Radiant Health Review

Brian Peskin is the author of "Radiant Health: Moving Beyond the Zone." The Radiant Health diet is a low-carb, high-protein plan that severely limits pasta, bread, potatoes, fruits and vegetables, but allows unlimited amounts of high protein foods like meats, cheese and eggs. Peskin asserts that this eating plan will only be successful in conjunction with his proprietary herbal supplements - Basic Essence, Mineral Essence and Herbal Essence - which are concoctions of essential fatty acids and various minerals which are said to detoxify and correct mineral deficiencies in your body. The supplements are - naturally - marketed along with the book.

Peskin's diet works on the theory that the more carbs you eat, the more you crave - and the more you crave, the more you eat. And the bigger you get. There is no emphasis on exercise as a component of the weight loss, only the restriction of carbs. Sound familiar? It should. This is the Atkins Diet. The only difference is the addition of the gimmicky and expensive herbal supplements.

The Radiant Health Program was marketed for $150 and included the book, audiotapes, a videotape and a one month supply of the Essence supplements. The Essence supplements alone retailed for $77 for a 1 month supply, and $780 for a 1 year supply.

Note that in March 2002, the Texas Commissioner of Health ordered the recall of all Radiant Health "Essence" supplements due to safety concerns about the manufacturing process. In April 2002, the Attorney General of Texas charged Peskin and Radiant Health's parent company with making false and unsubtantiated claims about the effectiveness and health benefits of the Essence products, and making false claims that Peskin was a research scientist, that he held a Ph.D and that he and was a professor at Texas Southern University. The complaint also stated that the company had not filed for a Texas manufacturing license, or registered with the FDA as required by law. In January 2003 a judge issued a permanent injunction against Peskin and the company, ordering them to pay fines, cease making false claims and cease the marketing and distribution of the Essence products in conjunction with Radiant Health. Enough said.