some good points such as daily walking and eating organic foods. Additionally the recommendations for no fast food, no refined sugars, no trans fats, and no foods with nitrites are nutritionally sound. However the rest of his advice is not only misleading but potentially dangerous. Frankly I have seen other diets, including many detox diets, that are just as, if not more, dangerous that Mr Trudeau’s. Yet the authors of these diets are not being singled out by the FTC.

Just goes to show don’t piss off the FTC!