Overweight LighterLife founder Jackie Cox weighs about 14 stone

Normally this would be a private matter, as is the ongoing battle of countless women with their weight. But as Jackie is the co-founder of LighterLife, the drastic low-calorie weight-loss plan that she pioneered with business partner Bar Hewlett, it is a bitter irony indeed. The regime consists of a 530-calorie-a-day plan, one marketed under the banner that it is fast, simple and safe. It is certainly difficult to dispute 'fast and simple'. Under the ultra-low calorie regime, dieters routinely lose a stone a month, often much more. Whether the methodology is entirely 'safe' - or indeed a long-term solution to weight problems - is rather more open to debate, certainly for a significant number of LighterLife customers.


For some of them, the LighterLife experience has proved, at best, a quick fix. At worst, it has left a legacy of health issues ranging from depression and heart problems to memory loss. Nor is that all: as the Mail revealed this week, it has also been linked to a series of tragic and premature deaths, the latest being that of 34-year-old Samantha Clowe, who collapsed at her home in Leeds from heart failure in June after following the LighterLife diet for 11 weeks.

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