Wellness Myths

A Dietitian’s review of the F-Factor Diet

September 29, 2022 Season 4 Episode 2
Wellness Myths
A Dietitian’s review of the F-Factor Diet
Show Notes Transcript

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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Emily:

Welcome to this week's episode of Wellness Myths, where we are going to dive into the F Factor diet. And some of you may have already heard about this diet because while it's not like ragingly popular, there's a lot of controversy around the diet and a lot of drama, which is always exciting,

Vanessa:

Yes, there is no shortage of drama. I'm a little bit afraid that we're gonna get sued over this episode because there's been so much 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. You don't really know like some people. It's just, it's wild

Emily:

Totally. And I feel like, honestly, even before this, I was texting Vanessa about our notes for the show and I was like, We're gonna talk a lot of shit today. Like that's what it's just gonna be. And we're gonna get into like the details and nutrition of this diet of course. So you can expect that as always. But Vanessa, as Vanessa is saying, nobody's truly in the right or wrong here. It's really just a total mess. But it's definitely worth hearing about.

Vanessa:

And it's really interesting too. So there is a podcast that is a whole series about F Factor. So if you listen to this and you're like, I need more, I need to know all of the drama, you can go over to that podcast. It's called Fed Up. But I was. Emily and I both listened to it and I was thinking like, it's very interesting to listen to that and knowing that no one is a nutrition professional that's reporting on it.

Emily:

Yeah,

Vanessa:

In some of the some of the things they say which we'll get into this a little bit more later, but one of the things they're like, Yeah, she was recommending 35 5 grams of fiber a day, and they're acting like that's a wild recommendation and that's a very normal recommendation. That's something that I recommend in my practice,

Emily:

Yeah, totally.

Vanessa:

so it's interesting. There's a lot of nuance.

Emily:

A lot. Okay, so a lot of you might not even know what F factor is. And so basically the F factor diet was created by a dietician named Tanya Zucker brought, is that, I don't like, how

Vanessa:

I think it's Zucker bot. And also, did you know that she went to U of m

Emily:

No wait. You can't even go to U OFM for dietetics.

Vanessa:

She did. She must have went there. Maybe she did nutrition or something, but she is a U of M grad.

Emily:

Oh, wow. Well, we went to Michigan State, so y'all can just think about what our opinions about all that is. So basically this dietician created this supposedly groundbreaking diet where all you do is eat like an ass load of fiber, and that's all you need to do. She claims in order to lose weight. I loved watching the little video that they posted. Vanessa, did you see this on their website?

Vanessa:

I, Yes, I actually did. I just watched it. Is it like the animation?

Emily:

Yeah, it's an animation video and it's a direct quote is digesting fiber, torches, calories, and fiber. Makes calories and fat disappear from your body, which was total news to me. And it did, they did suggest, I saw in the video 40 grams of fiber a day, which definitely is pushing it, like for most people, I would say, I mean, the general recommendation is like 28 to 35 grams of fiber. And that's just kind of like where, you know, giving you a baseline of. People are recommended, and it's gonna be different for everybody, right? Because some people can tolerate more fibers, some people can't. Some people need less. Some people need more. It's just totally gonna depend on your individual situation. So already right off the bat I was like, okay, this is like a little bit of a red flag because eating that much fiber might make someone like super sick, or maybe you have to progress into eating that much fiber. You know, you can't just like start randomly doing that. If you're used to eating like 10 grams of fiber a day And also to go ahead.

Vanessa:

That was really the thing that I noticed or was really thinking about as I was listening to this. I also bruised around her Instagram currently, so I'll talk about that a little bit later. 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, but doubling that in.

Emily:

Quadrupling that

Vanessa:

or quadrupling that is going to take your GI tract on a ride. It's something that you kind of wanna like titrate up to. And that's something that we talk to people about in our practice is like, You kind of like have to go low and slow until you get to a point where you can take a little bit more. Your body has to get used to it. It's kind of like exercise, like you're not gonna run 30 miles the first time you go for a run. You're gonna go do a mile and then two miles and progress up to doing 30 miles.

Emily:

Absolutely. Absolutely. And even like, you know, if, for some of you who might be confused, what foods are fiber containing? Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, 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 enough fiber. And so it's definitely a concern, I think, on most dietician radar to encourage an increase in fiber.

Vanessa:

So I think that, you know, so far of what we've gotten into, Tonya's idea of eating 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 messaging that we'll get into, but that, that part of f factor I'm, I'm solid with. I agree. Yeah.

Emily:

and it's really interesting too, like I don't see any. Kind of discussion on the website or explanation of how eating too much too quickly might make you feel Ill. I mean, there was like a day last week that I texted Vanessa because I had like chickpeas and brown rice and romaine and like I think seeds too. And then I had like one of those olli pops that was like nine grams of fiber in it, and it was like, Definitely over 20 grams of fiber in one meal. And I felt so ill, I could not eat for a long time because I was just way too full. And that's kind of like the idea of a factor is to fill you up on these low calorie foods so that you're not hungry. That's kind of like one of the big selling points. So that you're not hungry and you're not able to eat well. I mean, I can share from just my one experience eating a really, really high fiber meal. It's like by the time I was finally feeling hunger cues, when I wasn't just feeling like super bloated from eating all the fiber at once, accidentally I felt ravenous and it was not good. Like I had missed all these calories throughout my day that I needed to eat to sustain myself. So then by the time I got to the end of the day, I was like, Oh, shoot all the air in my stomach finally ran out from all of this fiber and now I'm really, really hungry. So I just kind of find it a little suspect or interesting that they claim that you'll just never feel hunger on this diet because you're just constantly like loading it up with. Low calorie, high density foods. I just don't, I don't get that.

Vanessa:

Well, and I think this is also a classic situation where we run into where you can have too much of a good thing, like you can have too much. Anything. And so there is, audio of Tanya out there saying you can never have too much fiber. And listen, if you are a practitioner, never say anything like that.

Emily:

Never say never. That's the rule. Like just never say never. And that's our red flag. Like all the time we tell our listeners, like anyone who speak in absolutes like that, don't listen to.

Vanessa:

People will take it to an extreme. Like if Emily and I have both experienced this in our practices, if you say sometimes, especially as a dietician, you say to eat something and you kind of assume like, Well, they're not going to eat. You know, a wild amount of that. And then people do, because you said it was good. So if you are a health professional, especially if you're a dietician, be very, very careful. And never say you can not eat too much of something so you can eat too much of anything.

Emily:

Totally. Yep. And. What's really interesting to me is 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 of things that, you know, they'd like to sell. You like bars. And these bars all have 20 grams of fiber in them alone. Just like a small snack. Like no kidding, that fills you up because that's a lot of fiber to intake right at one time. In the span of like a few minutes while you're eating a. But the other aspect of of factors that they do offer nutrition counseling and they offer them with dieticians, they talk about how people want a simple diet that allows them to dine out without difficulty, tastes good, improves their health. They talk a lot about how many diets impose their way of eating and that they show clients how to make healthy eating a way of life without disrupting their lifestyle. There's a lot of talk, I don't know if you notice this on the website, but there's so much talk about like you can still drink alcohol. You don't have to work out so much. It's like what you're assuming that people are already working out a ton and also what even is that what's working out a lot? They have this like little narrative that's weaved. Woven through the website that says Work out less. Like what? That's just such a weird, It's just such a weird thing for me to set, for me to hear and see on this website.

Vanessa:

Yeah, it's very strange message messaging. I don't know if you noticed this too. Another one of their things is like un, kind of like underneath is low carb. Like all of their Stu, their

Emily:

Yeah. Yes.

Vanessa:

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:

You literally have to, as we already just said, like fruits and vegetables are carbs and 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:

Right.

Emily:

are carbs, broccoli's, carbs. even though the website is really claiming that's all about eating carbs still and additive nutrition, like Vanessa said, we're seeing no carb noodle recipes everywhere. There's restriction on the first page of the recipe section. There's also a lot of egg whites only not using the yolk of the egg, which we know is like kind of silly and definitely diet behavior unless you don't like the yolk of the egg. I don't think I've ever met someone who like prefers egg whites for the taste. Maybe you do. And every recipe also talks a lot about how it's low in fat or low in calories. It's such a big piece of the puzzle and it's just interesting because that doesn't even have anything to do with fiber. So it's just very sneaky in that way, I thought. And there's a lot of fake sugars, like monk fruit sweeteners, sugar alcohols. There's an apple crisp that includes a half cup of. Fiber and protein powder and the half cup of fake sugar and like no real sweetener. And they're talking about that it's like perfect to bring to Thanksgiving. I do not know who would want you to bring that to Thanksgiving, but you could try. There was a pumpkin mug cake recipe that like, again, it's like. Made of flour, pumpkin puree, a scoop of protein powder, and then two tablespoons of granulated monk fruit sweetener. It's like, what? Like this. They're just so bizarre. The recipes, they're not really even that like nutritious or nutrient dense. And it's very clear that at every step of the way, they're avoiding any added calories or fat. So like, yeah, no kidding. That's gonna help create sort of a calorie deficit, help you lose weight even easier just because of the fact that, you know, we're being so restrictive, like even the vegan. Pesto recipe they have is mostly vegetable broth. Instead of oils like, you know, it's two tablespoons of oil and then two third a cup of vegetable broth. It just could not be more obvious that they're trying to cut calories in a variety of ways besides just the increase of the fiber.

Vanessa:

Yeah, I, like I said, I had been looking at her Instagram page, present day a little bit, and she has a recipe here, and this is for breakfast and it's a smoothie, and so this is just breakfast. It's 36 grams of fiber.

Emily:

That's, that's, that's not okay. I mean, it wouldn't be for me. I could not, my body could not tolerate, and I'm vegan, so.

Vanessa:

Yeah, so that's a lot of fiber. Like that is a full day worth of fiber in one meal. So it's no wonder, you know, people, especially if you're someone who doesn't eat a lot of fiber, and then you go, Oh, I'm gonna make this recipe. Yeah, your stomach's probably gonna hurt after that. You're going to have some GI distress. So just kind of funny looking at that. So obviously, you know, throughout the website it's kind of weird cause it's, like Emily said, it's like contradicting itself where it's trying, they're trying to be additive. They're trying to be like, don't skip any meals. Still go out to eat with your friends. Like you

Emily:

Still drink. They like love talking about drinking. It's so

Vanessa:

I really do. Yeah. Don't work out. You don't need it. So there's all these things where they're like kind of trying to be non-restrictive or act like they're non-restrictive. But then they have these underlying things that are very, very diet ry. Like they're recipes. We can kind of see right through those and some more explicit things like the intentionality bracelet or intentions bracelet.

Emily:

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 just cashing it in like every single step of the way. Okay. Tell us about the

Vanessa:

it's literally, it's also just like, this is just a side note. It's basically a piece of green string and it's$18

Emily:

Yeah, it's expensive.

Vanessa:

Yeah. I mean, for like what you're getting, it's just like this green string with a gold F on it. Okay. so

Emily:

Yeah, And it's gold plated brass hardware

Vanessa:

Yes, this is the Intentions bracelet, and I wanna read what it says on the website. Strive for excellence and integrity in all you do with the F Factor Intentions bracelet exclusively designed for F Factor and featuring a gold plate F charm. This adjustable cord bracelet serves as a daily visual reminder to honor your intentions for looking and feeling your best so that you never settle for mediocrity. Be your best. And stay on track and motivated the F factor way with this minimalist, stylish piece. So in other words, they want you, they made this a a bracelet intentionally because they want you to look at it as you reach for food

Emily:

Literally,

Vanessa:

and think about your diet. Now, if Mean

Emily:

it's like a snapping the rubber.

Vanessa:

Yeah, it's, it's very, very weird. Definitely did not go over well in my brain.

Emily:

And I mean there was another, a piece on their website that also said when it comes to what we eat, the fork is in our hands and hours alone. And it just feels like a really creepy, almost. Narrative of like, only you can control. Maybe this is because I hate like self-help stuff more than pretty much anything, but I just, I just read that and it reminded me, like with the bracelet, I'm like, it's just so, there's so much pressure on the individual here. And also like the fork is not always in our hands and ours alone. And it really doesn't matter. Like if everyone ate the same thing, like it, it wouldn't mean the same outcome, the same body, the same weight loss. It's. It's totally like putting the blame on you for absolutely any decision you might make with food and making it seem like you know, Oh, you only have yourself to blame if things go south for you with your health or nutrition. It's just like not true.

Vanessa:

And that brings me to a couple of comments that were made that kind of led to this whole drama. And these comments are things that Tanya allegedly said. The person who revealed this stayed anonymous, so it's all alleged. She has denied saying this. But this is the quote.

Emily:

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:

Yeah. I know right.

Emily:

weekly gossip download. Okay.

Vanessa:

Okay, so this is a, this is a two parter. The first one is shocking, and the second one is like, you're gonna hear the first one and think, Oh my God, how could it get any worse than that? And not that the next one is worse, but it, I think it's equally bad. Okay,

Emily:

it. Say it.

Vanessa:

so Tanya Zucker. Registered dietician who founded F Factor. These are the words that she allegedly spoke to a client. If Holocaust victims could go into concentration camps and lose weight, then so can you.

Emily:

What?

Vanessa:

Yep. That was the first one. Not sure how the Holocaust came into this, but allegedly, this is what she said to a client. Again, I wanna really stress allegedly We do not know that these words were spoken, and she also has denied it. The second thing that she said to this client. So this client was on anti-anxiety medication and she told her that if her anti-anxiety medication was making her gain weight, then that was her choice to sit, stay on that medication.

Emily:

Oh, they talk about that one and fed up the podcast, don't

Vanessa:

Yeah, both of those actually they talk about, Cause it's really the catalyst of, So this person came out and said something and then more people started saying things. But yeah, those two comments are really what got things started. But just wow. Wow. I really hope she did not say this. I really, really hope that she did not say that.

Emily:

That is really spooky.

Vanessa:

Yeah. So so. These comments came out and then more people started speaking up and less on things that Tanya had said to them. But they kind of started speaking up about the F factor diet that they were getting sick. But there's a lot of weird stuff we weaved in with. Okay, we need to stop the anonymous accounts on Instagram. This whole drama is all anonymous accounts on Instagram. Like saying whatever, So the girl who started like this crusade against Tanya, her name's Emily, she's a fashion blogger. She, which, why, why did this, who was not even

Emily:

confusing. Yeah, it's, it's really confusing. She just like really hated her for like, seemingly no reason. I mean, I get it. Like there, there's a lot of problematic shit going on here, but yeah, it's interesting, like, I don't know what her buy into this whole situation really was except for like thinking about maybe making a podcast and like getting some clout for it,

Vanessa:

Right? Is she Yeah. Yeah. And I, that had to be, she says it was cuz she just wanted to do the right thing. I, I just don't know if that's true. I also would like to say here I really meant to mention this earlier when we were introducing Tanya, but keep in mind, so Tanya is like a celebrity dietician. She. Has a ton of money. She lives in like a 22 million home in Manhattan. She's always on like these wild, extravagant vacations with her family and she likened herself to Mother Teresa.

Emily:

Oh my God.

Vanessa:

She made a comment,

Emily:

Wow. And that's true.

Vanessa:

Yeah. And then there's also clips of her saying like, you know, when she is kind of clapping back at the drama and people saying that her products are bad or whatever, she, her first thing that she comes out and says is basically, you know, I haven't made a public I haven't made a public statement, but it's because my husband always says, If you lay down with dogs, you'll get fleas. these are professional comments that these people are making.

Emily:

Right. Like what? Oh my God. So the whole reason that Emily kind of goes after Tanya is because she just heard that people were getting sick, they were having bloating issues and that the whole diet wasn't going well. And so she just kind of starts this campaign against her really. And to try and get her to speak out about it. And that's kind of where the drama begins, and that's where the Fed Up podcast sort of comes into play.

Vanessa:

And most of the complaints were people saying things like, you know, they were reporting side effects like hair loss, rashes, lost periods, disordered eating habits, GI distress. People were going to the ho. Hospital cause I had abdominal dis distress that was so severe they felt they needed to go to the hospital. And these are, a lot of those things are things that you might expect if you drastically increase your fiber. Like Emily said, you know, these bars have 20 grams of fiber in them. And some people might think like, Oh, I'm gonna have a few bars a day, and that would be 60 grams of fiber.

Emily:

Well, and even like on her, I was just on the FAQ of the website and they, there's a FAQ that's like, What is my fiber goal? And she says, Fiber's all natural. So there's no upward limit as how much fiber you should be eating, which you already mentioned. But she was like, What you should be concerned about is not getting enough, because the average American only consumes 15 grams a day, which is about half of the recommended goal. And it's like, what? Like, But you don't need to be worried about getting enough if you're already getting enough. Like it's just another one of those generalized statements. And to say that just because something is all natural, there's no upwards limit. That's really irresponsible to me.

Vanessa:

Yeah, definitely. Again, never say things like that. There is an upward limit to everything at the end of the day. So Tanya started making her own products and these protein powders and bars, and this was really to where people like started to go in at her like, there's something wrong with these products. And Emily was kind of leading that crusade to, you know, try to take her down and. They were demanding that, you know, they released more information about the products. They were kind of resistant to do that. A factor was resistant to, to do that for a while. And then Emily got this anonymous comment that this woman had had a miscarriage and she thought it was because of using effector product. So she goes on like this whole other crusade and now she feels like she really has a lot to take Tanya down. Again, we do not understand why Emily wants to take Tanya down so, so badly. It's really kind of a mystery, like

Emily:

Yeah,

Vanessa:

Yeah. But either way, she really wants to take Tanya down. This is like her, like, like she's got gold to take her. And it ends up that that story was fake. So this woman had not actually had a miscarriage. I don't even know if that woman actually existed, but she did not like that story did not happen. So obviously that discredited Emily 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 like rubbing her hands together on that too. But it's very normal to have trace metals as long as they're in a safe amount from anything that comes from soil. You can find trace metals in any fruit vegetable that's coming out of the ground.

Emily:

Right, Right. This is another thing. This is like something that the food babe would get really bent outta shape about which honestly we should do a whole Oh, that's a good episode. The food babe. Okay.

Vanessa:

So either way. Everything kind of turned out like I think everyone went their separate ways. Tanya is still has the F factor. She's still selling all of her products. I am actually, I'm kind of tempted to buy some of the protein bars just cause I'm curious, like I wanna know what they taste like. Would that much

Emily:

honestly, with that much fiber, and I mean, I'm curious like some of these recipes, I'm like, how are you getting away with telling people to make this? Like, is this actually tasting good? Like, and this is such another huge thing where all these diets like. You, they include a ton of products, like bars and protein powders and all of that because it's just another way to kind of grab money. I mean, she definitely has a great business advisor. There's even books and also like the apparel, right? We can't forget about the bracelet. So she's making money in a lot of different avenues with this for sure. And seems to be continuing.

Vanessa:

Well, and I think that before we finish this episode up, we really need to talk about Gigi crackers too.

Emily:

Oh yeah, go for it.

Vanessa:

So Gigi crackers are these crackers that Tanya was really promoting because they are high fiber. So especially before she was making her own product, she was always promo promoting Gigi crackers. And I was kind of, I was laughing because I was looking at Gigi crackers and I was just looking at reviews of Gigi crackers, and someone had said they taste like edible saw dust.

Emily:

Wait. That's so good.

Vanessa:

And then like all these people were like, Oh my gosh, they taste like cardboard. These are horrible. And as I was reading all of these reviews, I was thinking, honestly, this is probably a cracker that I would like.

Emily:

Oh, probably be eating those up. Like your eating habits are so confusing to.

Vanessa:

Yeah, I mean, I might buy some Gigi cra Gigi crackers too. Honestly, I wish that I would've bought this stuff before we did this episode, so I could've made myself like our own little experimental person. I don't wanna go to the hospital for, you know, stomach pain, but I feel like I eat quite a bit of fiber already, so I would probably be fine.

Emily:

it's a risk That you're willing to take for the people. I mean, I think we can definitely update people as on future episodes, be like, Hey, you know, if you'd listen to that F Factor episode, here's like our personal review for the Gigi Crack.

Vanessa:

Right. So I'm curious, Emily, what is your overall take on this? Like do you think a factor needs to be taken down and they're doing something super ominous? What? What's your thoughts?

Emily:

So, yeah, obviously, I mean, you're talking to me, so like any diet, I'm gonna be like, No, But like, I think that when you really look at the tenants of this one, it's a lot less alarming than other diets in the way that like, I guess if you're just eating extra fiber, like what's the big deal? Even though clearly, according to the recipes, and I'm sure if you talk to one of their dieticians, there would be other like calorie restrictive things too that are just a little more sneaky. But I do really like that, like eating more fiber. It's definitely something that's gonna 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, the tendency to compare, you know, they have success stories on their website that never talk about anything more than one year post starting F Factor. Right? Which we know is immediately red flag because the data. Shows us that those results start to just lower and lower and lower. It's the sustainability of results as each year passes till we get to that five year point. And you have people claiming that, like the chocolate shake, quote unquote, saved their life. Like it's just a lot. So I worry about the cultish behavior that can evolve from a situation like this following these kinds of diets. But at the same time, I do understand that fiber intake is something that most Americans should be concerned about or at least curious about in their diet. And I think that there's a lot of different ways that you can even use intuitive eating to manage that rather than even. Being so rigid and counting and worrying about exact amounts. I actually just had a client who was telling me like, Well now that I'm not tracking my calories, how am I supposed to know how much fiber I'm getting and if it's enough, You know, So it's like we can look at how many fruits and vegetables you're eating throughout the day. We can look at how full you are. We can look at the health of your bowel movements. You know, there's a lot of different things that we can look at besides like the intense tracking and also Overload of a certain substance. So I think that it misses the mark and the fact that, yeah, fiber's important, but the way that she's going about it is potentially harm inducing. So it's gonna be a no from me,

Vanessa:

Yeah, I definitely agree with you. I like that. Like you had mentioned, I think it's good that you know they're pushing fiber. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think it's good that. They're saying like, Don't skip any meals, have all of your meals. But that's almost the problem too, is because they have kind of a bad message, but they're covering it up and being like, You can do whatever you want. But there's all of this like ominous messaging that's swirling around too, so it's. Making people feel like they have this freedom, but then it's like actually really restricting them at the same time. So I think that might be even worse than the, like the outright restriction because it's like it's kind of secretive.

Emily:

shady,

Vanessa:

Very shady. The, I can't get over the intentions bracelet. I, it's the intentions bracelet reminds me of like the hanging up a picture of a model on your pantry. Like I feel like that was like a very, like nineties thing to do is like, hang your favorite supermodel on the, on the pantry. And it gives me that. Vibe there. What are your thoughts on, So obviously we don't wanna discredit anyone for side effects that they had mentioned. So, like I said, people were saying that they report reporting side effects like hair loss period loss rashes, disordered eating, GI distress, so the disordered eating and GI distress. Okay. I can see those ones. The other things I'm having a hard time on how that would be because of increased fiber intake.

Emily:

So my. Guess is that it's because like the 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 could potentially be from the lack of calories overall because you're so full on. A bunch of fiber that you end up missing those calories, like that one fateful day after my lunch that, that happened to me, And I think that it's, it's really just a lack of calories and we know that that could lead to like hair issues and issues with your cycle. So if I had to guess, I would say, That's probably it. But then that's the other thing where it's like it's not to do with the fiber, so that's why like it, it is nuanced and it requires a large approach because you didn't get that because you were following the F factor diet and because you were eating more fiber, you got it because maybe you were eating too much too quickly, your stomach couldn't handle it. You bloated up, you had no hunger cue, and then you missed all of your calories and now you're severe severely undernourished, which comes from with a lot more risk than being over nourished or overeating.

Vanessa:

Or you got it because you were looking at that intentions bracelet all the time and then you weren't eating enough because you, you know, gave yourself an eating disorder

Emily:

Yeah, the, the forks in your hands, F factor. gave it to you. F Factor indoctrinated you. And there we go. So,

Vanessa:

Yeah. So moral the story. We are not big fans of F Factor. We are big fans of the drama.

Emily:

Yes, we do. We do.

Vanessa:

entertaining. We are not big fans of anyone getting hurt over this though. So hopefully everyone who reported all those side effects has fully recovered and is in a better place with their eating habits, but they probably need a different registered dietician to get them out of that because it is much easier to get in than to get.

Emily:

A hundred percent. And I think it's just a word to the whys that, you know, things can start off as a really simple diet. You're just wanting to lose weight and you can get a lot more than you bargain for with not just F Factor, but really any diet. So we will keep doing these reviews for you so that you know all the information before you step into one of these experiences.

Vanessa:

And I will volunteer to be the wellness Miss Skinny Pig and let you know what an f factor in Gigi Bar is a like. I will go ahead and do that for the good of all. And if you've had an F Factor experience, please let us know. We'd love to hear about it.

Emily:

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 see everyone next week.

Vanessa:

See you next time.