Walter Kempner
MD. Physician who ran the rice diet program in Durham, North Carolina.
Kempner built the rice diet, first for high blood pressure and kidney disease and later, in a much stricter low-calorie form, for severe obesity. His 1975 paper on 106 patients who had each lost at least 45 kg is the main record of the weight-loss program.
Whose words we use: His own published papers. Statements by Frank Neelon, who ran the program after him, are labelled as Neelon's.
Evidence behind the weight-loss advice: Case series, selected for success.
Positions by topic
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Calorie density
Choosing foods with fewer calories per pound is the main way to lose weight without counting calories.
DisagreesKempner's weight-loss program cut calories directly: 400 to 800 a day at first and always under 1,000, with daily supervision. His paper calls calorie reduction the cornerstone, and his successor Frank Neelon later said on McDougall's channel that calories do count.
- Kempner 1975, Archives of Internal MedicineStudy
- Frank Neelon on McDougall's channel (2022) at 58:11Someone else speaking
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Nuts and seeds
Nuts and seeds should be cut out or strictly limited for weight loss.
AgreesThe weight-loss diet contained almost no fat, so no nuts or seeds.
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Oil
Added oil should be cut out completely for weight loss.
AgreesThe weight-loss diet was rice and fruit with almost no fat, so there was no added oil. That was part of the design rather than a rule he argued for separately.