Gwyneth Paltrow slammed for promoting anorexia by asking people to aim for 'leanest liveable weight' on her Goop website
Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle brand Goop is facing backlash from health experts after it published an article on its website that encouraged people to reach their "leanest liveable weight."
In the article titled 'Busting Diet Myths' which claimed to be "supported by science", psychologist Dr Traci Mann, who is the author of the book 'Secrets from the Eating Lab' and the founder-director of the Mann Lab, said that people should aim to be at the lowest end of their genetically-determined "set range" of weights, Daily Mail reported.
According to scientists, since the article did not elaborate enough on what is meant by "leanest liveable weight", it ended up glorifying "skinniness" and promoting eating disorders such as anorexia.
Cambridge University scientist Dr. Giles Yeo who has appeared in programs for the BBC's 'Horizon' and 'Trust Me, I'm a Doctor' said at the New Scientist Live event in London that advising people to be at the 'low end' of their target weight range could be misconstrued by many as trying to be as lean as possible "without dying."
"This is a dangerous suggestion, as many people will take it to mean they should be as thin as possible. It is irresponsible because the idea is so open to misinterpretation, especially for young girls susceptible to eating disorders. The problem with many of Goop's recommendations is that they are not based on science, but pseudoscience," he said.
Yeo is a proponent of eating everything but in fewer quantities, instead of opting for extreme diet plans. He spoke out against the "fear of food" created by articles like the recent one on Goop, saying that they tend to send people on fad diets.
"It's a silly idea because there is no clear way to determine what your leanest liveable weight is. It is therefore nigh-on impossible to find a target to stick to. People should not be afraid of food, and 'diet' should not have become such a loaded term. Goop is part of the reason that people have become afraid of eating. We need to love our food, just eat less of it," he said.
After facing criticism, Mann defended the article, saying that it specifically pointed out the harm that crash diets caused. "I am strongly and clearly opposed to strict dieting. In fact, the article is specifically about not dieting, not trying to lose too much weight and not doing anything unhealthy or extreme," she said.