A FOLLOWER of Gwen Shamblin Lara’s weight-loss program has revealed she suffered irreparable damage to her kidneys as she starved herself 'for God'.
Diet guru Shamblin Lara’s explosive life has been shared in the HBO docuseries The Way Down – which aired months after she died in a plane crash in Tennessee.
The first three episodes of the five-part series aired on HBO Max last September, but the final two were shown on April 28.
Shamblin Lara, 66, founded the Remnant Fellowship in 1999.
Laura Alvarez claimed she was told to lose four pounds in a week so she would be in “God’s goodwill”.
She says she was put on a diet that mandated her just to 10 bites of food a day.
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Alvarez claimed she was forced to fast every other month.
She revealed that she suffered irreparable damage to her kidneys when she was checked out by doctors.
Medics told Alvarez: "Your body ate away its kidneys, that’s what it does when you go through starvation.”
Alvarez was quizzed if she had struggled with anorexia or bulimia during her life.
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Alvarez's mom Mindy, a former member of the Remnant Fellowship, said: "Gwen broke my family and the only thing I can do is pick up the pieces because that's what she left."
Meanwhile, Terasseee Morris said she lost 138 pounds in 18 months.
She claimed: “If people didn’t lose more than two pounds that week, they were instructed to fast.
“The faster you do it, the holier you are.”
Shamblin Lara was the author of the 1997 book The Weigh Down Diet.
Its summary said: “People who have known no end to their hunger and who have no control over their late-night binges have learned through the Weigh Down Workshop that they can remove the irresistible desire for food.
"This is not a diet like others, because it is not food-focused."
More than three decades ago, she launched the Weigh Down Workshop.
More than 200,000 people subscribed to the program.
It was a Bible study series that “directed hurting, imprisoned souls how to turn away from destructive vices and unwanted behaviors and emotions … [to] point them to a genuine relationship with God."
These vices included "overeating, alcohol indulgence, anger, and depression."
Shamblin Lara would deliver conferences where fans would hold up banners that read: “God has taken 86 pounds off me.”
TRAGEDY STRIKES
The Christian guru was among seven people killed when a Cessna plane plunged into Percy Priest lake near Smyrna, Tennessee in May last year.
The group – which included her Tarzan actor and second husband Joe Lara, 58 – were thought to have been heading to a Women Fighting For America event.
Air traffic control data revealed that the plane started to drop after just 90 seconds in the air.
Robert Fowler, an aviation expert, revealed on the doc: "He [the pilot] was given a couple of instructions. To turn to a heading of 130.
"And he did acknowledge that, although he hesitated and there were no more radio transmissions after that."
The seven killed were Brandon Hannah, Gwen and Joe Lara, David L. Martin, Jennifer J. Martin, Jessica Walters, and Jonathan Walters.
Shamblin Lara lived a life of luxury before her death.
Her will revealed that everything was left to her two kids, according to WTVF.
LIFE OF LUXURY
The investigation also revealed that Shamblin Lara's will did not leave money to the Remnant Fellowship Church, despite what she had publicly claimed.
The church said Shamblin Lara donated "Weigh Down Ministries and its proceeds, as well as all her intellectual properties over to the church."
They added: "In regards to Gwen’s estate, Gwen, Michael, and Elizabeth decided almost two decades ago to give approximately $10 million of what would have been Michael and Elizabeth’s inheritance to the building and grounds of Remnant Fellowship Church.
"This was an incredible gift of generosity from Gwen and her family’s inheritance, and the church would expect no more."
Shamblin Lara's 2018 divorce from her husband, David Shamblin, revealed the couple had 18 properties worth more than $20million.
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These properties included a Florida beach house valued at more than $4million and another mansion in Brentwood at around $7million.
She reportedly owned the jet that crashed and at least one chopper.
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