F-Factor, Heavy Metals, and Influencers: Maybe the Real Toxin Is Diet Culture
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The F-Factor Diet is said to give a person more stamina, clear up their skin, and improve their sex life. Models love it; it’s the preferred diet of the Miss Universe pageant; at least one Fox Blonde has said she uses it and that it definitely works. Supermodel Olivia Culpo says it keeps her “radiant. Jessica Alba and Megan Kelly have separately appeared with the F-Factor’s CEO, the latter endorsing it explicitly on her show. You can eat carbs, go out to eat wherever you like, keep up your drinking habits, work out less, and still lose weight. It’s the perfect lifestyle for a Manhattan socialite, a diet that says a person can drop pounds and still drink rose on the beach: According to one the diet’s high-profile adherents, F-Factor founder Tanya Zuckerbrot just “gets the way people live.”
Zuckerbrot, an influencer and registered dietician, has made a very good living helping the elite lose weight. Under the umbrella of her brand, F-Factor, Zuckerbrot has convinced people like Katie Couric and Molly Sims to shell out $15,000 for an F-Factor “startup package,” a program that at the time centered around the consumption of appetite suppressant crackers.
Wealthy people willing to sacrifice in the pursuit of a small body are Zuckerbrot’s target demographic: For $10,000, Zuckerbrot will shepherd clients through high-fiber, low-carb weight loss plans; for an additional $1,500 per appointment, she’ll either guide them through the grocery store or reorganize their pantry. Premium customers have praised the celebrity dietician for being just a phone call or text away: If a high-powered lawyer is dining at Per Se, for instance, Zuckerbrot’s staff will review the menu beforehand and tell him what to eat.
Wealthy people willing to sacrifice in the pursuit of a small body are Zuckerbrot’s target demographic
But for those who can’t afford such personalized attention, there are Zuckerbrot’s books, along with F-Factor’s brand of diet bars ($29.99 for a box of 12) and protein powders ($44.99 a bag) which promise similar results at a fraction of the cost. But they also bring with them, a number of Zuckerbrot’s customers have recently claimed, bleeding colons, loss of a period, serious gastrointestinal issues, rashes, and a host of other side-effects.
Over the last few months, anonymous Instagram accounts and testimonies, many of them boosted by the fashion influencer Emily Gellis, have claimed Zuckerbrot’s program has caused them significant physical or psychological harm; aggrieved former clients detail hospital visits, serious gastrointestinal complications, and eating disorder relapses after following the F-Factor Diet or using its branded supplements. The allegations, which first appeared on a smattering of Instagram accounts, rose to prominence over the last two weeks as Gellis’ page became a clearinghouse for these accounts. By Tuesday, the New York Times had covered the controversy and Zuckerbrot, who just weeks ago had described the furor as “cyberbullying,” hired the high-powered lawyer Lanny Davis, perhaps best known for representing Michael Cohen.
Maybe the conspiracy isn’t a toxin but the extreme constraints of the program itself.
According to the Times, at least one of the claims about Zuckerbrot’s products was made in bad faith. But the paper also spoke to women who reported rashes and emergency room visits they believed were caused by following F-Factor. Business Insider, additionally, interviewed four dieters who reported symptoms like hair loss and hives, though as the publication noted, their accounts were anecdotal.
As the New York Times mentions, and as is very clear from browsing Gellis’s stories, there’s a prominent theory that Zuckerbrot’s powders and diet bars are literally poisoning people. Seizing onto a California state mandate—which requires disclosing the potential for trace amounts of metals in nearly any product—some have come to the conclusion that Zuckerbrot’s line of diet supplements contain toxic levels of lead.
Heavy metal poisoning is a common fear—if a relatively rare diagnosis for adults who don’t work with toxic materials or live in Flint. But speculation about its broad range of symptoms and potential therapies is popular in the naturopathic and wellness communities: In 2015, Goop’s most-read story was an article written by a “medical medium” called “Are Toxic Heavy Metals Ruining Your Life?”
Zuckerbrot has categorically denied that her products contain dangerous levels of lead and tells Jezebel through a spokesperson “our products are 100% safe, all natural, and contain no harmful ingredients.” Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Gellis told The Times she was soliciting samples of F-Factor products to test.