Paltrow: Criticised

London, Jan. 3: Celebrities should check their facts before promoting fad diets and giving advice on medical matters, scientists say.

The charity Sense About Science has accused public figures of confusing people with misleading endorsements for products and theories based on poor understanding of the science involved.

In its report on verbal scientific blunders last year, it names and shames the television presenter Sarah Beeny, the fashion designer Stella McCartney, the writer Gillian McKeith and the actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

For example, television health guru and author McKeith wrote in one newspaper that those with joint pain should cut out or reduce the amount of tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, white potatoes and paprika they eat.

Margaret Rayman, the professor of nutritional medicine at the University of Surrey, disagreed. “Joint pain may be caused by quite different conditions which result from different processes,” she said.

“Some rheumatoid patients may improve by omitting certain foods from their diets, but this must be determined on an individual basis and a blanket prohibition as Gillian advises is unjustified.”

Paltrow advised eating a special diet to avoid cancer. “I am challenging these evil genes by natural means. I am convinced that by eating biological foods it is possible to avoid tumours,” Paltrow said.

However, dietician ursula Arens said: “Diet cannot prevent cancer. The risks of some of them can be reduced with certain diets, but some cancers, alas, show no link to dietary factors.”