Dead: 33st Matilda who lost 10st in 6 MONTHS on crash diet of 500

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Nov 5, 2006 | by MARTYN HALLE

A WOMAN of 25 has died after losing TEN stone in SIX months on a crash diet.

Matilda Callaghan, who was living on just 500 calories a day - 1,500 fewer than the normal intake - died of heart failure.

Her only food was three sachets of food powder mixed with water per day.

Under the direction of controversial diet firm LighterLife, Matilda had slimmed down from 33 stone to 23 stone.

She had been battling obesity since she was 12 years old.

Her mother Patricia tearfully confronted LighterLife boss Bar Hewlett at her daughter's inquest. She asked whether the firm was worried about Matilda's sudden and "erratic" weight loss.

She said: "She lost 10 pounds in her first week, four pounds in her second and seven in the third - it was staring you in the face."

But Ms Hewlett insisted the diets were safe and LighterLife had given Matilda proper support.

Patricia said Matilda - known affectionately as Tillie - kept strictly to the diet regime. Last Christmas she even locked herself away to avoid any temptation.

Patricia described Matilda as a "star pupil" of LighterLife.

In January she fell ill at home in North London and was taken to nearby Royal Free Hospital.

The cause of her death was found to be heart arrhythmia - when the heart doesn't recover properly between beats.

At the inquest coroner Dr Andrew Reid recorded an open verdict after evidence from a pathologist suggested rapid weight loss could kill.

Dr Reid said: "Being obese can cause death, but confoundingly losing weight can also cause cardiac arrhythmia.

"I am not persuaded we have sufficient evidence as to what caused the fatal arrhythmic heartbeat."

Last night Professor John Garrow, one of the UK's leading experts on obesity, criticised the 500-calorie-a-day diet as "dangerous". He said: "It is almost certain this young lady's death was caused by damage to her heart due to her rapid weight loss.

"These diets are dangerous and people shouldn't do them. Cutting down on calories for a few days does no harm, but no one should be doing this for six months.

"When you lose weight you lose fat and lean tissue that make up the heart and other organs.

"Anyone on a diet should be consuming at least 800 calories a day. Although this young lady was morbidly obese, in my opinion, she was at greater risk of dying from dieting than from being overweight.

"This was a very risky venture and obese people ought to be aware of these dangers."

But Professor Iain Broom, of Robert Gordon's University in Aberdeen, said: "A Very Low Calorie Diet - VLCD - used under medical supervision is a safe and effective way for the obese person to lose weight."

LighterLife founder Bar Hewlett said: "I am a mother and my heart goes out to Mrs Callaghan. But her daughter was at great risk every day from being obese.

"She should have weighed 10 stone but she weighed 33 stone.

"She had done really well. She was closely supervised and was seeing a doctor or a nurse every 28 days.

"Our weight-loss programme complies with all recommendations for VLCDs.

"A person taking the sachets would get all the essential nutrients and this allows them to burn off the excess weight.

"It is prescribed by doctors and used in hospitals."

Three sachets a day with water

MATILDA was on what is officially known as a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD). Each day she would mix three sachets of powder with water.

According to LighterLife, each drink would contain sufficient protein, plus carbohydrate, and the recommended daily amounts of vitamins, minerals, electrolytes and fatty acids.

The firm says they have been tested and medically approved. The formula has been on the market for more than a decade. 500cals equals 2 pints of beer.

Grant.Hodgson@mgn.co.uk