Michelle Obama's Bad Dieting Tips

I thought she was a lawyer, not a nutritionist. So why is she giving out dieting advice (I asked myself after reading this)?

In an interview in September’s Ladies’ Home Journal, first lady Michelle Obama mentions that she occasionally takes part in a cleanse. She meant, according to her press office, that she eats as much fruit and vegetables as possible and cuts out fats and oils, dairy, meat, caffeine, sugar and starch for a short period of time.

Doing so, she told the magazine, helps “clean out my palate.”

Such a cleanse isn’t something I considered for my “Me Minus 10” weight-loss project, but I wondered whether it could be beneficial to others.

Temporarily restricting one’s food can be a useful way to kick off a weight-loss diet or transition to better long-term eating habits, says Jim White, a Virginia Beach, Va.-based registered dietitian and spokesman for the American Dietetic Association. Obama’s mix of foods, though limited, should provide enough nutrients to maintain her metabolism and blood-sugar levels, at least in the short run, he says.

Keri Gans, also a registered dietitian and ADA spokeswoman, is not a fan, however. “It’s setting up that the only way to eat healthy is to restrict,” she says. “She should be learning to eat from all food groups correctly.”

And she shouldn't be sharing her dieting "wisdom" with the American public when she obviously doesn't know what she's talking about. (The idea that one can "cleanse out" the "palate"--whatever the heck that means--with such a regimen is evidence of her patent ignorance.)