London: An obese woman died after losing more than 19kg on a crash diet to get in shape for her wedding.
Samantha Clowe, 34, suffered heart failure 11 weeks into the low-calorie LighterLife diet.
Her mother Barbara said Clowe, who weighed 107.95 kg when she started the diet, did not want to be a 'fat bride'. She also wanted to gain the 'respect at work' of her colleagues at steel company Corus.
Clowe, who was 1.52m tall, was otherwise 'fit and well' and stuck to the diet, an inquest heard.
She had seen her GP to be given the all clear before starting the diet, which is available only to obese people. For 11 weeks she ate only soups, snack bars and shakes provided by LighterLife, which has been used by 150,000 men and women in 12 years.
She saw her doctor for two monthly check-ups and attended weekly group counselling meetings.
Her fiance Andrew Smith found her collapsed at their home in Leeds on June 28 last year. West Yorkshire Coroner David Hinchliff said it was 'highly likely' Clowe died from cardiac arrhythmia - where the heart beats abnormally.
But he could not say whether the LighterLife diet - which restricts people to 530 calories a day for a maximum of 12 weeks - played a part. The recommended intake for women is 2,000 calories. Home Office pathologist Dr Alfredo Walker said a postmortem examination failed to establish a cause of death, but added: "It may be related to her low-calorie diet and weight loss."
Recording a narrative verdict, Hinchliff said Clowe's death was unascertained.
In a statement to the inquest, her mother said: "She said she wanted respect at work and didn't want to be a fat bride."
Her brother Daniel said: "There's too much pressure on women these days to look like skinny celebs. They see slim people in magazines and feel under pressure to lose weight.
"But women shouldn't diet. I would say to anyone who feels unhappy like Samantha did to lose weight sensibly - don't diet."
A spokesman for LighterLife said although Clowe's BMI had reduced from 37 to 32, she was "still clinically obese" and "her health may have already been compromised".
He added: "We were very sad to hear the news about Samantha. The coroner said Samantha was clinically obese which increased the risk of cardiac death.
