Old Weight Loss Scams Continue

Too-good-to-be-true easy weight loss promises have been around for over a hundred years.  Here are some common themes to pills, powders, potions, and teas.

Lose weight, eat whatever you want, and no exercise!  Burn fat while you sleep! Whatever is contained in these pills is not going to help you lose weight.  Sometimes there are ingredients like caffeine that help dampen the appetite in some people.  If you’ve ever purchased one of these “diet pills” you may have noticed the package insert that explains how you can lose weight.  Then again you may have thrown that part away.  It says, “here is a sample 1200 calorie diet for you to follow.  If you follow this diet [and take these pills] you can lose up to 10 pounds in 4 weeks (results not typical)”.  Of course you can eat whatever you like … but you can’t have more than one bite of it!

Fat burners and Fat blockers There is one pill on the market that does help block the absorption of some of the fat taken in with a usual diet.  (See blog post on Alli, which explains how few calories are really saved this way.)  Otherwise, there aren’t any magic pills that let you eat whatever you want and not ingest the calories.  Nor are there any magical supplements that burn fat more efficiently in your body.  There are some nutrients that are a part of the biochemical process of burning fat.  But fat is burned to give your body energy–energy you use up by moving around (ie, exercising) or energy you need because you are taking in a lower number of calories than your body needs (ie, dieting).  Taking more of these nutrients will not cause you to burn more fat any more than putting more gas in your car will give you better mileage–it just doesn’t work that way.

Lose 30 Pounds in 30 Days Another claim that is completely unfounded.  “You would have to have an intake deficit of 3500 calories every day,” explains registered dietitian Terri Beldin.  There aren’t many people who eat much more than 2500 calories a day, so it would be impossible to lose this much weight even if you didn’t eat for a month.  In cases where you’ve heard of people losing eight or ten pounds a week, that is attributed to water loss, and can be very dangerous.  Of course, it doesn’t last for long either.  As soon as a person starts eating normally again their body replaces what was lost.

Weight loss supplements I checked the ingredients on one of these formulas when a friend asked me to look at it.  “I’m having diarrhea,” she complained, “and I’m wondering if something in this herbal diet remedy could be the cause”.  Well, it was likely to be the cause since it contained a harsh laxative called cascara root.  If your new diet pill is making you lose weight through a laxative effect, you aren’t losing any body fat–just a lot of water.

You mean, there aren’t any magic pills, potions, or formulas? Here’s a rule I always go by:  If  one day there  is a pill available that can help us lose weight with no diet or exercise or effort; if it’s safe and effective and easy; if all you have to do is swallow the pill and go about your business and have all the unwanted fat weight fall off, then (A) Oprah will be sure to tell us all about it on her very next show, and (B) There will no longer be any obese people in the country.

As long as you see people walking around who are overweight, you can bet that weight loss will continue to be something you’ll have to set your mind to work at.

Written by Laurie Beebe

About The Author: Laurie Beebe has been a registered dietitian for 25 years and is certified in adult weight management. Laurie currently serves as a diet coach and life coach at www.mycoachlaurie.com

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