Could You Live on the 'Jennifer Aniston Diet?'

Oct. 25, 2010— -- Last year, Jennifer Aniston wrote the foreward to a cookbook called "The Family Chef." But eating the meals in the book won't guarantee you her radiant looks and seemingly ageless body.

In fact, sometimes a name tacked onto a food product or book leads only to confusion.

Last week a writer for Britain's Daily Mail, commenting on the book, wrote that it "finally lifts the lid on the contents of Jennifer's sauce pans," and referred to the celebrity's "cucumber diet" and "a 151-calorie lunch." The article prompted more than 100 reader comments.

"Those were unfortunate statements," said Jewels Elmore who, along with her sister Jill, wrote "The Family Chef." As personal chefs, the Elmore sisters' sole client is Aniston. Jewels has been cooking for Aniston for seven years, and Jill joined her a couple of years ago.

"The comment about the cucumber diet is especially misleading and could even influence young girls who want to lose weight to think this is a weight-loss measure," said Jewels. "We do not consider ours to be a diet book. The recipes are for healthy, delicious food."

And, she added, "We're not authorized to comment on thr specifics of our client's eating habits or whether the meals in our book are what we cook for Aniston."

It's not the first time people, eager to know every iota of Aniston's life, have jumped to wrong conclusions.

Even the tamest comments can be subject to misinterpretation. Many people thought that the "baby food" diet – a cleansing diet involving some pureed food items – was literally baby food.

It's also not the first time that what a celebrity eats -- or does not eat -- has made headlines. Kate Moss, the icon of uber-waif fashion, prompted a collective gasp last year when she was quoted on the fashion Web site WWD.com as saying her personal mantra was "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."

Kate Hudson dropped 20 pounds after cutting alcohol out of her diet. Gwyneth Paltrow swears by fasts and detoxes. Elizabeth Hurley swapped wine for vodka and, after the birth of her son Damien, took to eating only one meal a day.

So what's the fuss – and confusion – behind how celebrities eat?

"Celebrity sells, and there's an implied message when you see a celebrity's name attached to a book of food," said Stephen Gullo, a celebrity weight-loss expert and author of "The Thin Commandments." "When President Bill Clinton spoke about the South Beach Diet, he sent the book over the top. His statement was all it took."

Jennifer Aniston Stays Healthy but Still Indulges

As for Aniston's purported 151-calorie lunch of cucumbers, Gullo said that, indeed, it was all about the food itself, giving as examples an egg-white omelet with vegetables or four ounces of tuna. "A woman needs to be food-smart," he said.

In her foreward to "The Family Chef," Aniston writes of the Elmores' food in glowing terms. She refers to the time before Jewels came to cook for her as "B.J.: Before Jewels," when she consumed artificial sugar and butter substitutes, and thought eating "low-fat" food was a good thing.

"Jewels changed the way I see a kitchen from a place to store PowerBars (my once-upon-a-time alternative to all food groups!) to a sanctuary that has become the most important room in the house, filled with sights and smells that are themselves a feast."

Aniston wrote, "…there's literally nothing more important to our health, happiness and success than what we put into our bodies and the energy, clarity and stamina that come as a result."

Jean Fain, a clinical social worker who specializes in eating issues who teaches at Harvard Medical School, says that often her clients remark that they do not want to run up weight like certain overweight celebrities.

"Many of them will buy food-related books with a celebrity name attached," said Fain, the author of "The Self-Compassion Diet: A Step-by-Step Program to Lose Weight with Loving-Kindess," which releases early 2011. "But often these books are not suited to their tastes, lifestyles and schedules." Or, perhaps, income, given that many people are not in a position to hire the Elmores or other personal chefs to cook healthy meals.

"Cooking healthily takes planning," concedes Jill Elmore. "We still cook for our own families, too."

Apparently even Aniston cheats on occasion. When ABC News' George Stephanopoulos asked what her three favorite comfort foods are, she replied, "I pretty much go to grease, fried foods. Salt."

ABC News' Sheila Marikar and Luchina Fisher contributed reporting.