Kelly has spoken candidly about all the criticism she has faced about her size over the years.
She told Ellen DeGeneres in an interview in 2015 that “I was the biggest girl in the American Idol cast – people would call me big.”
Naturally, all her fans wanted to know what she did to look the way she does now.
Kelly told Extra in a red-carpet interview that she hadn’t worked out at all, not really!
She says, “I think people think I’m working out, and I’m like, ‘Don’t think I’m going to come to play some sport!’”
How did she lose all that weight if she didn’t work out?
Well, she has given one book all the credits. It’s called The Plant Paradox.
It’s by Steven R. Gundry, M.D.
The book is basically about how we cook the food we eat – it should have no pesticides, be non-GMO, and be highly organic.
But Kelly mainly read this book for medical reasons, i.e., for her medical problems [1].
She says that she used to have an autoimmune disease, and she also had a thyroid issue.
After following the diet in the book, all her levels were back up.
Today, she is no longer on medicine.
Wow!
“It wasn’t about the weight,” Clarkson told Today.
She said it was all about not being on her medicine anymore.
Kelly has been pretty open about her weight
Even though Kelly praises the book The Plant Paradox, and of course, being a ‘watched’ celebrity, you can imagine that rumors flew around almost immediately about her weight loss and her looking so slimmed down.
But Kelly had her answer ready, “Other fake news that’s going around about me is that I’ve been taking weird pills 4 weight loss or doing weird fad diets.”
She says none of it was true; she never had the time for all that; she eats the same stuff she always did.
It’s all just been made differently, the food, with different sugars, different flours, and different ingredients.
What’s on her plate now regarding food?
She says it’s the same stuff; she just uses different ingredients now.
She loves her friend chicken, but now it’s different.
Now she uses cassava flour, almond flour, and tapioca; the chickens need to be non-hormone chickens.
It’s expensive to make these changes, but worth it.
Let’s look at what Kelly eats every day to maintain the 37-pound weight loss she achieved
This amazing star, who has her show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, has lost all 37 pounds.
Yes, sure, like many before her, she has struggled with her weight for many years.
Finally, she got motivated to do something about it, knowing that it would also help her medical problems.
Of course, that got the tongues wagging about why and how she now looks so great.
For Kelly, what excites her most is that she does not have to take the medication she was taking for her thyroid condition anymore – that initially caused her weight gain.
She is motivated to keep the weight off and is very vigilant about what goes into her mouth.
Now she keeps a body-positive attitude
Sure, Kelly loves looking great; who doesn’t?
But that’s not why she wanted to work on her weight so much.
And as mentioned above, she shared with Extra that she has been on a health journey, dieting and changing her diet for the autoimmune disease and the thyroid issues she had.
This has left her with the purpose of helping others to feel good about themselves.
So that means that Kelly doesn’t eat certain foods anymore.
She doesn’t have enough good words to say about Dr. Steven Gundry’s book, The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in ‘Healthy’ Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain.
Here’s what she doesn’t eat anymore
- Pasta
- Bread
- Rice
- Peas
- Lentils
- Soy foods such as tofu and edamame
- Dairy products like ice cream, cheese, and yogurt
- Diet sodas are out
- Artificial sweeteners
- All other fruits – she only allows herself berries
- Many vegetables
Here’s what she allows herself to eat
She still enjoys wine and even fried chicken and cake!
But she modifies how she eats these things these days – she cooks with almond and tapioca flour.
She also eats dark chocolate, avocados, goat cheese, Macadamia nuts, dairy-free ice cream, poultry, berries, lobster, champagne, and much more.
Sounds almost too good to be true.
But Kelly is living proof that it has worked for her.
Most notably, she is no longer on meds for her health problems!
That says something about her diet!
Dr. Gundry says it’s lectins that are the problem
In his book, The Plant Paradox, Dr. Steven R. Gundry claims that lectins, the proteins present in many foods, cause us to suffer from various ailments [2], anything from leaky gut syndrome to weight gain to inflammation and thyroid problems.
Because of her medical issues, Kelly used the diet outlined in the book.
She eliminated lectins from her diet.
As Gundry suggests in his book, following the diet can help reverse the above health complications.
Gundry believes that even though some health experts consider some foods to be the healthiest if they contain lectins, as many fruits, vegetables, and grains do, you can expect these health conditions.
For these very beliefs, The Plant Paradox diet gets some nutrition experts, as well as those who push plant-based eating habits, so worked up.
So that’s why we have to look at what lectins are and why, as Dr. Gundry would have us believe, they are so unhealthy for us.
As mentioned above, lectins are proteins in around 30% of foods.
We know how many people are allergic to gluten.
Gluten is a type of lectin lectins particularly abundant in plant foods.
Lectins in plants provide the plant with a natural defense against insects and fungi, but in humans, so says Gundry, these proteins attack the body, which leads to digestive and health problems [3].
Lectins are inflammatory, and trigger off auto-immune proteins, so says Dr. Luiza Petre.
She is an assistant clinical professor of cardiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
She says that once the lectins enter the bloodstream, they trigger an autoimmune response.
They can also irritate the lining of the stomach leading to a leaky gut syndrome, where our gut won’t work effectively at filtering anymore.
What The Plant Paradox diet requires followers to do is to eliminate lectin-rich foods.
These would include:
- Legumes such as beans (including all soy), lentils, peas, and peanuts.
- Grains such as rice, wheat, corn, oats, and quinoa.
- Some nuts and seeds include chia, cashews, sunflower, and pumpkin.
- Squash, cucumbers, and zucchini,
- Nightshade veggies such as potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant.
- Mostly all fruit, except in-season berries and avocados.
- Any dairy foods made from grain-fed cows’ milk are out.
What is left for you to enjoy is pasture-fed or grass-fed meat; that’s very important.
Also enjoyed are nuts, plenty of leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, fish, Brussels sprouts, olive oil, and coconut oil.
It might seem rather limited to you, but when you are desperate to restore your health, you will find this diet fantastic and not limiting.
Imagine the pleasure of your doctor telling you that you don’t need to take certain meds anymore!
But it must be he who tells you that, not you!
Gundry, a heart surgeon, tries to tell people to eat like they used to eat before the dawn of the agricultural era.
“Humans thrived on this diet in the past and are thriving again as they return to their dietary roots and eliminate the ‘disruptors’ that have destroyed their gut microbiome.”
Is there research to back Gundry’s advice?
Gundry says that there are chemicals called “disruptors” and environmental factors that cause chaos in our bodies.
Then there are still certain medications we take, herbicides, and artificial sweeteners that can cause complications and side effects.
There is not much research that supports Gundry’s claims there are no human studies that have verified his theories.
He says he has anecdotal evidence to support his claims.
Kelly is one of them.
As far as Kelly Clarkson’s experience goes, he told Healthline that her experience with the diet is the same as tens of thousands of regular patients who also follow his program.
“In short, it works.” He says.
Still, plenty of medical experts are wary of counting on anecdotal evidence – they rather want to count on published data.
Also, they reckon that the foods you have to give up on The Plant Paradox diet – well, some are considered pretty healthy.
You can well imagine that that causes a problem for many nutritional experts.
What Dr. Nicole Harkin, FAAC, and a board-certified cardiologist at Columbia University says
She says that any diet restricting a lot of food will help people lose weight.
She also says that The Plant Paradox diet limits the intake of many foods central to a plant-based diet.
She says little to almost no evidence that a lectin-free diet is healthy for you.
Many studies indicate that a whole-food, plant-based diet is excellent for your brain and heart [4].
Eating healthier for Kelly meant no more packaged and processed foods
Sticking to The Plant Paradox diet meant that Kelly would have to eliminate all packaged and processed foods.
That can cut calories down.
She also had to reduce her sugar intake.
That would also have helped her to drop the pounds.
Just those two things alone could help many people who want to lose weight in the first place.
Dr. Petre (mentioned above) adds that it seems unrealistic to eliminate these foods right out of your diet when you can soak the food, or pressure cook the food, or remove the seeds and peels, etc…
…all these are ways to reduce the lectin in your favorite foods.
She says that many lectins are already destroyed before eating food.
Harkin (also mentioned above) adds that it’s all good for cutting out processed and packaged foods like the Plant Paradox diet recommends.
However, one should not avoid getting in all the antioxidants, fiber, and phytonutrients found in fruits, legumes, whole grains, and vegetables.
What does a registered dietician say about Kelly’s ‘Plant Paradox’ Diet for weight loss?
Keri Gans, MS, RD, CND, is a registered dietician and author of The Small Change Diet – she has looked at The Plant Paradox Diet, weighing in on it.
She realizes that Kelly had a thyroid condition and acknowledges that the diet could have made a difference for Kelly.
She says, bottom line, some research does support the fact that there could be a negative relationship between some autoimmune diseases and lectins.
But she says there isn’t sufficient evidence to say it could be universal.
An average healthy person won’t benefit from an elimination diet; they shouldn’t even be considering it.
It is possible that The Plant Paradox diet did help Kelly Clarkson to treat her condition.
But this does not mean it is the new go-to diet for losing weight.
Keri Gans says that what concerns her about the diet is how highly restrictive it is.
She says that any diet that restricts food groups like this isn’t a diet that any average person could sustain.
And when you eliminate whole grains, some veggies, legumes, and dairy from your diet, you can suffer negative consequences to your health.
Its whole grains are so high in fiber – they help to prevent heart disease, control cholesterol, and support gut health [5].
Much evidence shows that veggies and legumes are highly nutritious and packed with disease-fighting phytonutrients – these all help boost the immune system.
Other nutritional experts say that the bottom line, eliminating large food groups from your diet is not the way to go for sustainable weight loss for an average, healthy person.
She says that restricting food groups isn’t a lifestyle change.
Unless a registered dietitian or their doctor recommends it, you are not advised to follow it.
Conclusion
Kelly Clarkson has captured thousands of fans’ hearts worldwide since she won American Idol in 2002.
And not being shy, she has warmly shared her story with the rest of the world.
She has been honest about her children, young adult life, and body image.
That would have included her health problems and her amazing recovery from these by following The Plant Paradox diet.
Her amazing Instagram photos have brought a lot of attention to herself, with hundreds of comments about her weight loss, all 37 pounds of it.
She received plenty of compliments for her appearance, looking so svelte on the finale of The Voice.
She took to Instagram to show her fans a behind-the-scenes video of all the work she put in to achieve that look.
She says she never wanted to draw attention to herself, but for 15 years, a lot of emphases has been placed on her physical appearance.
Since she landed on the entertainment scene as the very first American Idol winner in 2002, Kelly Clarkson has been destined for stardom.
She has built a highly successful career spanning nearly two decades.
Can you believe she has sold over 25 million albums and blessed us with beautiful songs like “Because of You,” “Since U Been Gone,” and plenty of others?
No wonder Redbook, in 2020, called Kelly Clarkson “one of the most successful winners to date.”
And she’s been so entertaining, showing us that her vocal talents don’t fit with just one musical genre.
Country music has always been a great love of hers, but she has used her magnificent voice to cater to rock n’ roll ballad fans, pop anthems, and more.
She is simply that; a multi-talented star that the Hollywood Walk of Fame will honor with a star.
That means full marks for you, Kelly; thank you for the music!
“I’m a whole lotta woman From the way I walk and toss my ‘[now slim!] hips.”
“I love my body. I’m very much OK with it. I don’t think artists are ever the ones who have the problem with their weight; it is other people.”