So lately it has been driving me nuts about how many people want to take a pill to be skinny. Seriously, if there was a pill that made you skinny without having to exercise and eat right obesity would cease to exist. Don’t you think if doctors and the FDA had a pill that did this, they would prescribe it! People are to obsessed with a quick fix that has temporary results, if any results. I see people posting and asking “what about ______ pills?” or “ What diet pill do you recommend?”. PEOPLE STOP! Get your @ss in a gym, join a class, start a walking club, buy some DVD’s, hire a personal trainer, do something aside from trying to take a pill. The $60 you are going to pay for a bottle of pills can buy a lot of DVD’s and months at a gym.
"Lose 30 pounds in 30 days!"
"Block the absorption of fat, carbs, and calories with this pill!"
"Wear this and watch the pounds melt away."
Whether you're flipping through a magazine, scanning the aisles of a health store, or watching late-night television, you're bound to see slogans like these touting the latest and greatest product designed to help YOU lose weight.
But chances are the only thing you'll lose by purchasing the latest "miracle diet product" is money. Diet scams are big business with sellers vying for their share of the nearly $35 billion that Americans spend each year on weight loss products and programs.
There have always been quack weight loss schemes out there because nobody ever believes that you can't lose weight faster than you gained it," says registered dietician Althea Zanecosky.
"It maybe took two years for them to gain those 15 pounds, but they want to lose it in two weeks."
A more realistic timetable for lasting weight loss is to lose about a pound or two a week, says Zanecosky.
Experts say relying on pills, patches, creams, and other gadgets to lose weight keeps millions of people from seeking weight loss programs that could really help them lose weight and reduce their risk of disease. The sale of diet pills continue to be on the rise in North America. Many people are lead to believe that they are a safe and effective way to lose weight. Most diet pills on the market are not safe, can cause serious side effects and have resulted in death. Popular diet pills such as Acutrim and Dexatrim contain a combination of phenylpropanolamine and caffeine. Phenylpropanolamine is a stimulant and effects the central nervous system. It can produce symptoms such as increased heart rate, dizziness, high blood pressure, nausea, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, dry mouth and diarrhea.
The biggy’s in the diet scam industry right now:
1. Metabolism-boosting/calorie-burning pills
At the top of the list of diet scams are pills based on herbal ingredients that promise to boost your metabolism and help you burn calories or fat faster.
“New herbs always seem to percolate to the top as potential diet aids, as one leaves another shows up because the FDA doesn’t monitor herbs,” says Zanecosky. “Most of time they are just ineffective; once in a while they are dangerous.”
Two recent examples of herbal diet pills that caught the attention of the FDA as dangerous are ephedra and kava (Piper methysticum, also known as kava kava).
Until recently, ephedra was found in many herbal dietary supplements for weight loss, but in February 2004, the FDA banned the sale of ephedra in any dietary supplement in the U.S. due to the risk of illness or injury. The herb is a close chemical cousin of methamphetamine or speed and can cause high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, insomnia, nervousness, tremors, seizures, heart attacks, strokes, and even death.
Kava is a plant found in the islands of the South Pacific. Supplements containing the herbal ingredient are often promoted for relaxation as well as weight loss. But the FDA issued a warning in 2002 that use of supplements containing kava has been linked to severe liver injury.
2. Fat- and carb-blocking pills
Pills that claim to block your body’s absorption of fat and more recently carbohydrates are also commonly-sold diet scams.
Even if these fat and carb blockers worked as they say they do, researchers say the effects can be dangerous if not just plain unpleasant.
It’s like making someone lactose intolerant, says Zanecosky. By making the body unable to breakdown nutrients in the body, which leads to gastrointestinal problems like diarrhea, bloating, and gas, these pills also block the absorption of the vitamins that travel with these nutrients.
“Why would someone purposely submit themselves to that?” says Zanecosky. “Some fat blockers might have something in them that can interfere with how people absorb fat, but they’ve never been shown to help with substantial weight loss.”
3. Weight loss teas
Teas based on herbal ingredients are also touted as diet aids, but researchers say the main ingredient in many of these teas is caffeine, which is a diuretic and leads to water loss.
“Losing water isn’t losing weight,” says Zanecosky. “Caffeine can also increase metabolic rate by a small amount but not enough that you would be able to say that it contributed to weight loss.”
Registered dietitian Nelda Mercer agrees and says the only potential weight loss benefit of drinking herbal teas might be using them as a substitute for high-calorie beverages.
Mercer says that with some diet teas, it’s the program the comes along with the teas that may sometimes promote weight loss, such as teas that recommend you drink it after dinner and then not eat anything else until morning. That way it could curb late-night eating, but it’s not necessarily a result of drinking the tea itself.
4. Diet patches and jewelry
Patches that deliver drugs though the skin have become popular for helping smokers quit and delivering estrogen to relieve menopausal symptoms.
But experts say no effective weight loss drugs have been designed to be delivered through the skin via patches. Most of the time, these patches contain the same ineffective herbs found in dietary supplements or teas.
Also included in this diet scam category is jewelry, such as earrings or bracelets, designed to be worn on the body with the promise to help people shed pounds. According to the FTC, any claim that people can lose even a pound or more a week using these devices is false.
5. Body wraps or “slim suits”
If there were an “oldie but goodie” diet scam prize winner, experts say it would likely go to body wraps.
The thick, layered sweat suits once popular decades ago have morphed into silver “slim suits” and fat-melting body wraps designed to lock body heat in and melt away the pounds.
But researchers say the only type of weight loss caused by wearing these outfits is water loss caused by excessive sweating. As soon as you take a drink, you’ll gain all that water weight back.
6. HCG- Tune in next week for why this is the biggest scam of all! This one ruffles my feathers the most so I will have an ENTIRE post about it!
How to Spot a Diet Scam
Experts say the only way to lose weight for the long haul is to burn more calories than you eat, and that process is slow. That means any diet products or program that promises “quick and easy” weight loss without any effort or sacrifice is bound to be bogus.
But if that’s not enough to raise your suspicions, here are some frequently used buzz words to watch for, according to the FTC:
No Diet! No Exercise!Lose 30 Pounds in 30 DaysEat Your Favorite Foods and Still Lose WeightShrinks Inches Off Your Stomach, Waist, and HipsScientists Announce Incredible Discovery!Revolutionary European Method! Ancient Chinese Secret!Turn On Your Body's Fat-Burning ProcessAutomatically Convert Fat to Lean Trim Muscle!Absorbs FatDeveloped After Years of Secret ResearchNew Scientific/Medical Breakthrough
Not only do diet scam pitchmen tend to use the same words in their advertising, the FTC says they also employ some of the same sales techniques, such as:
—Extravagant claims of dramatic, rapid weight loss.
—Testimonials from "famous" doctors, researchers, or other medical experts.
—Dramatic before-and-after photos depicting substantial weight loss.
—Ads that tout the latest trendy ingredient in the headlines.
—A footnote hidden somewhere in an ad noting "diet and exercise required."
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