In Episode 416 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we have a doubleheader podcast for you today with back-to-back episodes. First up is Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum who has authored a book entitled Beat [...]]]>

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In Episode 416 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we have a doubleheader podcast for you today with back-to-back episodes. First up is Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum who has authored a book entitled Beat Sugar Addiction Now!: The Cutting-Edge Program That Cures Your Type of Sugar Addiction and Puts You on the Road to Feeling Great – and Losing Weight! If you’ve ever struggled with overcoming your love affair with sugar, then Dr. Teitelbaum offers up suggestions for how to beat down the “yeasty beasties.”

Listen to Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum talk about how his own diagnosis piqued his interest in chronic fatigue syndrome and later on fibromyalgia, why doctors don’t know much about non-pharmaceutical treatments to disease, the free computerized doctor model he uses to help patients who are sick and tired of being sick and tired, his “Cures: A to Z” iPhone app with over 1 million downloads, the future of holistic medicine in the mainstream, why sugar and white flour are so addicting, identifying the four types of sugar addiction, an explanation of the SHINE protocol, how sleep deprivation can impact sugar cravings, why 1/3 of Americans are chronically fatigued, why a big glass of water can help boost your energy, why he doesn’t take money from any nutritional company, how to deal with the “irritable when hungry” sugar addicts and stress eaters, the growing prevalence of yeast overgrowth (aka candida), why yeast feeds on sugar and sends out strong cravings, how to handle sugar addiction that happens in older men and women with decreasing hormone levels, whether there are multiple sugar addiction types, the various health issues that are associated with sugar, the “sugar orgy” that happens at nutritionist conferences, what the acceptable sugar alternatives are, why farmers know how to fatten up cattle (and it’s the same thing fattening up humans), how thyroid issues (especially ones that come back “normal” on blood tests) negatively impact your health, and the unexpected health improvements that happen when you cut out the sugar. If you’ve struggled with sugar addiction, then you owe it to yourself to check out the work of Dr. T!

In the special second interview in today’s episode we have attorney John Tiedt who represented the plaintiff’s in the Kimkins class action case against Heidi Diaz. I wrote about the judgment that was handed down against Diaz last week earlier this week and now in this exclusive interview Tiedt shares what it was like dealing with this case. Listen to John Tiedt talk about what made him became a consumer advocate for fraudulent health products for the past decade, his appointment to the California Health Fraud Task Force, how he got involved in the Kimkins lawsuit beginning in September 2007, the unprecedented nature of how this case came about freezing her assets during the trial, the Woman’s World back story about how they ran the story on Kimkins without doing their journalistic due diligence, how the trial exposed Diaz as a fraud with no medical or nutritional background, the refusal of Woman’s World magazine to retract their story in their print magazine or to inform their readers about the class action lawsuit, how to determine if what you read in a magazine is credible or not, the specifics of what Heidi Diaz did to warrant a class action lawsuit against her, the egregious lies and fake photos she used to promote the Kimkins diet fraudulently, the financial windfall that happened after the Woman’s World front cover story ran, Diaz’ dangerous promotion of laxatives for weight loss, why Diaz was allegedly afraid to have a doctor endorse her diet, the bravery of the plaintiffs who testified in the case, the court’s finding that Heidi Diaz was dishonest and a liar, the consequences of her fraudulent business practices including restitution of $1.8 million, another $500,000 in punitive charges (not dischargeable in bankrupty), attorney’s fees, the injunctive relief that will force Diaz that she lied about her weight loss, photographs of herself, testimonials of the Kimkins diet, the before and after photos of those testimonials, and a warning about the dangers of low-calorie diets, the unprecedented permanent junction against Diaz preventing her from harassing any of the plaintiffs and witnesses in the case against her, whether there is a way to access any of her hidden assets, the possibility that Diaz could be found in contempt of court and face jail time for failure to comply with the judge’s ruling, how Diaz never lost any weight as she still weighs over 300 pounds, the kind of people she preyed on with her diet plan, the key things to be on the lookout for when looking for a legitimate diet program, how former Kimkins members can get in on the class action settlement (from the class period June 1, 2006-October 15, 2007), and whether criminal action against Heidi Diaz will ever happen. For anyone who’s been following this story over the past few years, justice has now been served and we have John Tiedt and the plaintiffs to thank for all of their efforts in exposing this diet fraud.

There are three ways you can listen to Episode 416:

1. Listen at the new iTunes page for the podcast:

2. Listen and comment about the show at the official web site for the podcast:

3. Download the MP3 file of Episode 416 [85:12m]:

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FINANCIALLY SUPPORTING THIS PODCAST! If these twice-weekly podcast interviews from the most provocative and thought-provoking diet, fitness, and health experts have helped you in any way over the past few months and years, then help us keep it going by clicking on the DONATE button on the official podcast web site. We love making these exclusive interviews available to you at no charge so that the positive low-carb message can get out there to the people who need to hear it the most. We are so grateful for your generous donations of any amount so we can keep this going all throughout 2010 and well beyond. I have a fantastic group of fresh new expert interview guests lined up for your listening enjoyment and can’t wait for you to hear them! Go to PayPal.com and you can give your gift to the e-mail address livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Your continued financial support and listenership is essential and we THANK YOU so very much for your support!

How did you like what you heard from Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum about beating sugar addiction? What about the interview with attorney John Tiedt about the Kimkins class action lawsuit? Comment with your opinions about today’s episode in the show notes section of Episode 416. Pick up your copy of Beat Sugar Addiction Now!: The Cutting-Edge Program That Cures Your Type of Sugar Addiction and Puts You on the Road to Feeling Great – and Losing Weight! and visit Vitality101.com to learn more about what Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum is doing to help people with sugar addiction, chronic fatigue, and fibromyalgia. Also, be sure to check out the web site for John Tiedt to learn more about the man who worked tirelessly for over three years on behalf of the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit against Heidi Diaz and Kimkins.

Coming up next week we’ll have two special ladies in the low-carb community as our special guests on “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show.” On Monday, we’ll have bestselling author Jennifer Eloff who has penned a series of the first cookbooks using Splenda as the sweetener. Jennifer is such a delightful personality in the low-carb community and I’m happy to share her with you next week. Then on Thursday, nutrition and fitness expert Rebecca Rovay-Hazelton will talk about how to live a healthy lifestyle.

Don’t forget to vote for your favorite podcast guests of 2010 along with specific questions for those guests for our special weeklong “Encore Week” coming the first full week of January 2011 for brand new interviews with the top vote-getters chosen by YOU the listeners. The deadline for entering is coming up next Friday, November 19, 2010 so get me your votes ASAP. THANK YOU for voting for the best podcast guests of the year and be ready to listen to the winners during the first week of January 2011 for “Encore Week!”

If you have something to share about what you heard on “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show,” then drop us an e-mail at our dedicated podcast e-mail address–LLVLCShow@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you about what you think about the show, interview guest suggestions (although keep in mind I’m fully booked up for the rest of 2010), show topics, and anything else you want to share!

TO: EVERYONE WHO PURCHASED A MEMBERSHIP TO KIMKINS.COM THROUGH THE KIMKINS.COM WEB SITE (www.kimkins.com) FROM JANUARY 1, 2006 TO OCTOBER 15, 2007

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. YOUR RIGHTS MAY BE AFFECTED BY A CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT THAT IS CURRENTLY PENDING IN RIVERSIDE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT, IN RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA.

INTRODUCTION

Click on the images above to read the four-page class action [...]]]> Regarding the Kimkins Class Action Lawsuit: This is NOT an official notice. This notice was proposed to the court by plaintiffs’ counsel June 26, 2009. If you choose to duplicate this notice on any blog or website, this notice MUST be included.

Click on the images above to read the four-page class action notice

Just a quick update on the ongoing class action lawsuit against Heidi Kimberly Diaz and her Kimkins diet scam. You’ll recall I told you about a desperate Diaz firing her original attorney and filing for bankruptcy back in January after being disgraced with the dubious distinction of being awarded the “Worst Diet Product” of 2008 award. Things just aren’t looking too good for the Corona, California woman who is in a rather precarious position after the devious shenanigans she has attempted to pull off with this low-fat, low-carb, starvation diet scheme. I’m dedicating an entire chapter of my upcoming August 2009 book release 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb to the subject of avoiding people like Heidi Diaz who are lurking about online looking for victims to devour.

Basically this four-page document is to serve notice of the impending class action lawsuit against Diaz and is directed to “everyone who purchased a membership to Kimkins through the Kimkins web site from January 1, 2005 to October 15, 2007.” This is a REAL case that is set to take place on August 24, 2009 at 8:30AM PT in Riverside County Superior Court in Riverside, California. Keep track of any updates on the hearing by visiting the official web site for the court.

The class action certification was made on May 20, 2009 on behalf of the plaintiffs involved in the case against Heidi Diaz. Their claim is that Diaz misrepresented what Kimkins was through “false and misleading information” and that this violates a California law which gives courts the license to “provide relief from unfair, unlawful, and fraudulent business practices.” If you purchased a membership to Kimkins during the alloted dates, then you are automatically included as a member of the class and may be able to collect reimbursement for any subscription fees paid to Diaz and Kimkins for the “lifetime membership” she promised.

There are an estimated 40,000+ members of this class action lawsuit against Diaz and Kimkins, so please contact the attorneys for the plaintiffs in writing with any questions and be sure to include both your e-mail address and telephone number in your written correspondence:

John E. Tiedt & Marc S. Hurd
Tiedt & Hurd
980 Montecito Drive, Suite 209
Corona, California 92879

Michael L. Cohen
Michael L. Cohen, a PLC
707 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 4100
Los Angeles, California 90017

Ray Moore
Moore Winter McLennan LLP
701 N. Brand Blvd., Suite 200
Glendale, California 92103-4232

For more information on the actual litigation involved in this class action lawsuit Case RIC483005 of Fenderson v. Diaz, please CLICK HERE and type in GUEST for the operator code with no password required and look up by the case number or name search. We’ll continue to follow the developments in this story as they unfold.

I’m beginning work on a follow-up book to my 2005 debut book release Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb: My Journey From Flabby Fat To Sensationally Skinny In One Year. While the first book was all about my 180-pound weight loss success and [...]]]>
Heidi Diaz a big winner in 2008 for having the “worst” diet product

I’m beginning work on a follow-up book to my 2005 debut book release Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb: My Journey From Flabby Fat To Sensationally Skinny In One Year. While the first book was all about my 180-pound weight loss success and designed to inspire and motivate others who want to shed the pounds, restore their health, and get their life back again like I did, this next book will outline the many lessons I’ve learned over the course of the past five years of low-carb living and blogging. One of the chapters of that book will be on the Kimkins diet scam.

After promoting this diet on my blog for months because it seemed to be helping people find their path to genuine weight loss, I realized thanks to the gentle nudge of some friends who delved deeply into the Kimkins plan that this was nothing more than a “starvation diet” that was encouraging lower and lower calories while cutting out the fat and the carbohydrates and promoting its members take laxatives (what was known as “the plan behind the plan”). EEEEK! This was so shocking to me that I wrote an open apology to my readers for exposing them to this dangerous diet scheme.

The architect of the Kimkins diet is none other than Heidi Kimberly Diaz (aka “Kimmer”) who claimed she lost nearly 200 pounds and maintained that weight loss for several years when I interviewed her in a podcast show I conducted with her in July 2007. However, just a couple of months later, private investigator photos of Ms. Diaz unveiled quite a different fact–she’s STILL a morbidly obese woman struggling to find a way to lose the weight, too.

Then we start hearing from former Kimkins dieters who claim their health has been damaged from being on the diet, including the famous “cover girl” for Kimkins who appeared on the front of Woman’s World magazine touting the diet in June 2007 Christine Sherburne. Soon thereafter, the media starting picking up on this story, including an investigative report named Chip Yost at KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, a national segment on FOX-TV’s “The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet”, and even on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America.” The word started to spread about this scam!

I interviewed several former prominent Kimkins members about their experience being on the diet, including Jeannie Battinger, Amy Bryant, and Christin Sherburne for their message to anyone foolish enough to still be considering going on the Kimkins diet. Even Woman’s World magazine couldn’t remain silent about the scam stating in February 2008 they can no longer stand behind their story about Diaz’ disastrous diet!

Going back through that July 2007 interview, I pulled all the lies she told me and highlighted them in one podcast. She can’t get away with inflicting harm on innocent new victims which is why I submitted an affidavit in the lawsuit against Heidi Diaz certifying the interview was legitimate. She is gonna be so busted since she claims she doesn’t recall doing an interview with me. Riiiiiiiiiiggggghhhht!

But as we begin 2009, Heidi Diaz is unfortunately still alive and doing well in the diet business…but that could be changing very soon for two reasons.

First, the gig is in on the Kimkins diet and the Healthy Weight Network named it the Worst Diet Product of 2008 in their 20th Annual Slim Chance Awards.

Here’s what they wrote about the dubious “winner”:

It must have seemed an easy way to get rich quick. Founder Heidi “Kimmer” Diaz set up a website and charged members a fee to access the Kimkins diet, boasting they could lose up to 5 percent of their body weight in 10 days. “Better than gastric bypass,” there was “no faster diet,” and in fact she herself had lost 198# in 11 months. Stunning “after” photos were displayed. In June 2007 Women’s World ran it as a cover story, and that month alone PayPal records show the Kimkins site took in over $1.2 million. Then users began complaining of chest pains, hair loss, heart palpitations, irritability and menstrual irregularities. This was not surprising since Kimkins is essentially a starvation diet, down to 500 calories per day and deficient in many nutrients (shockingly, laxatives are advised to replace the missing fiber). In a lawsuit, 11 former members are uncovering a vast record of Diez’s alleged fraud. They found that the stunning “after” photos, including one of Kimmer herself, had been lifted from a Russian mail order bride site. According to a deposition reported by Los Angeles TV station KTLA, Diaz admitted using fake pictures, fake stories and fake IDs, and a judge has allowed the litigants to freeze some of her assets.

The other reason Heidi Diaz and her Kimpire is is big trouble is the class action lawsuit waged against her by former Kimkins members who were harmed by the diet is set for a court hearing on Wednesday, January 14, 2009. The plaintiff’s motion for class certification action by Jeanessa Fenderson led by chief counsel John Tiedt is on the court docket in Riverside Superior Court in California. To make matters worse for “The Kimmer,” Diaz’ attorney Bert Kottle was suddenly dropped three days before Christmas leaving her to defend herself against Tiedt and company in two weeks. She may be a lot of things, but legal counsel isn’t one of them for Heidi Diaz!

You can access the progress of the class action lawsuit against Heidi Diaz and Kimkins by clicking here and entering the case number RIC483005. She has even gone so far as to file a cross-complaint lawsuit against the members of the class action suit against her as well as others, including myself, allegedly for inflicting economic damage, slander and libel, invasion of privacy, civil conspiracy, and inflicting intentional emotional distress–all worthy of “damages” totaling in excess of $1 million. Hilarious, isn’t it?

Although this “SLAPP” lawsuit was filed with the court on September 24, 2008, I’ve yet to be served with any papers in this bogus counter lawsuit. I don’t even know why she’s suing me and people like Tom Roddy from Netrition since we are not a part of the class action lawsuit against her. The arrogance of this woman to think she can get away with inflicting harm on others without any consequences is about to come to a humbling end for her in the very near future. Thanks for the memories, Heidi! NOT!

Read more about the ongoing Kimkins saga at Laura Dolson’s About.com Low-Carb Diets site or see Jamie Van Eaton’s fabulous year in review post detailing all that happened in 2008. The end is drawing near and it’s not too late to keep yourself from becoming ensnared by this evildoer who wouldn’t know how to lose weight and get healthy if it hit her upside the head like a ton of bricks! The only place Heidi Diaz deserves to be in behind bars. The sooner, the better.

You’ve probably seen the ads like the one above while you have been surfing around the Internet about this new diet plan that claims you can eat cookies to lose weight. It’s called the Dr. Sanford Siegal’s COOKIE DIET™ and it [...]]]>

Over a half million people have gone on the COOKIE DIET™ to lose weight

You’ve probably seen the ads like the one above while you have been surfing around the Internet about this new diet plan that claims you can eat cookies to lose weight. It’s called the Dr. Sanford Siegal’s COOKIE DIET™ and it has seen phenomenal early success in a national marketing campaign that has far exceeded the expectations of most market analysts within the diet industry.

Actually, I first blogged about the COOKIE DIET™ two years ago when this rather unique weight loss plan caught my attention for the first time. My initial reaction was one of incredulity that a diet based on cookies could be any help at all to those seeking to lose weight and get healthy.

My biggest concern was the fact that people had no idea what was in these mysterious cookies that were supposed to be “nutritious, filling, hunger-suppressing.” That bothered me along with several other questions at the time. So I decided to contact Siegal Weight Management for myself to get the answers I was looking for.

Unfortunately, the response was quite cold from a man purporting to be the COOKIE DIET™ doctor named Dr. Scott Greenburg. He gave me the most apathetic and cranky responses to my concerns accusing me of spreading “misinformation” about HIS diet citing seven “facts” where he felt I got it wrong about his program.

Again, I was simply asking him to answer some simple questions, but he instead chose to evade my quest for information about the ingredients in the cookies, the sugar content, total carbohydrates, protein, and fiber, etc. His snotty response was that “anyone who calls our office can have access” to this information.

So I needed to call him rather than e-mail him, eh? This dude is a real piece of work! The telling sign to me that he was trying to hide something was when I asked for a sample of the cookies to tell my blog readers about how they taste.

“We do not mail samples of cookies for you to taste,” Dr. Greenberg declared.

I was left perplexed and confused about why this man trying to promote a diet based on cookies would be so belligerent towards someone like me who simply had a few legitimate questions and concerns about this unorthodox diet plan. At that point, I totally dropped it and moved on.

But then a couple of months ago, I received correspondence from Matthew Siegal, President and CEO of Dr. Siegal’s Direct Nutritionals, LLC who wanted to apologize for the way his company was represented to me back in 2005.

“Dr. Scott Greenberg is not the “Cookie Diet Doctor,” Siegal explained. “Dr. Greenberg had nothing to do with the creation of the Cookie Diet; he was merely an employee of a former sub-franchisee (called Smart For Life) of Dr. Sanford Siegal who created the Cookie Diet in 1975.”

Siegal went on to explain that the business relationship with this former franchisee had ended in 2006, although the REAL Cookie Diet Doctor had to take the matter to court to have them stop using his trademarked names. A federal court recently ruled in Dr. Sanford Siegal’s favor and completely exonerated his good name in the process.

Additionally, Siegal was kind enough to send me some samples of his cookies to try for myself and examine the nutritional content as I had originally requested in 2005. In other words, there was nothing but respect for my request and I appreciated the gesture since I merely wanted the truth to be shared about these cookies.

For the record, I have now tried these cookies in the COOKIE DIET™and read the full list of ingredients and nutritional label. Although they are indeed very delicious (especially the banana–LOVED ‘EM!), moist, and hunger-satisfying cookies, I cannot recommend these to people who are losing weight on livin’ la vida low-carb because the carb counts are much too high.

Here are the ingredients as found on the package of oatmeal raisin cookies:

WATER, GLYCERIN, WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, CRISP RICE (RICE, SUGAR, SALT, MALT), OATS, SOYBEAN OIL, MICROCRYSTALLINE CELLULOSE, RAISINS, MILK PROTEIN, VINEGAR, MODIFIED PALM OIL, BROWN SUGAR, BEEF PROTEIN HYDROLYSATE, EGG WHITE SOLIDS, WHEY, CANE SUGAR, WHEAT FLOUR, LEAVENING (SODIUM BICARBONATE, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, CORNSTARCH, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM SULFATE), WHEAT BRAN, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SALT, CINNAMON, NUTMEG, FD & C YELLOW #5, CALCIUM PROPIONATE (PRESERVATIVE).
ALLERGY WARNING: CONTAINS MILK, EGGS, SOY, AND WHEAT.

As for the nutritional label, here’s the pertinent information:

Serving Size: 1 cookie (24g)
Servings Per Container: 6 cookies
Calories: 90
Total Fat: 2.5g
Saturated Fat: 1g
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 150mg
Total Carbohydrate: 11g
Dietary Fiber: 2g
Sugars: 2g
Protein: 5g

I was a bit surprised at how low the fiber and protein in these cookies were since they are supposed to ward off hunger. There are many other sugar-free products out there with much higher protein and fiber to keep you satisfied for hours.

There was also a sample daily diet menu on the packaging to follow:

Consult your doctor before starting any diet. Your doctor may have reasons why you should not be on a diet, or why one diet may be more appropriate for you than another. Under his or her direction only, follow these or alternative steps as directed by your doctor:

1. Eat six Dr. Siegal’s COOKIE DIET™ cookies a day, not at fixed times but when needed to control hunger. Have one cookie and a glass of water and wait fifteen minutes. If still hungry, eat a second cookie. You should not need a third.

2. In addition to six cookies (which provide about 500 calories), eat one reasonable dinner containing about 900 calories (or a different amount as directed by your doctor).

3. To maintain flavor, this product is not fortified with vitamins or minerals. IMPORTANT: You must take a multivitamin as prescribed by your doctor while using this product as part of a calorie-restricted diet.

4. Drink about two quarts (8 glasses) of water or diet beverages every day.

So, it looks like this COOKIE DIET™ is in essence a low-calorie, portion-control diet. If a low-carber were to follow this diet and count the net carbs in just six of these cookies, that would quickly add up to 54g with just the cookies. That many carbs will kick you out of ketosis and the principles of low-carb living will not be in effect.

You may or may not lose weight this way, but I sure wouldn’t want to just have cookies for the rest of my life for breakfast, lunch, and snack. However, I don’t see having one or two of these in low-carb maintenance every once in a while as a bad thing if you prefer not to eat high-sugar or artificially-sweetened cookies.

I’d like to publicly thank Matthew Siegal for his generosity in allowing me to review his company’s products openly and honestly. He was a true gentleman and should not be judged based on the actions of those who previously misrepresented his company in the past. I for one have a greater respect for this company today although I do not subscribe to the COOKIE DIET™ itself.

If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Sanford Siegal’s COOKIE DIET™ and think it might work for you, then visit their web site and check it out for yourself.