September 29, 2022 • 36 mins
Join the Wellness Myths team as we dive back into the world of fad diets this week. F-factor is a diet surrounding the idea of FIBER! We’ll talk benefits of fiber, the dangers of too much, and the litigation behind this controversial diet. Buckle up- this one is juicy!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Emily (00:15):
Welcome to this week's episode of Wellness Myths, where
we are going to dive into the FFactor diet.
And some of you may have alreadyheard about this diet because
while it's not like raginglypopular, there's a lot of
controversy around the diet anda lot of drama, which is always
exciting,
Vanessa (00:35):
Yes, there is no shortage of drama.
I'm a little bit afraid thatwe're gonna get sued over this
episode because there's been somuch litigation.
You guys, the drama in this,it's like reality show level
drama.
All the players are kind wild.
Everybody has a weird agenda.
(00:56):
You don't really know like somepeople.
It's just, it's wild
Emily (01:02):
Totally.
And I feel like, honestly, evenbefore this, I was texting
Vanessa about our notes for theshow and I was like, We're gonna
talk a lot of shit today.
Like that's what it's just gonnabe.
And we're gonna get into likethe details and nutrition of
this diet of course.
So you can expect that asalways.
But Vanessa, as Vanessa issaying, nobody's truly in the
(01:24):
right or wrong here.
It's really just a total mess.
But it's definitely worthhearing about.
Vanessa (01:30):
And it's really interesting too.
So there is a podcast that is awhole series about F Factor.
So if you listen to this andyou're like, I need more, I need
to know all of the drama, youcan go over to that podcast.
It's called Fed Up.
But I was.
Emily and I both listened to itand I was thinking like, it's
(01:51):
very interesting to listen tothat and knowing that no one is
a nutrition professional that'sreporting on it.
Emily (02:01):
Yeah,
Vanessa (02:01):
In some of the some of the things they say which we'll
get into this a little bit morelater, but one of the things
they're like, Yeah, she wasrecommending 35 5 grams of fiber
a day, and they're acting likethat's a wild recommendation and
that's a very normalrecommendation.
That's something that Irecommend in my practice,
Emily (02:24):
Yeah, totally.
Vanessa (02:25):
so it's interesting.
There's a lot of nuance.
Emily (02:31):
A lot.
Okay, so a lot of you might noteven know what F factor is.
And so basically the F factordiet was created by a dietician
named Tanya Zucker brought, isthat, I don't like, how
Vanessa (02:43):
I think it's Zucker bot.
And also, did you know that shewent to U of m
Emily (02:48):
No wait.
You can't even go to U OFM fordietetics.
Vanessa (02:52):
She did.
She must have went there.
Maybe she did nutrition orsomething, but she is a U of M
grad.
Emily (03:00):
Oh, wow.
Well, we went to Michigan State,so y'all can just think about
what our opinions about all thatis.
So basically this dieticiancreated this supposedly
groundbreaking diet where allyou do is eat like an ass load
of fiber, and that's all youneed to do.
She claims in order to loseweight.
(03:20):
I loved watching the littlevideo that they posted.
Vanessa, did you see this ontheir website?
Vanessa (03:27):
I, Yes, I actually did.
I just watched it.
Is it like the animation?
Emily (03:32):
Yeah, it's an animation video and it's a direct quote is
digesting fiber, torches,calories, and fiber.
Makes calories and fat disappearfrom your body, which was total
news to me.
And it did, they did suggest, Isaw in the video 40 grams of
fiber a day, which definitely ispushing it, like for most
(03:55):
people, I would say, I mean, thegeneral recommendation is like
28 to 35 grams of fiber.
And that's just kind of likewhere, you know, giving you a
baseline of.
People are recommended, and it'sgonna be different for
everybody, right?
Because some people can toleratemore fibers, some people can't.
Some people need less.
Some people need more.
It's just totally gonna dependon your individual situation.
(04:17):
So already right off the bat Iwas like, okay, this is like a
little bit of a red flag becauseeating that much fiber might
make someone like super sick, ormaybe you have to progress into
eating that much fiber.
You know, you can't just likestart randomly doing that.
If you're used to eating like 10grams of fiber a day And also to
go ahead.
Vanessa (04:35):
That was really the thing that I noticed or was
really thinking about as I waslistening to this.
I also bruised around herInstagram currently, so I'll
talk about that a little bitlater.
But eating, a lot of people,like Emily said, are eating like
10 or 15 grams of fiber a day,which is absolutely not enough,
(04:55):
but doubling that in.
Emily (04:59):
Quadrupling that
Vanessa (05:00):
or quadrupling that is going to take your GI tract on a
ride.
It's something that you kind ofwanna like titrate up to.
And that's something that wetalk to people about in our
practice is like, You kind oflike have to go low and slow
until you get to a point whereyou can take a little bit more.
Your body has to get used to it.
(05:22):
It's kind of like exercise, likeyou're not gonna run 30 miles
the first time you go for a run.
You're gonna go do a mile andthen two miles and progress up
to doing 30 miles.
Emily (05:34):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And even like, you know, if, forsome of you who might be
confused, what foods are fibercontaining?
Fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, all of those foods have
a good amount of fiber in them.
And that's why, you know,there's a lot of reasons.
Eat fruits and vegetables.
But fiber is a huge one,especially now we're realiz.
Like people do not eat enoughfiber.
(05:56):
And so it's definitely aconcern, I think, on most
dietician radar to encourage anincrease in fiber.
Vanessa (06:03):
So I think that, you know, so far of what we've
gotten into, Tonya's idea ofeating more fiber is not a bad
one.
That.
It's good to eat more fiber.
That's not bad messaging.
There's a lot more messagingthat we'll get into, but that,
that part of f factor I'm, I'msolid with.
(06:26):
I agree.
Yeah.
Emily (06:28):
and it's really interesting too, like I don't
see any.
Kind of discussion on thewebsite or explanation of how
eating too much too quicklymight make you feel Ill.
I mean, there was like a daylast week that I texted Vanessa
because I had like chickpeas andbrown rice and romaine and like
I think seeds too.
And then I had like one of thoseolli pops that was like nine
(06:51):
grams of fiber in it, and it waslike, Definitely over 20 grams
of fiber in one meal.
And I felt so ill, I could noteat for a long time because I
was just way too full.
And that's kind of like the ideaof a factor is to fill you up on
these low calorie foods so thatyou're not hungry.
That's kind of like one of thebig selling points.
So that you're not hungry andyou're not able to eat well.
(07:13):
I mean, I can share from just myone experience eating a really,
really high fiber meal.
It's like by the time I wasfinally feeling hunger cues,
when I wasn't just feeling likesuper bloated from eating all
the fiber at once, accidentallyI felt ravenous and it was not
good.
Like I had missed all thesecalories throughout my day that
I needed to eat to sustainmyself.
(07:34):
So then by the time I got to theend of the day, I was like, Oh,
shoot all the air in my stomachfinally ran out from all of this
fiber and now I'm really, reallyhungry.
So I just kind of find it alittle suspect or interesting
that they claim that you'll justnever feel hunger on this diet
because you're just constantlylike loading it up with.
Low calorie, high density foods.
(07:55):
I just don't, I don't get that.
Vanessa (07:57):
Well, and I think this is also a classic situation
where we run into where you canhave too much of a good thing,
like you can have too much.
Anything.
And so there is, audio of Tanyaout there saying you can never
have too much fiber.
(08:18):
And listen, if you are apractitioner, never say anything
like that.
Emily (08:23):
Never say never.
That's the rule.
Like just never say never.
And that's our red flag.
Like all the time we tell ourlisteners, like anyone who speak
in absolutes like that, don'tlisten to.
Vanessa (08:32):
People will take it to an extreme.
Like if Emily and I have bothexperienced this in our
practices, if you say sometimes,especially as a dietician, you
say to eat something and youkind of assume like, Well,
they're not going to eat.
You know, a wild amount of that.
And then people do, because yousaid it was good.
(08:53):
So if you are a healthprofessional, especially if
you're a dietician, be very,very careful.
And never say you can not eattoo much of something so you can
eat too much of anything.
Emily (09:05):
Totally.
Yep.
And.
What's really interesting to meis like the way that basically
fiber is like the only piece of,you know, the puzzle in this
diet.
It's not like super complex.
Of course, there's lots ofthings that, you know, they'd
like to sell.
You like bars.
And these bars all have 20 gramsof fiber in them alone.
(09:26):
Just like a small snack.
Like no kidding, that fills youup because that's a lot of fiber
to intake right at one time.
In the span of like a fewminutes while you're eating a.
But the other aspect of offactors that they do offer
nutrition counseling and theyoffer them with dieticians, they
talk about how people want asimple diet that allows them to
dine out without difficulty,tastes good, improves their
(09:49):
health.
They talk a lot about how manydiets impose their way of eating
and that they show clients howto make healthy eating a way of
life without disrupting theirlifestyle.
There's a lot of talk, I don'tknow if you notice this on the
website, but there's so muchtalk about like you can still
drink alcohol.
You don't have to work out somuch.
It's like what you're assumingthat people are already working
(10:10):
out a ton and also what even isthat what's working out a lot?
They have this like littlenarrative that's weaved.
Woven through the website thatsays Work out less.
Like what?
That's just such a weird, It'sjust such a weird thing for me
to set, for me to hear and seeon this website.
Vanessa (10:27):
Yeah, it's very strange message messaging.
I don't know if you noticed thistoo.
Another one of their things islike un, kind of like underneath
is low carb.
Like all of their Stu, their
Emily (10:40):
Yeah.
Yes.
Vanessa (10:41):
carb and they kind of preach low carb.
And this is funny because fiber,like you have to eat carbs to
get fiber.
I,
Emily (10:52):
You literally have to, as we already just said, like
fruits and vegetables are carbsand fruits and vegetables are
fiber.
Like nobody knows this.
It's such a big secret.
They're like carbs.
That's bread.
Okay.
Yeah.
But
Vanessa (11:07):
Right.
Emily (11:08):
are carbs, broccoli's, carbs.
even though the website isreally claiming that's all about
eating carbs still and additivenutrition, like Vanessa said,
we're seeing no carb noodlerecipes everywhere.
There's restriction on the firstpage of the recipe section.
There's also a lot of egg whitesonly not using the yolk of the
egg, which we know is like kindof silly and definitely diet
(11:29):
behavior unless you don't likethe yolk of the egg.
I don't think I've ever metsomeone who like prefers egg
whites for the taste.
Maybe you do.
And every recipe also talks alot about how it's low in fat or
low in calories.
It's such a big piece of thepuzzle and it's just interesting
because that doesn't even haveanything to do with fiber.
So it's just very sneaky in thatway, I thought.
(11:50):
And there's a lot of fakesugars, like monk fruit
sweeteners, sugar alcohols.
There's an apple crisp thatincludes a half cup of.
Fiber and protein powder and thehalf cup of fake sugar and like
no real sweetener.
And they're talking about thatit's like perfect to bring to
Thanksgiving.
I do not know who would want youto bring that to Thanksgiving,
(12:11):
but you could try.
There was a pumpkin mug cakerecipe that like, again, it's
like.
Made of flour, pumpkin puree, ascoop of protein powder, and
then two tablespoons ofgranulated monk fruit sweetener.
It's like, what?
Like this.
They're just so bizarre.
The recipes, they're not reallyeven that like nutritious or
(12:33):
nutrient dense.
And it's very clear that atevery step of the way, they're
avoiding any added calories orfat.
So like, yeah, no kidding.
That's gonna help create sort ofa calorie deficit, help you lose
weight even easier just becauseof the fact that, you know,
we're being so restrictive, likeeven the vegan.
Pesto recipe they have is mostlyvegetable broth.
(12:55):
Instead of oils like, you know,it's two tablespoons of oil and
then two third a cup ofvegetable broth.
It just could not be moreobvious that they're trying to
cut calories in a variety ofways besides just the increase
of the fiber.
Vanessa (13:08):
Yeah, I, like I said, I had been looking at her
Instagram page, present day alittle bit, and she has a recipe
here, and this is for breakfastand it's a smoothie, and so this
is just breakfast.
It's 36 grams of fiber.
Emily (13:25):
That's, that's, that's not okay.
I mean, it wouldn't be for me.
I could not, my body could nottolerate, and I'm vegan, so.
Vanessa (13:32):
Yeah, so that's a lot of fiber.
Like that is a full day worth offiber in one meal.
So it's no wonder, you know,people, especially if you're
someone who doesn't eat a lot offiber, and then you go, Oh, I'm
gonna make this recipe.
Yeah, your stomach's probablygonna hurt after that.
You're going to have some GIdistress.
(13:54):
So just kind of funny looking atthat.
So obviously, you know,throughout the website it's kind
of weird cause it's, like Emilysaid, it's like contradicting
itself where it's trying,they're trying to be additive.
They're trying to be like, don'tskip any meals.
Still go out to eat with yourfriends.
Like you
Emily (14:10):
Still drink.
They like love talking aboutdrinking.
It's so
Vanessa (14:13):
I really do.
Yeah.
Don't work out.
You don't need it.
So there's all these thingswhere they're like kind of
trying to be non-restrictive oract like they're
non-restrictive.
But then they have theseunderlying things that are very,
very diet ry.
Like they're recipes.
(14:34):
We can kind of see right throughthose and some more explicit
things like the intentionalitybracelet or intentions bracelet.
Emily (14:44):
When I saw that they had a clothing section, I was about
to lose my mind.
I was like, Oh no.
I'm like, she is really justcashing it in like every single
step of the way.
Okay.
Tell us about the
Vanessa (14:55):
it's literally, it's also just like, this is just a
side note.
It's basically a piece of greenstring and it's$18
Emily (15:03):
Yeah, it's expensive.
Vanessa (15:05):
Yeah.
I mean, for like what you'regetting, it's just like this
green string with a gold F onit.
Okay.
so
Emily (15:11):
Yeah, And it's gold plated brass hardware
Vanessa (15:15):
Yes, this is the Intentions bracelet, and I wanna
read what it says on thewebsite.
Strive for excellence andintegrity in all you do with the
F Factor Intentions braceletexclusively designed for F
Factor and featuring a goldplate F charm.
This adjustable cord braceletserves as a daily visual
(15:36):
reminder to honor yourintentions for looking and
feeling your best so that younever settle for mediocrity.
Be your best.
And stay on track and motivatedthe F factor way with this
minimalist, stylish piece.
So in other words, they wantyou, they made this a a bracelet
(15:59):
intentionally because they wantyou to look at it as you reach
for food
Emily (16:05):
Literally,
Vanessa (16:07):
and think about your diet.
Now, if Mean
Emily (16:12):
it's like a snapping the rubber.
Vanessa (16:14):
Yeah, it's, it's very, very weird.
Definitely did not go over wellin my brain.
Emily (16:22):
And I mean there was another, a piece on their
website that also said when itcomes to what we eat, the fork
is in our hands and hours alone.
And it just feels like a reallycreepy, almost.
Narrative of like, only you cancontrol.
Maybe this is because I hatelike self-help stuff more than
(16:44):
pretty much anything, but Ijust, I just read that and it
reminded me, like with thebracelet, I'm like, it's just
so, there's so much pressure onthe individual here.
And also like the fork is notalways in our hands and ours
alone.
And it really doesn't matter.
Like if everyone ate the samething, like it, it wouldn't mean
the same outcome, the same body,the same weight loss.
(17:05):
It's.
It's totally like putting theblame on you for absolutely any
decision you might make withfood and making it seem like you
know, Oh, you only have yourselfto blame if things go south for
you with your health ornutrition.
It's just like not true.
Vanessa (17:25):
And that brings me to a couple of comments that were
made that kind of led to thiswhole drama.
And these comments are thingsthat Tanya allegedly said.
The person who revealed thisstayed anonymous, so it's all
alleged.
She has denied saying this.
(17:45):
But this is the quote.
Emily (17:48):
I feel like we're like a gossip podcast right now.
I'm like real.
I'm really excited.
Like we need maybe like
Vanessa (17:55):
Yeah.
I know right.
Emily (17:57):
weekly gossip download.
Okay.
Vanessa (17:59):
Okay, so this is a, this is a two parter.
The first one is shocking, andthe second one is like, you're
gonna hear the first one andthink, Oh my God, how could it
get any worse than that?
And not that the next one isworse, but it, I think it's
equally bad.
Okay,
Emily (18:17):
it.
Say it.
Vanessa (18:19):
so Tanya Zucker.
Registered dietician who foundedF Factor.
These are the words that sheallegedly spoke to a client.
If Holocaust victims could gointo concentration camps and
lose weight, then so can you.
Emily (18:38):
What?
Vanessa (18:40):
Yep.
That was the first one.
Not sure how the Holocaust cameinto this, but allegedly, this
is what she said to a client.
Again, I wanna really stressallegedly We do not know that
these words were spoken, and shealso has denied it.
(19:01):
The second thing that she saidto this client.
So this client was onanti-anxiety medication and she
told her that if heranti-anxiety medication was
making her gain weight, thenthat was her choice to sit, stay
on that medication.
Emily (19:17):
Oh, they talk about that one and fed up the podcast,
don't
Vanessa (19:20):
Yeah, both of those actually they talk about, Cause
it's really the catalyst of, Sothis person came out and said
something and then more peoplestarted saying things.
But yeah, those two comments arereally what got things started.
But just wow.
Wow.
I really hope she did not saythis.
(19:41):
I really, really hope that shedid not say that.
Emily (19:44):
That is really spooky.
Vanessa (19:46):
Yeah.
So so.
These comments came out and thenmore people started speaking up
and less on things that Tanyahad said to them.
But they kind of startedspeaking up about the F factor
diet that they were gettingsick.
But there's a lot of weird stuffwe weaved in with.
Okay, we need to stop theanonymous accounts on Instagram.
(20:09):
This whole drama is allanonymous accounts on Instagram.
Like saying whatever, So thegirl who started like this
crusade against Tanya, hername's Emily, she's a fashion
blogger.
She, which, why, why did this,who was not even
Emily (20:28):
confusing.
Yeah, it's, it's reallyconfusing.
She just like really hated herfor like, seemingly no reason.
I mean, I get it.
Like there, there's a lot ofproblematic shit going on here,
but yeah, it's interesting,like, I don't know what her buy
into this whole situation reallywas except for like thinking
about maybe making a podcast andlike getting some clout for it,
Vanessa (20:48):
Right?
Is she Yeah.
Yeah.
And I, that had to be, she saysit was cuz she just wanted to do
the right thing.
I, I just don't know if that'strue.
I also would like to say here Ireally meant to mention this
earlier when we were introducingTanya, but keep in mind, so
Tanya is like a celebritydietician.
(21:09):
She.
Has a ton of money.
She lives in like a 22 millionhome in Manhattan.
She's always on like these wild,extravagant vacations with her
family and she likened herselfto Mother Teresa.
Emily (21:28):
Oh my God.
Vanessa (21:29):
She made a comment,
Emily (21:31):
Wow.
And that's true.
Vanessa (21:34):
Yeah.
And then there's also clips ofher saying like, you know, when
she is kind of clapping back atthe drama and people saying that
her products are bad orwhatever, she, her first thing
that she comes out and says isbasically, you know, I haven't
made a public I haven't made apublic statement, but it's
(21:55):
because my husband always says,If you lay down with dogs,
you'll get fleas.
these are professional commentsthat these people are making.
Emily (22:06):
Right.
Like what?
Oh my God.
So the whole reason that Emilykind of goes after Tanya is
because she just heard thatpeople were getting sick, they
were having bloating issues andthat the whole diet wasn't going
well.
And so she just kind of startsthis campaign against her
really.
And to try and get her to speakout about it.
And that's kind of where thedrama begins, and that's where
(22:29):
the Fed Up podcast sort of comesinto play.
Vanessa (22:33):
And most of the complaints were people saying
things like, you know, they werereporting side effects like hair
loss, rashes, lost periods,disordered eating habits, GI
distress.
People were going to the ho.
Hospital cause I had abdominaldis distress that was so severe
they felt they needed to go tothe hospital.
And these are, a lot of thosethings are things that you might
(22:57):
expect if you drasticallyincrease your fiber.
Like Emily said, you know, thesebars have 20 grams of fiber in
them.
And some people might thinklike, Oh, I'm gonna have a few
bars a day, and that would be 60grams of fiber.
Emily (23:15):
Well, and even like on her, I was just on the FAQ of
the website and they, there's aFAQ that's like, What is my
fiber goal?
And she says, Fiber's allnatural.
So there's no upward limit ashow much fiber you should be
eating, which you alreadymentioned.
But she was like, What youshould be concerned about is not
getting enough, because theaverage American only consumes
15 grams a day, which is abouthalf of the recommended goal.
(23:37):
And it's like, what?
Like, But you don't need to beworried about getting enough if
you're already getting enough.
Like it's just another one ofthose generalized statements.
And to say that just becausesomething is all natural,
there's no upwards limit.
That's really irresponsible tome.
Vanessa (23:52):
Yeah, definitely.
Again, never say things likethat.
There is an upward limit toeverything at the end of the
day.
So Tanya started making her ownproducts and these protein
powders and bars, and this wasreally to where people like
started to go in at her like,there's something wrong with
these products.
(24:13):
And Emily was kind of leadingthat crusade to, you know, try
to take her down and.
They were demanding that, youknow, they released more
information about the products.
They were kind of resistant todo that.
A factor was resistant to, to dothat for a while.
And then Emily got thisanonymous comment that this
(24:35):
woman had had a miscarriage andshe thought it was because of
using effector product.
So she goes on like this wholeother crusade and now she feels
like she really has a lot totake Tanya down.
Again, we do not understand whyEmily wants to take Tanya down
(24:55):
so, so badly.
It's really kind of a mystery,like
Emily (24:59):
Yeah,
Vanessa (25:00):
Yeah.
But either way, she really wantsto take Tanya down.
This is like her, like, likeshe's got gold to take her.
And it ends up that that storywas fake.
So this woman had not actuallyhad a miscarriage.
I don't even know if that womanactually existed, but she did
(25:21):
not like that story did nothappen.
So obviously that discreditedEmily A.
Little bit there, you know,begging to see the F factor you
know, review of their products.
And then that comes out.
And it shows some trace metals.
And Emily's, I'm sure is likerubbing her hands together on
(25:43):
that too.
But it's very normal to havetrace metals as long as they're
in a safe amount from anythingthat comes from soil.
You can find trace metals in anyfruit vegetable that's coming
out of the ground.
Emily (25:59):
Right, Right.
This is another thing.
This is like something that thefood babe would get really bent
outta shape about which honestlywe should do a whole Oh, that's
a good episode.
The food babe.
Okay.
Vanessa (26:10):
So either way.
Everything kind of turned outlike I think everyone went their
separate ways.
Tanya is still has the F factor.
She's still selling all of herproducts.
I am actually, I'm kind oftempted to buy some of the
protein bars just cause I'mcurious, like I wanna know what
they taste like.
Would that much
Emily (26:30):
honestly, with that much fiber, and I mean, I'm curious
like some of these recipes, I'mlike, how are you getting away
with telling people to makethis?
Like, is this actually tastinggood?
Like, and this is such anotherhuge thing where all these diets
like.
You, they include a ton ofproducts, like bars and protein
powders and all of that becauseit's just another way to kind of
(26:52):
grab money.
I mean, she definitely has agreat business advisor.
There's even books and also likethe apparel, right?
We can't forget about thebracelet.
So she's making money in a lotof different avenues with this
for sure.
And seems to be continuing.
Vanessa (27:06):
Well, and I think that before we finish this episode
up, we really need to talk aboutGigi crackers too.
Emily (27:13):
Oh yeah, go for it.
Vanessa (27:14):
So Gigi crackers are these crackers that Tanya was
really promoting because theyare high fiber.
So especially before she wasmaking her own product, she was
always promo promoting Gigicrackers.
And I was kind of, I waslaughing because I was looking
at Gigi crackers and I was justlooking at reviews of Gigi
(27:34):
crackers, and someone had saidthey taste like edible saw dust.
Emily (27:45):
Wait.
That's so good.
Vanessa (27:46):
And then like all these people were like, Oh my gosh,
they taste like cardboard.
These are horrible.
And as I was reading all ofthese reviews, I was thinking,
honestly, this is probably acracker that I would like.
Emily (27:58):
Oh, probably be eating those up.
Like your eating habits are soconfusing to.
Vanessa (28:08):
Yeah, I mean, I might buy some Gigi cra Gigi crackers
too.
Honestly, I wish that I would'vebought this stuff before we did
this episode, so I could've mademyself like our own little
experimental person.
I don't wanna go to the hospitalfor, you know, stomach pain, but
I feel like I eat quite a bit offiber already, so I would
probably be fine.
Emily (28:29):
it's a risk That you're willing to take for the people.
I mean, I think we candefinitely update people as on
future episodes, be like, Hey,you know, if you'd listen to
that F Factor episode, here'slike our personal review for the
Gigi Crack.
Vanessa (28:43):
Right.
So I'm curious, Emily, what isyour overall take on this?
Like do you think a factor needsto be taken down and they're
doing something super ominous?
What?
What's your thoughts?
Emily (29:02):
So, yeah, obviously, I mean, you're talking to me, so
like any diet, I'm gonna belike, No, But like, I think that
when you really look at thetenants of this one, it's a lot
less alarming than other dietsin the way that like, I guess if
you're just eating extra fiber,like what's the big deal?
Even though clearly, accordingto the recipes, and I'm sure if
(29:23):
you talk to one of theirdieticians, there would be other
like calorie restrictive thingstoo that are just a little more
sneaky.
But I do really like that, likeeating more fiber.
It's definitely something that'sgonna benefit you in many ways.
And we know that and we have.
Data to back that up.
But of course I always worry,especially with the tendency for
disordered eating patterns, thetendency to compare, you know,
(29:45):
they have success stories ontheir website that never talk
about anything more than oneyear post starting F Factor.
Right?
Which we know is immediately redflag because the data.
Shows us that those resultsstart to just lower and lower
and lower.
It's the sustainability ofresults as each year passes till
we get to that five year point.
And you have people claimingthat, like the chocolate shake,
quote unquote, saved their life.
(30:07):
Like it's just a lot.
So I worry about the cultishbehavior that can evolve from a
situation like this followingthese kinds of diets.
But at the same time, I dounderstand that fiber intake is
something that most Americansshould be concerned about or at
least curious about in theirdiet.
And I think that there's a lotof different ways that you can
(30:28):
even use intuitive eating tomanage that rather than even.
Being so rigid and counting andworrying about exact amounts.
I actually just had a client whowas telling me like, Well now
that I'm not tracking mycalories, how am I supposed to
know how much fiber I'm gettingand if it's enough, You know, So
it's like we can look at howmany fruits and vegetables
you're eating throughout theday.
(30:49):
We can look at how full you are.
We can look at the health ofyour bowel movements.
You know, there's a lot ofdifferent things that we can
look at besides like the intensetracking and also Overload of a
certain substance.
So I think that it misses themark and the fact that, yeah,
fiber's important, but the waythat she's going about it is
potentially harm inducing.
(31:11):
So it's gonna be a no from me,
Vanessa (31:14):
Yeah, I definitely agree with you.
I like that.
Like you had mentioned, I thinkit's good that you know they're
pushing fiber.
I don't think there's anythingwrong with that.
I think it's good that.
They're saying like, Don't skipany meals, have all of your
meals.
But that's almost the problemtoo, is because they have kind
(31:36):
of a bad message, but they'recovering it up and being like,
You can do whatever you want.
But there's all of this likeominous messaging that's
swirling around too, so it's.
Making people feel like theyhave this freedom, but then it's
like actually really restrictingthem at the same time.
So I think that might be evenworse than the, like the
(31:57):
outright restriction becauseit's like it's kind of
secretive.
Emily (32:02):
shady,
Vanessa (32:03):
Very shady.
The, I can't get over theintentions bracelet.
I, it's the intentions braceletreminds me of like the hanging
up a picture of a model on yourpantry.
Like I feel like that was like avery, like nineties thing to do
is like, hang your favoritesupermodel on the, on the
pantry.
And it gives me that.
Vibe there.
(32:23):
What are your thoughts on, Soobviously we don't wanna
discredit anyone for sideeffects that they had mentioned.
So, like I said, people weresaying that they report
reporting side effects like hairloss period loss rashes,
disordered eating, GI distress,so the disordered eating and GI
distress.
(32:45):
Okay.
I can see those ones.
The other things I'm having ahard time on how that would be
because of increased fiberintake.
Emily (32:55):
So my.
Guess is that it's because likethe hair loss, loss of periods
and everything, it really all,it's giving undernourished at
every step of the way.
So I think that it couldpotentially be from the lack of
calories overall because you'reso full on.
(33:16):
A bunch of fiber that you end upmissing those calories, like
that one fateful day after mylunch that, that happened to me,
And I think that it's, it'sreally just a lack of calories
and we know that that could leadto like hair issues and issues
with your cycle.
So if I had to guess, I wouldsay, That's probably it.
But then that's the other thingwhere it's like it's not to do
(33:38):
with the fiber, so that's whylike it, it is nuanced and it
requires a large approachbecause you didn't get that
because you were following the Ffactor diet and because you were
eating more fiber, you got itbecause maybe you were eating
too much too quickly, yourstomach couldn't handle it.
You bloated up, you had nohunger cue, and then you missed
all of your calories and nowyou're severe severely
undernourished, which comes fromwith a lot more risk than being
(34:02):
over nourished or overeating.
Vanessa (34:04):
Or you got it because you were looking at that
intentions bracelet all the timeand then you weren't eating
enough because you, you know,gave yourself an eating disorder
Emily (34:14):
Yeah, the, the forks in your hands, F factor.
gave it to you.
F Factor indoctrinated you.
And there we go.
So,
Vanessa (34:23):
Yeah.
So moral the story.
We are not big fans of F Factor.
We are big fans of the drama.
Emily (34:34):
Yes, we do.
We do.
Vanessa (34:36):
entertaining.
We are not big fans of anyonegetting hurt over this though.
So hopefully everyone whoreported all those side effects
has fully recovered and is in abetter place with their eating
habits, but they probably need adifferent registered dietician
to get them out of that becauseit is much easier to get in than
(34:57):
to get.
Emily (34:58):
A hundred percent.
And I think it's just a word tothe whys that, you know, things
can start off as a really simplediet.
You're just wanting to loseweight and you can get a lot
more than you bargain for withnot just F Factor, but really
any diet.
So we will keep doing thesereviews for you so that you know
all the information before youstep into one of these
(35:19):
experiences.
Vanessa (35:21):
And I will volunteer to be the wellness Miss Skinny Pig
and let you know what an ffactor in Gigi Bar is a like.
I will go ahead and do that forthe good of all.
And if you've had an F Factorexperience, please let us know.
We'd love to hear about it.
Emily (35:37):
Yes, we would love to hear your experience.
Please tell us well, Vanessa,that was a great first episode
back and I'm excited to seeeveryone next week.
Vanessa (35:56):
See you next time.
Welcome to this week's episode of Wellness Myths, where
we are going to dive into the FFactor diet.
And some of you may have alreadyheard about this diet because
while it's not like raginglypopular, there's a lot of
controversy around the diet anda lot of drama, which is always
exciting,
Vanessa (00:35):
Yes, there is no shortage of drama.
I'm a little bit afraid thatwe're gonna get sued over this
episode because there's been somuch litigation.
You guys, the drama in this,it's like reality show level
drama.
All the players are kind wild.
Everybody has a weird agenda.
(00:56):
You don't really know like somepeople.
It's just, it's wild
Emily (01:02):
Totally.
And I feel like, honestly, evenbefore this, I was texting
Vanessa about our notes for theshow and I was like, We're gonna
talk a lot of shit today.
Like that's what it's just gonnabe.
And we're gonna get into likethe details and nutrition of
this diet of course.
So you can expect that asalways.
But Vanessa, as Vanessa issaying, nobody's truly in the
(01:24):
right or wrong here.
It's really just a total mess.
But it's definitely worthhearing about.
Vanessa (01:30):
And it's really interesting too.
So there is a podcast that is awhole series about F Factor.
So if you listen to this andyou're like, I need more, I need
to know all of the drama, youcan go over to that podcast.
It's called Fed Up.
But I was.
Emily and I both listened to itand I was thinking like, it's
(01:51):
very interesting to listen tothat and knowing that no one is
a nutrition professional that'sreporting on it.
Emily (02:01):
Yeah,
Vanessa (02:01):
In some of the some of the things they say which we'll
get into this a little bit morelater, but one of the things
they're like, Yeah, she wasrecommending 35 5 grams of fiber
a day, and they're acting likethat's a wild recommendation and
that's a very normalrecommendation.
That's something that Irecommend in my practice,
Emily (02:24):
Yeah, totally.
Vanessa (02:25):
so it's interesting.
There's a lot of nuance.
Emily (02:31):
A lot.
Okay, so a lot of you might noteven know what F factor is.
And so basically the F factordiet was created by a dietician
named Tanya Zucker brought, isthat, I don't like, how
Vanessa (02:43):
I think it's Zucker bot.
And also, did you know that shewent to U of m
Emily (02:48):
No wait.
You can't even go to U OFM fordietetics.
Vanessa (02:52):
She did.
She must have went there.
Maybe she did nutrition orsomething, but she is a U of M
grad.
Emily (03:00):
Oh, wow.
Well, we went to Michigan State,so y'all can just think about
what our opinions about all thatis.
So basically this dieticiancreated this supposedly
groundbreaking diet where allyou do is eat like an ass load
of fiber, and that's all youneed to do.
She claims in order to loseweight.
(03:20):
I loved watching the littlevideo that they posted.
Vanessa, did you see this ontheir website?
Vanessa (03:27):
I, Yes, I actually did.
I just watched it.
Is it like the animation?
Emily (03:32):
Yeah, it's an animation video and it's a direct quote is
digesting fiber, torches,calories, and fiber.
Makes calories and fat disappearfrom your body, which was total
news to me.
And it did, they did suggest, Isaw in the video 40 grams of
fiber a day, which definitely ispushing it, like for most
(03:55):
people, I would say, I mean, thegeneral recommendation is like
28 to 35 grams of fiber.
And that's just kind of likewhere, you know, giving you a
baseline of.
People are recommended, and it'sgonna be different for
everybody, right?
Because some people can toleratemore fibers, some people can't.
Some people need less.
Some people need more.
It's just totally gonna dependon your individual situation.
(04:17):
So already right off the bat Iwas like, okay, this is like a
little bit of a red flag becauseeating that much fiber might
make someone like super sick, ormaybe you have to progress into
eating that much fiber.
You know, you can't just likestart randomly doing that.
If you're used to eating like 10grams of fiber a day And also to
go ahead.
Vanessa (04:35):
That was really the thing that I noticed or was
really thinking about as I waslistening to this.
I also bruised around herInstagram currently, so I'll
talk about that a little bitlater.
But eating, a lot of people,like Emily said, are eating like
10 or 15 grams of fiber a day,which is absolutely not enough,
(04:55):
but doubling that in.
Emily (04:59):
Quadrupling that
Vanessa (05:00):
or quadrupling that is going to take your GI tract on a
ride.
It's something that you kind ofwanna like titrate up to.
And that's something that wetalk to people about in our
practice is like, You kind oflike have to go low and slow
until you get to a point whereyou can take a little bit more.
Your body has to get used to it.
(05:22):
It's kind of like exercise, likeyou're not gonna run 30 miles
the first time you go for a run.
You're gonna go do a mile andthen two miles and progress up
to doing 30 miles.
Emily (05:34):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And even like, you know, if, forsome of you who might be
confused, what foods are fibercontaining?
Fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, all of those foods have
a good amount of fiber in them.
And that's why, you know,there's a lot of reasons.
Eat fruits and vegetables.
But fiber is a huge one,especially now we're realiz.
Like people do not eat enoughfiber.
(05:56):
And so it's definitely aconcern, I think, on most
dietician radar to encourage anincrease in fiber.
Vanessa (06:03):
So I think that, you know, so far of what we've
gotten into, Tonya's idea ofeating more fiber is not a bad
one.
That.
It's good to eat more fiber.
That's not bad messaging.
There's a lot more messagingthat we'll get into, but that,
that part of f factor I'm, I'msolid with.
(06:26):
I agree.
Yeah.
Emily (06:28):
and it's really interesting too, like I don't
see any.
Kind of discussion on thewebsite or explanation of how
eating too much too quicklymight make you feel Ill.
I mean, there was like a daylast week that I texted Vanessa
because I had like chickpeas andbrown rice and romaine and like
I think seeds too.
And then I had like one of thoseolli pops that was like nine
(06:51):
grams of fiber in it, and it waslike, Definitely over 20 grams
of fiber in one meal.
And I felt so ill, I could noteat for a long time because I
was just way too full.
And that's kind of like the ideaof a factor is to fill you up on
these low calorie foods so thatyou're not hungry.
That's kind of like one of thebig selling points.
So that you're not hungry andyou're not able to eat well.
(07:13):
I mean, I can share from just myone experience eating a really,
really high fiber meal.
It's like by the time I wasfinally feeling hunger cues,
when I wasn't just feeling likesuper bloated from eating all
the fiber at once, accidentallyI felt ravenous and it was not
good.
Like I had missed all thesecalories throughout my day that
I needed to eat to sustainmyself.
(07:34):
So then by the time I got to theend of the day, I was like, Oh,
shoot all the air in my stomachfinally ran out from all of this
fiber and now I'm really, reallyhungry.
So I just kind of find it alittle suspect or interesting
that they claim that you'll justnever feel hunger on this diet
because you're just constantlylike loading it up with.
Low calorie, high density foods.
(07:55):
I just don't, I don't get that.
Vanessa (07:57):
Well, and I think this is also a classic situation
where we run into where you canhave too much of a good thing,
like you can have too much.
Anything.
And so there is, audio of Tanyaout there saying you can never
have too much fiber.
(08:18):
And listen, if you are apractitioner, never say anything
like that.
Emily (08:23):
Never say never.
That's the rule.
Like just never say never.
And that's our red flag.
Like all the time we tell ourlisteners, like anyone who speak
in absolutes like that, don'tlisten to.
Vanessa (08:32):
People will take it to an extreme.
Like if Emily and I have bothexperienced this in our
practices, if you say sometimes,especially as a dietician, you
say to eat something and youkind of assume like, Well,
they're not going to eat.
You know, a wild amount of that.
And then people do, because yousaid it was good.
(08:53):
So if you are a healthprofessional, especially if
you're a dietician, be very,very careful.
And never say you can not eattoo much of something so you can
eat too much of anything.
Emily (09:05):
Totally.
Yep.
And.
What's really interesting to meis like the way that basically
fiber is like the only piece of,you know, the puzzle in this
diet.
It's not like super complex.
Of course, there's lots ofthings that, you know, they'd
like to sell.
You like bars.
And these bars all have 20 gramsof fiber in them alone.
(09:26):
Just like a small snack.
Like no kidding, that fills youup because that's a lot of fiber
to intake right at one time.
In the span of like a fewminutes while you're eating a.
But the other aspect of offactors that they do offer
nutrition counseling and theyoffer them with dieticians, they
talk about how people want asimple diet that allows them to
dine out without difficulty,tastes good, improves their
(09:49):
health.
They talk a lot about how manydiets impose their way of eating
and that they show clients howto make healthy eating a way of
life without disrupting theirlifestyle.
There's a lot of talk, I don'tknow if you notice this on the
website, but there's so muchtalk about like you can still
drink alcohol.
You don't have to work out somuch.
It's like what you're assumingthat people are already working
(10:10):
out a ton and also what even isthat what's working out a lot?
They have this like littlenarrative that's weaved.
Woven through the website thatsays Work out less.
Like what?
That's just such a weird, It'sjust such a weird thing for me
to set, for me to hear and seeon this website.
Vanessa (10:27):
Yeah, it's very strange message messaging.
I don't know if you noticed thistoo.
Another one of their things islike un, kind of like underneath
is low carb.
Like all of their Stu, their
Emily (10:40):
Yeah.
Yes.
Vanessa (10:41):
carb and they kind of preach low carb.
And this is funny because fiber,like you have to eat carbs to
get fiber.
I,
Emily (10:52):
You literally have to, as we already just said, like
fruits and vegetables are carbsand fruits and vegetables are
fiber.
Like nobody knows this.
It's such a big secret.
They're like carbs.
That's bread.
Okay.
Yeah.
But
Vanessa (11:07):
Right.
Emily (11:08):
are carbs, broccoli's, carbs.
even though the website isreally claiming that's all about
eating carbs still and additivenutrition, like Vanessa said,
we're seeing no carb noodlerecipes everywhere.
There's restriction on the firstpage of the recipe section.
There's also a lot of egg whitesonly not using the yolk of the
egg, which we know is like kindof silly and definitely diet
(11:29):
behavior unless you don't likethe yolk of the egg.
I don't think I've ever metsomeone who like prefers egg
whites for the taste.
Maybe you do.
And every recipe also talks alot about how it's low in fat or
low in calories.
It's such a big piece of thepuzzle and it's just interesting
because that doesn't even haveanything to do with fiber.
So it's just very sneaky in thatway, I thought.
(11:50):
And there's a lot of fakesugars, like monk fruit
sweeteners, sugar alcohols.
There's an apple crisp thatincludes a half cup of.
Fiber and protein powder and thehalf cup of fake sugar and like
no real sweetener.
And they're talking about thatit's like perfect to bring to
Thanksgiving.
I do not know who would want youto bring that to Thanksgiving,
(12:11):
but you could try.
There was a pumpkin mug cakerecipe that like, again, it's
like.
Made of flour, pumpkin puree, ascoop of protein powder, and
then two tablespoons ofgranulated monk fruit sweetener.
It's like, what?
Like this.
They're just so bizarre.
The recipes, they're not reallyeven that like nutritious or
(12:33):
nutrient dense.
And it's very clear that atevery step of the way, they're
avoiding any added calories orfat.
So like, yeah, no kidding.
That's gonna help create sort ofa calorie deficit, help you lose
weight even easier just becauseof the fact that, you know,
we're being so restrictive, likeeven the vegan.
Pesto recipe they have is mostlyvegetable broth.
(12:55):
Instead of oils like, you know,it's two tablespoons of oil and
then two third a cup ofvegetable broth.
It just could not be moreobvious that they're trying to
cut calories in a variety ofways besides just the increase
of the fiber.
Vanessa (13:08):
Yeah, I, like I said, I had been looking at her
Instagram page, present day alittle bit, and she has a recipe
here, and this is for breakfastand it's a smoothie, and so this
is just breakfast.
It's 36 grams of fiber.
Emily (13:25):
That's, that's, that's not okay.
I mean, it wouldn't be for me.
I could not, my body could nottolerate, and I'm vegan, so.
Vanessa (13:32):
Yeah, so that's a lot of fiber.
Like that is a full day worth offiber in one meal.
So it's no wonder, you know,people, especially if you're
someone who doesn't eat a lot offiber, and then you go, Oh, I'm
gonna make this recipe.
Yeah, your stomach's probablygonna hurt after that.
You're going to have some GIdistress.
(13:54):
So just kind of funny looking atthat.
So obviously, you know,throughout the website it's kind
of weird cause it's, like Emilysaid, it's like contradicting
itself where it's trying,they're trying to be additive.
They're trying to be like, don'tskip any meals.
Still go out to eat with yourfriends.
Like you
Emily (14:10):
Still drink.
They like love talking aboutdrinking.
It's so
Vanessa (14:13):
I really do.
Yeah.
Don't work out.
You don't need it.
So there's all these thingswhere they're like kind of
trying to be non-restrictive oract like they're
non-restrictive.
But then they have theseunderlying things that are very,
very diet ry.
Like they're recipes.
(14:34):
We can kind of see right throughthose and some more explicit
things like the intentionalitybracelet or intentions bracelet.
Emily (14:44):
When I saw that they had a clothing section, I was about
to lose my mind.
I was like, Oh no.
I'm like, she is really justcashing it in like every single
step of the way.
Okay.
Tell us about the
Vanessa (14:55):
it's literally, it's also just like, this is just a
side note.
It's basically a piece of greenstring and it's$18
Emily (15:03):
Yeah, it's expensive.
Vanessa (15:05):
Yeah.
I mean, for like what you'regetting, it's just like this
green string with a gold F onit.
Okay.
so
Emily (15:11):
Yeah, And it's gold plated brass hardware
Vanessa (15:15):
Yes, this is the Intentions bracelet, and I wanna
read what it says on thewebsite.
Strive for excellence andintegrity in all you do with the
F Factor Intentions braceletexclusively designed for F
Factor and featuring a goldplate F charm.
This adjustable cord braceletserves as a daily visual
(15:36):
reminder to honor yourintentions for looking and
feeling your best so that younever settle for mediocrity.
Be your best.
And stay on track and motivatedthe F factor way with this
minimalist, stylish piece.
So in other words, they wantyou, they made this a a bracelet
(15:59):
intentionally because they wantyou to look at it as you reach
for food
Emily (16:05):
Literally,
Vanessa (16:07):
and think about your diet.
Now, if Mean
Emily (16:12):
it's like a snapping the rubber.
Vanessa (16:14):
Yeah, it's, it's very, very weird.
Definitely did not go over wellin my brain.
Emily (16:22):
And I mean there was another, a piece on their
website that also said when itcomes to what we eat, the fork
is in our hands and hours alone.
And it just feels like a reallycreepy, almost.
Narrative of like, only you cancontrol.
Maybe this is because I hatelike self-help stuff more than
(16:44):
pretty much anything, but Ijust, I just read that and it
reminded me, like with thebracelet, I'm like, it's just
so, there's so much pressure onthe individual here.
And also like the fork is notalways in our hands and ours
alone.
And it really doesn't matter.
Like if everyone ate the samething, like it, it wouldn't mean
the same outcome, the same body,the same weight loss.
(17:05):
It's.
It's totally like putting theblame on you for absolutely any
decision you might make withfood and making it seem like you
know, Oh, you only have yourselfto blame if things go south for
you with your health ornutrition.
It's just like not true.
Vanessa (17:25):
And that brings me to a couple of comments that were
made that kind of led to thiswhole drama.
And these comments are thingsthat Tanya allegedly said.
The person who revealed thisstayed anonymous, so it's all
alleged.
She has denied saying this.
(17:45):
But this is the quote.
Emily (17:48):
I feel like we're like a gossip podcast right now.
I'm like real.
I'm really excited.
Like we need maybe like
Vanessa (17:55):
Yeah.
I know right.
Emily (17:57):
weekly gossip download.
Okay.
Vanessa (17:59):
Okay, so this is a, this is a two parter.
The first one is shocking, andthe second one is like, you're
gonna hear the first one andthink, Oh my God, how could it
get any worse than that?
And not that the next one isworse, but it, I think it's
equally bad.
Okay,
Emily (18:17):
it.
Say it.
Vanessa (18:19):
so Tanya Zucker.
Registered dietician who foundedF Factor.
These are the words that sheallegedly spoke to a client.
If Holocaust victims could gointo concentration camps and
lose weight, then so can you.
Emily (18:38):
What?
Vanessa (18:40):
Yep.
That was the first one.
Not sure how the Holocaust cameinto this, but allegedly, this
is what she said to a client.
Again, I wanna really stressallegedly We do not know that
these words were spoken, and shealso has denied it.
(19:01):
The second thing that she saidto this client.
So this client was onanti-anxiety medication and she
told her that if heranti-anxiety medication was
making her gain weight, thenthat was her choice to sit, stay
on that medication.
Emily (19:17):
Oh, they talk about that one and fed up the podcast,
don't
Vanessa (19:20):
Yeah, both of those actually they talk about, Cause
it's really the catalyst of, Sothis person came out and said
something and then more peoplestarted saying things.
But yeah, those two comments arereally what got things started.
But just wow.
Wow.
I really hope she did not saythis.
(19:41):
I really, really hope that shedid not say that.
Emily (19:44):
That is really spooky.
Vanessa (19:46):
Yeah.
So so.
These comments came out and thenmore people started speaking up
and less on things that Tanyahad said to them.
But they kind of startedspeaking up about the F factor
diet that they were gettingsick.
But there's a lot of weird stuffwe weaved in with.
Okay, we need to stop theanonymous accounts on Instagram.
(20:09):
This whole drama is allanonymous accounts on Instagram.
Like saying whatever, So thegirl who started like this
crusade against Tanya, hername's Emily, she's a fashion
blogger.
She, which, why, why did this,who was not even
Emily (20:28):
confusing.
Yeah, it's, it's reallyconfusing.
She just like really hated herfor like, seemingly no reason.
I mean, I get it.
Like there, there's a lot ofproblematic shit going on here,
but yeah, it's interesting,like, I don't know what her buy
into this whole situation reallywas except for like thinking
about maybe making a podcast andlike getting some clout for it,
Vanessa (20:48):
Right?
Is she Yeah.
Yeah.
And I, that had to be, she saysit was cuz she just wanted to do
the right thing.
I, I just don't know if that'strue.
I also would like to say here Ireally meant to mention this
earlier when we were introducingTanya, but keep in mind, so
Tanya is like a celebritydietician.
(21:09):
She.
Has a ton of money.
She lives in like a 22 millionhome in Manhattan.
She's always on like these wild,extravagant vacations with her
family and she likened herselfto Mother Teresa.
Emily (21:28):
Oh my God.
Vanessa (21:29):
She made a comment,
Emily (21:31):
Wow.
And that's true.
Vanessa (21:34):
Yeah.
And then there's also clips ofher saying like, you know, when
she is kind of clapping back atthe drama and people saying that
her products are bad orwhatever, she, her first thing
that she comes out and says isbasically, you know, I haven't
made a public I haven't made apublic statement, but it's
(21:55):
because my husband always says,If you lay down with dogs,
you'll get fleas.
these are professional commentsthat these people are making.
Emily (22:06):
Right.
Like what?
Oh my God.
So the whole reason that Emilykind of goes after Tanya is
because she just heard thatpeople were getting sick, they
were having bloating issues andthat the whole diet wasn't going
well.
And so she just kind of startsthis campaign against her
really.
And to try and get her to speakout about it.
And that's kind of where thedrama begins, and that's where
(22:29):
the Fed Up podcast sort of comesinto play.
Vanessa (22:33):
And most of the complaints were people saying
things like, you know, they werereporting side effects like hair
loss, rashes, lost periods,disordered eating habits, GI
distress.
People were going to the ho.
Hospital cause I had abdominaldis distress that was so severe
they felt they needed to go tothe hospital.
And these are, a lot of thosethings are things that you might
(22:57):
expect if you drasticallyincrease your fiber.
Like Emily said, you know, thesebars have 20 grams of fiber in
them.
And some people might thinklike, Oh, I'm gonna have a few
bars a day, and that would be 60grams of fiber.
Emily (23:15):
Well, and even like on her, I was just on the FAQ of
the website and they, there's aFAQ that's like, What is my
fiber goal?
And she says, Fiber's allnatural.
So there's no upward limit ashow much fiber you should be
eating, which you alreadymentioned.
But she was like, What youshould be concerned about is not
getting enough, because theaverage American only consumes
15 grams a day, which is abouthalf of the recommended goal.
(23:37):
And it's like, what?
Like, But you don't need to beworried about getting enough if
you're already getting enough.
Like it's just another one ofthose generalized statements.
And to say that just becausesomething is all natural,
there's no upwards limit.
That's really irresponsible tome.
Vanessa (23:52):
Yeah, definitely.
Again, never say things likethat.
There is an upward limit toeverything at the end of the
day.
So Tanya started making her ownproducts and these protein
powders and bars, and this wasreally to where people like
started to go in at her like,there's something wrong with
these products.
(24:13):
And Emily was kind of leadingthat crusade to, you know, try
to take her down and.
They were demanding that, youknow, they released more
information about the products.
They were kind of resistant todo that.
A factor was resistant to, to dothat for a while.
And then Emily got thisanonymous comment that this
(24:35):
woman had had a miscarriage andshe thought it was because of
using effector product.
So she goes on like this wholeother crusade and now she feels
like she really has a lot totake Tanya down.
Again, we do not understand whyEmily wants to take Tanya down
(24:55):
so, so badly.
It's really kind of a mystery,like
Emily (24:59):
Yeah,
Vanessa (25:00):
Yeah.
But either way, she really wantsto take Tanya down.
This is like her, like, likeshe's got gold to take her.
And it ends up that that storywas fake.
So this woman had not actuallyhad a miscarriage.
I don't even know if that womanactually existed, but she did
(25:21):
not like that story did nothappen.
So obviously that discreditedEmily A.
Little bit there, you know,begging to see the F factor you
know, review of their products.
And then that comes out.
And it shows some trace metals.
And Emily's, I'm sure is likerubbing her hands together on
(25:43):
that too.
But it's very normal to havetrace metals as long as they're
in a safe amount from anythingthat comes from soil.
You can find trace metals in anyfruit vegetable that's coming
out of the ground.
Emily (25:59):
Right, Right.
This is another thing.
This is like something that thefood babe would get really bent
outta shape about which honestlywe should do a whole Oh, that's
a good episode.
The food babe.
Okay.
Vanessa (26:10):
So either way.
Everything kind of turned outlike I think everyone went their
separate ways.
Tanya is still has the F factor.
She's still selling all of herproducts.
I am actually, I'm kind oftempted to buy some of the
protein bars just cause I'mcurious, like I wanna know what
they taste like.
Would that much
Emily (26:30):
honestly, with that much fiber, and I mean, I'm curious
like some of these recipes, I'mlike, how are you getting away
with telling people to makethis?
Like, is this actually tastinggood?
Like, and this is such anotherhuge thing where all these diets
like.
You, they include a ton ofproducts, like bars and protein
powders and all of that becauseit's just another way to kind of
(26:52):
grab money.
I mean, she definitely has agreat business advisor.
There's even books and also likethe apparel, right?
We can't forget about thebracelet.
So she's making money in a lotof different avenues with this
for sure.
And seems to be continuing.
Vanessa (27:06):
Well, and I think that before we finish this episode
up, we really need to talk aboutGigi crackers too.
Emily (27:13):
Oh yeah, go for it.
Vanessa (27:14):
So Gigi crackers are these crackers that Tanya was
really promoting because theyare high fiber.
So especially before she wasmaking her own product, she was
always promo promoting Gigicrackers.
And I was kind of, I waslaughing because I was looking
at Gigi crackers and I was justlooking at reviews of Gigi
(27:34):
crackers, and someone had saidthey taste like edible saw dust.
Emily (27:45):
Wait.
That's so good.
Vanessa (27:46):
And then like all these people were like, Oh my gosh,
they taste like cardboard.
These are horrible.
And as I was reading all ofthese reviews, I was thinking,
honestly, this is probably acracker that I would like.
Emily (27:58):
Oh, probably be eating those up.
Like your eating habits are soconfusing to.
Vanessa (28:08):
Yeah, I mean, I might buy some Gigi cra Gigi crackers
too.
Honestly, I wish that I would'vebought this stuff before we did
this episode, so I could've mademyself like our own little
experimental person.
I don't wanna go to the hospitalfor, you know, stomach pain, but
I feel like I eat quite a bit offiber already, so I would
probably be fine.
Emily (28:29):
it's a risk That you're willing to take for the people.
I mean, I think we candefinitely update people as on
future episodes, be like, Hey,you know, if you'd listen to
that F Factor episode, here'slike our personal review for the
Gigi Crack.
Vanessa (28:43):
Right.
So I'm curious, Emily, what isyour overall take on this?
Like do you think a factor needsto be taken down and they're
doing something super ominous?
What?
What's your thoughts?
Emily (29:02):
So, yeah, obviously, I mean, you're talking to me, so
like any diet, I'm gonna belike, No, But like, I think that
when you really look at thetenants of this one, it's a lot
less alarming than other dietsin the way that like, I guess if
you're just eating extra fiber,like what's the big deal?
Even though clearly, accordingto the recipes, and I'm sure if
(29:23):
you talk to one of theirdieticians, there would be other
like calorie restrictive thingstoo that are just a little more
sneaky.
But I do really like that, likeeating more fiber.
It's definitely something that'sgonna benefit you in many ways.
And we know that and we have.
Data to back that up.
But of course I always worry,especially with the tendency for
disordered eating patterns, thetendency to compare, you know,
(29:45):
they have success stories ontheir website that never talk
about anything more than oneyear post starting F Factor.
Right?
Which we know is immediately redflag because the data.
Shows us that those resultsstart to just lower and lower
and lower.
It's the sustainability ofresults as each year passes till
we get to that five year point.
And you have people claimingthat, like the chocolate shake,
quote unquote, saved their life.
(30:07):
Like it's just a lot.
So I worry about the cultishbehavior that can evolve from a
situation like this followingthese kinds of diets.
But at the same time, I dounderstand that fiber intake is
something that most Americansshould be concerned about or at
least curious about in theirdiet.
And I think that there's a lotof different ways that you can
(30:28):
even use intuitive eating tomanage that rather than even.
Being so rigid and counting andworrying about exact amounts.
I actually just had a client whowas telling me like, Well now
that I'm not tracking mycalories, how am I supposed to
know how much fiber I'm gettingand if it's enough, You know, So
it's like we can look at howmany fruits and vegetables
you're eating throughout theday.
(30:49):
We can look at how full you are.
We can look at the health ofyour bowel movements.
You know, there's a lot ofdifferent things that we can
look at besides like the intensetracking and also Overload of a
certain substance.
So I think that it misses themark and the fact that, yeah,
fiber's important, but the waythat she's going about it is
potentially harm inducing.
(31:11):
So it's gonna be a no from me,
Vanessa (31:14):
Yeah, I definitely agree with you.
I like that.
Like you had mentioned, I thinkit's good that you know they're
pushing fiber.
I don't think there's anythingwrong with that.
I think it's good that.
They're saying like, Don't skipany meals, have all of your
meals.
But that's almost the problemtoo, is because they have kind
(31:36):
of a bad message, but they'recovering it up and being like,
You can do whatever you want.
But there's all of this likeominous messaging that's
swirling around too, so it's.
Making people feel like theyhave this freedom, but then it's
like actually really restrictingthem at the same time.
So I think that might be evenworse than the, like the
(31:57):
outright restriction becauseit's like it's kind of
secretive.
Emily (32:02):
shady,
Vanessa (32:03):
Very shady.
The, I can't get over theintentions bracelet.
I, it's the intentions braceletreminds me of like the hanging
up a picture of a model on yourpantry.
Like I feel like that was like avery, like nineties thing to do
is like, hang your favoritesupermodel on the, on the
pantry.
And it gives me that.
Vibe there.
(32:23):
What are your thoughts on, Soobviously we don't wanna
discredit anyone for sideeffects that they had mentioned.
So, like I said, people weresaying that they report
reporting side effects like hairloss period loss rashes,
disordered eating, GI distress,so the disordered eating and GI
distress.
(32:45):
Okay.
I can see those ones.
The other things I'm having ahard time on how that would be
because of increased fiberintake.
Emily (32:55):
So my.
Guess is that it's because likethe hair loss, loss of periods
and everything, it really all,it's giving undernourished at
every step of the way.
So I think that it couldpotentially be from the lack of
calories overall because you'reso full on.
(33:16):
A bunch of fiber that you end upmissing those calories, like
that one fateful day after mylunch that, that happened to me,
And I think that it's, it'sreally just a lack of calories
and we know that that could leadto like hair issues and issues
with your cycle.
So if I had to guess, I wouldsay, That's probably it.
But then that's the other thingwhere it's like it's not to do
(33:38):
with the fiber, so that's whylike it, it is nuanced and it
requires a large approachbecause you didn't get that
because you were following the Ffactor diet and because you were
eating more fiber, you got itbecause maybe you were eating
too much too quickly, yourstomach couldn't handle it.
You bloated up, you had nohunger cue, and then you missed
all of your calories and nowyou're severe severely
undernourished, which comes fromwith a lot more risk than being
(34:02):
over nourished or overeating.
Vanessa (34:04):
Or you got it because you were looking at that
intentions bracelet all the timeand then you weren't eating
enough because you, you know,gave yourself an eating disorder
Emily (34:14):
Yeah, the, the forks in your hands, F factor.
gave it to you.
F Factor indoctrinated you.
And there we go.
So,
Vanessa (34:23):
Yeah.
So moral the story.
We are not big fans of F Factor.
We are big fans of the drama.
Emily (34:34):
Yes, we do.
We do.
Vanessa (34:36):
entertaining.
We are not big fans of anyonegetting hurt over this though.
So hopefully everyone whoreported all those side effects
has fully recovered and is in abetter place with their eating
habits, but they probably need adifferent registered dietician
to get them out of that becauseit is much easier to get in than
(34:57):
to get.
Emily (34:58):
A hundred percent.
And I think it's just a word tothe whys that, you know, things
can start off as a really simplediet.
You're just wanting to loseweight and you can get a lot
more than you bargain for withnot just F Factor, but really
any diet.
So we will keep doing thesereviews for you so that you know
all the information before youstep into one of these
(35:19):
experiences.
Vanessa (35:21):
And I will volunteer to be the wellness Miss Skinny Pig
and let you know what an ffactor in Gigi Bar is a like.
I will go ahead and do that forthe good of all.
And if you've had an F Factorexperience, please let us know.
We'd love to hear about it.
Emily (35:37):
Yes, we would love to hear your experience.
Please tell us well, Vanessa,that was a great first episode
back and I'm excited to seeeveryone next week.
Vanessa (35:56):
See you next time.
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