Gillian McKeith - Guru or Fraud?

I dare say what is written here is relevant but she does seem to get results, I wouldn't be surprised if this rattled her lawyers cages though.

Someone wrote a song with a flash movie about poo and it didn't go down well at all with her legal people they had to cut parts of it out because it had her name mentioned it.

I learnt a bit about food by watching that program and do eat some of the things that she recommended like sweeet potatoes. So for me there has been some use from it.

What is up with the UK and their "Bitchy People" shows? They started the Simon Cowell thing. They've also got the restaurant thing (Gordon Ramsey), the inventor thing, the dancing thing, I saw something on Animal Planet about a new dog thing, and don't forget the myriad nanny things. It's an exhausting list of Bitchy, really.

I mean, do they just not get enough sunlight in the UK or what?

Anyway, while a lot of the above may be funny to watch, I think being absolutely evil to people about their diets is a bad idea. Food is so much a part of us (literally), that tearing it down seems just awful. I don't think it fits into a 30-minute spot filmed over the course of a week.

"Ha, ha! Look at the fatty with nothing but potato chips and Oreos in their cupboards and not a single green thing in their veggie crisper!" That just doesn't work for me.

Jarrett - to some extent you are right about we Brits. We love bashing each other - but not before we've built them up first. The press exemplify this behaviour, as does the egregious array of voyeuristic TV shows. Not that we have the monopoly on ghastly TV - you've a pretty awful selection of reality TV garbage over in the US.

In any case, McKeith has only one thing going for her - she's not afraid to tell people they should not be eating crap and she recognises the importance of fresh fruit and vegetables. But any idiot can tell you that, so that leaves is with the fact that she doesn't mind upsetting people. Not a huge selling point in my book.

She's a fraud no doubt about it, she uses scare tactics to get you to buy her products, and has no respect for science. This woman seems to be the British version of Kevin Trudeau.

I love this show! I think that it's good and it never occurred to me there would be bad press about it. Yes, maybe it's a bit extreme but so is survivor. I find it to be educational and her advice to be accurate. I want to read her book. her mantra, "A healthy poo is a healthy you," is always stuck in my mind.

Gah, if shaming people promoted weight loss, no one would be overweight. When are people going to learn that being nasty to people who are trying to change doesn't inspire them?

I guess it is great she is trying to help people, but on the flip side it doesn't seem like she is going about it the right way.

I don't know who the lady is but I would have to put her in the "fraud" category for the simple fact that she misrepresents herself as a doctor. A PhD from an unaccredited school does not count...ever.

As for shaming and/or embarrassing people, this is no way to get people to change. Unfortunately, this is one way that "gurus" tend to get attention.

I've never seen "You Are What You Eat", but I have seen enough British reality shows to know that they definitely do not hold back when they criticize the people on the shows. Not that most US reality hosts are any better, but it just seems like the Brits come across as being WAY more direct.

That being said, I don't think berating people for their diets is necessarily a good strategy. Shouldn't we be encouraging people to eat better and make realistic changes instead of dumping all their Oreos and beer and giving them mung beans? I have a feeling that some of the people on that show go down to the nearest pub afterwards and order fish and chips just to spite this woman.

Well,oddly enough, the show taught me a lot about poo. For example, I did not know that having small or non-descript stools is a sign that your body is storing a lot of what you ate as body fat rather than getting rid of it. In other words, it's good to have a number 2 frequently and in large sizes :D

So now, I get worried whenever I get constipated, so I eat lots of fruit and veg. It's my body's way of telling me to be healthier, whereas before I'd see it as something unrelated.

Gillian McKeith's own state of health is questionable. She looks very unwell and underfed, which makes taking her nutritional advice very hard to swallow.

She is not a doctor and is a fraud.

"Although some of the advice McKeith gives is good, a lot of it is scientifically inaccurate."

How can you make such a statement in your article? Reread this please! What you have written is just plain silly.

Have you actually read her work? It's the product of either a deranged person or a fraud. Either way it is not in any way scientific and the advice she gives is in no way "good."

She's not a nutrition expert. She hosts a reality show with the gimmick of radical change. The "entertainment" is watching people struggle with the changes.

Despite all this, I have to say there are elements of value. Changes that work are "what works for you" -- and some people thrive on the idea of cold turkey radical change. I also think the testimonials after the results of people saying "I have more energy, better sex life, and I can't believe I had such unrealistic behaviors before -- I won't go back."

I feel you can really see change in most of the show guests -- and that can be inspiring -- like The Biggest Loser.

Lose the insults, keep the reality-check, and replace Gillian with a registered dietitian and exercise expert and you got yourself a good show.

I noticed in her new book Food Bible she is not referred to by Dr. at all.

I feel the message she has is one that in valuable and important but it is over-shadowed by her terrible persona and the execution of the show. As she's on a TV show, that means that everything will be sensationalised and over-hyped by default in order to get viewers to watch.

Regardless, I think she's partially responsible for a lot of new healthy foods being widely available (her show first appeared before a lot of other healthy living ones, imo), which is fantastic. I couldn't get quinoa or aduki beans at most stores I went into but now I can. She (along with a few others) made the public more aware of certain foods, thus creating demand, and that's commendable.

However, the image she presents of healthy eating and living on her show is not one that many people will warm to. I do not like it. She makes eating clean seem exceptionally boring and like hard-work. She gives off the idea that those who eat clean eat bland food and are boring. As someone who eats clean, my meals are never boring and I can make something in under 15 mins if need be. I'm a student, so I don't have endless time or funds yet I've not had any problems making good meals.

Personally, I prefer the show Diet Doctors: In and Out - which aims to create a realistic healthy lifestyle for people who are unhealthy. That show has balance whereas Gillian's does not.