Personal trainer Norman Low gives ‘unsafe’ advice posing as fake dietitian

A personal trainer has been banned from giving diet advice after he provided potentially “life threatening” recommendations.

A South Australian personal trainer has been banned from providing dietary and nutrition services after telling a client to stop their medications and giving advice that could lead to cardiac arrest.

The state’s Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner, Associate Professor Grant Davies, found Norman Low falsely claimed he was an Accredited Practising Dietitian.

Prof Davies also found he provided inappropriate and unsafe plans to consumers which were “fundamentally flawed, not backed by science, inappropriate, unsafe and were not developed by a dietitian”.

Personal trainer Norman Low has been banned from giving diet advice. Picture: Facebook

“Mr Low’s assertion that he was an accredited dietitian was blatantly false and mispresented his expertise,” Prof Davies said.

“To protect the public, I have issued this order and I strongly recommend anyone still using

these plans to consult an accredited dietitian.

“It appears they were not tailored for a consumer’s individual needs and the evidence

shows they put the people following them at serious risk.”

From today, Mr Low, who was prohibited on an interim basis during an investigation, will be permanently banned from claiming he is Accredited Practising Dietitian and providing nutritional advice to any person that extends past basic healthy eating information and nationally endorsed nutritional standards and guidelines.

Mr Low is still allowed to work as a personal trainer.

Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner Associate Professor Grant Davies said Mr Low posed an unacceptable risk to the SA public. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

The plans

The HCSCC sought professional advice from an independent accredited dietitian on two of Mr Low’s diet and nutrition plans.

On one plan, the dietitian said the amount of water suggested and advice to stop taking all oral medications as prescribed could have life threatening consequences.

The plan prescribed 9.25 litres of water per day, which was said to potentially have a very detrimental effect on cardiac function and in some cases lead to sudden cardiac arrest.

The recommendation to stop medications was labelled “medically unethical, illegal and inappropriate”.

The dietitian also found recommended doses of fish oil and vitamin C could result in blood thinning and appeared to be made without any prior screening, which they said was “extremely poor and dangerous practice”.

Upon evaluating the other plan, the dietitian found the plan may have put the client and others at risk of nutrient deficiencies, hormonaldysfunctions and disordered eating patterns.

They found the client would not only not lose any weight but potentially gain 0.5-1kg per week if they followed the plan.