If you're on Dr. Phil McGraw's diet, how is that working for you?
You can find out all about it if you buy Dr. Phil's book, "The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom," which retails for $26. Then help yourself to Dr. Phil's licensed meal replacements, shakes, pills, and supplements that can cost as much as $200 a month. The man is making a fortune from America's girth--albeit he's giving away some of it to a nonprofit foundation he created--and some are questioning the good doctor's ethics, reports The Chicago Tribune.
What he is doing goes way beyond a personal endorsement. Who says so?
- Oprah Winfrey, who introduced Dr. Phil to the world, has acknowledged that endorsing supplements was not a decision she would have made.
- The Mayo Clinic goes as far as to warn people to be wary of his recommendations for supplements, saying they do not ensure successful weight loss.
- The Licensing Letter, a newsletter published for the licensing industry: "It gives new meaning to the words 'working it,'" wrote Mary Sullivan. "If he was a medical doctor (who) specialized in nutrition, I could see it as a natural crossover. But a shrink? It smells of ethical and moral concerns."
Them's fightin' words. Pop psychologist Dr. Phil says that if we're fat, it's our own fault, and he'll help us change that with his diet book and weight-loss supplements. As the Chicago Tribune points out, critics say Dr. Phil is capitalizing on his trusted television persona and venturing into an area where he lacks credentials.
He claims we can lose weight by changing our emotional eating behavior through "right thinking" and building "healing feelings" that will prevent overeating. Since Dr. Phil is not a medical doctor--he's a psychologist--his use of meal replacements and high-fat supplements that are pretty much unregulated by the government has raised a few eyebrows.
"We are all looking for a quick fix," Dawn Jackson, a registered dietitian at the Northwestern Memorial Wellness Institute and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, told the Chicago Tribune. "The question is whether this is preying on the vulnerability of people trying to lose weight. We all know there is no quick fix or magic pill, and this could give them false hopes."
The Mayo Clinic goes so far as to warn people to be wary of the supplements, saying the claims Dr. Phil makes about "scientifically researched levels of ingredients that can help you take better control of your weight" are exaggerated. "The types and amounts of supplements he recommends do not ensure successful weight loss," cautions the Mayo Clinic on its Web site.
Dieter beware.