Indonesian actress Tya Ariestya famously lost more than 20 kilograms in a few months, but her Diet method has recently become a hot topic on social media for its seemingly pseudoscientific approach.

Earlier this week, Twitter account @gizipedia_id tweeted a thread that debunked several points touted in Tya’s Book, titled The Journey of #FitTyaAriestya. Tya, who gained weight when she was pregnant with her second son, lost 24 kilograms in less than six months after undergoing her diet.

She initially shared her ‘successful’ diet tips on Instagram before releasing the book, which encourages daily 45-minutes walks, discipline with meal times, as well as avoiding food that is processed or containing oil, flour, sugar, and coconut milk ⁠— all without incorporating vegetables, claiming that they “didn’t work on her.”

The Twitter account, which is managed by three nutritionists, wrote that they decided to dissect the book after getting increasingly weird questions from their patients.

Awalnya bingung, knp bbrp pasien mulai tanya
“Mba, emang sayuran bikin gemuk ya?” respon pertama, terfikir paling tabu budaya biasa pada bbrp orang.
Makin lama, tambah banyak pertanyaan serupa.

Lalu ketemulah salah satu penyebabnya. Yaitu, sebuah buku diet viral.

– utas – pic.twitter.com/c5t9wsmQqr

— Giped | Nutrition Basecamp (@gizipedia_id) March 2, 2021

“We were initially confused because a number of our patients asked us, ‘Can vegetables make us fat?’ Our first response was that maybe there’s a cultural taboo by some people. As time went by, we got more similar questions. Then we found out one of the causes, which was a diet book that went viral,” the tweet reads.

The nutritionists wrote that they really wanted to scrutinize #FitTyaAriestya to stop the dangerous methods it promotes ⁠— especially after reports emerged of people experiencing long constipation and being hospitalized.

There were several points discussed in the thread, beginning with the book’s claim of vegetables and its negative influence on the diet.

“In the sixth paragraph, [there’s the line,] ‘Oh yeah, did you know that vegetables can impede weight loss?’” @gizipedia_id quoted a line from the book, though Tya also wrote that her diet doesn’t include vegetables because “she didn’t like them.”

Apparently, according to Tya’s doctor, fiber-rich food such as vegetables can “disturb good bacterias in our body,” which may result in them not being able to absorb important nutrients from the stomach and intestines. Tya also claimed in the book that fiber-rich food may cause bloated stomach and diarrhea on some people, and that raw vegetables may be the reason why people gain weight.

The nutritionists debunked these claims, saying that greens are essential for a healthy diet, obviously.

Other dangerous methods promoted in Tya’s book, according to the nutritionists, include limiting one’s daily calorie intake to 500 and using salt liberally to season food.

The nutritionists also pointed out that the book included a disclaimer that the diet method and menu were customized by Tya’s doctor exclusively for her. The book itself may have implied that Tya’s diet may work on everyone, despite each individual having different nutritional needs.

Amid the ongoing controversy, Tya appears to have continued her life as usual and continues to promote her book, though the 34-year-old appears to have limited the comments section on her Instagram posts.

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