Actress' latest diet advice isn't just wrong, it's dangerous

Gwyneth Paltrow is an actress. She’s not a doctor, she’s not a nutritionist, and despite the fact that she works out a lot, she is decidedly not a fitness expert.

Which is why it’s always surprising that she feels she has the unique authority to tell people exactly how to lose weight and live healthfully (even as she's called out for it again and again).

The actress (sure, an Oscar-winning one, but again, not a doctor), has long drawn ire from medical experts for the advice she extolls on her lifestyle website GOOP. From telling women to stuff crystal eggs up their vaginas, to telling people that detox baths will cure all that ails them, GOOP, and Paltrow, its CEO, have truly straddled the line between being natural and peddling snake oil. Hell, even Paltrow herself admitted she doesn’t know “what the fuck we talk about.”

But that didn’t stop her from sharing nutrition advice from her favorite celebrity trainer, Tracy Anderson, who, like Paltrow, is not a nutritionist (it’s important to note that Anderson also has zero certifications in exercise physiology or teaching), yet felt it was important to share her tips on how to lose 14 pounds in four weeks.

Yes, you read that right. She wants you to lose 14 pounds in four weeks, or roughly 3.5 pounds a week by eating just 1 cup of berries for breakfast, 1 can of tuna with mustard and capers for lunch, steamed chicken and broccoli for dinner, and some dark chocolate for a snack. Oh, and she says you can drink 1-2 glasses of wine per day, which would actually be considered “heavy alcohol use” by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

“Firstly it is important to note that fast ‘weight loss’ is often not body fat but the number on the scales shifting, often from water weight, which is why I always advocate a healthy balanced approach over time to losing actually body fat as weight,” nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert told the Independent, adding that Anderson’s plan is “extremely dangerous.” Lambert added, “I am in complete shock that this article has been published as this has the potential to harm a lot of relationships with food.”

Specifically, Lambert called out Anderson’s advice on going low carb and gluten free. “It is not sensible to eliminate whole food groups or make drastic dietary changes which are not sustainable,” she said. “You may end up deficient in micronutrients and lacking important dietary diversity which aid gut bacteria.”

Instead of following GOOP’s advice, check out the advice Jackie Newgent, a registered dietitian nutritionist, shared with Men’s Health on how to safely and effectively lose weight without starving yourself or ever counting calories.