(Near) Death From Stupidity: Gary Null's Personal Product Endorsement

Putting the 'die' in diet

Health guru nearly killed eating own product

By DAREH GREGORIAN New York Post

Last Updated: 10:20 AM, April 28, 2010

UPDATE: AOL NEWS picks up the story.




That's not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Nutrition guru Gary Null says he was almost killed by eating a dietary supplement -- his own.

In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, the controversial alternative-medicine advocate says he suffered "mentally and physically" after eating his Gary Null's Ultimate Power Meal.

Over the month Null, 65, ate the powdered product, he suffered "excruciating fatigue along with bodily pain," and "began to suffer from extreme cracks and bleeding from within his feet," the suit says.

"Null had to be in bed with his feet elevated because it was so painful he did not have the strength to walk" -- but he kept eating Gary Null's Ultimate Power Meal, "thinking that it would help him and relieve his condition."

Instead, it made it worse, according to the suit, which blames a contractor that mixed the powder.

The health nut went to see his doctor, and tests showed he had elevated levels of Vitamin D in his system. He later discovered that the Ultimate Power Meal had 1,000 times the amount of Vitamin D than the label claimed.

That meant that instead of ingesting 2,000 IU of Vitamin D daily, he was ingesting 2 million IU, the suit says. Most doctors recommend 1,000 IU a day.

Null said he was later told that if he hadn't visited his doctor when he did, "he could have died within a short period of time."

When Null discovered what the problem was, he "sequestered himself and fasted, only consuming massive amounts of water, as he was told that there was no medical treatment to lower the amount of Vitamin D in his system," the suit says.

"It took three months to get his blood seemingly back to where he was able to function. Even now, Null's condition is questionable, as he continues to occasionally urinate blood," the suit says.

Null -- who markets fitness DVDs, as well as hair-care, anti-aging, anti-stress, air-purification, weight-loss and pet-care goods on his Web site -- soon discovered he wasn't the only one who couldn't handle his product.

While he was recuperating, "six consumers were hospitalized with severe kidney damage, and Null, in the midst of all this, while he was suffering in bed, had dozens of his customers calling him, along with condemning and threatening him," the suit says.

The suit -- seeking $10 million -- says New Jersey company Triarco was responsible for mixing the Vitamin D for the product, which has since been recalled. It charges Triarco failed to do proper tests before sending the ingredient on.

Triarco didn't return a call for comment.