Five Diet Scams To Avoid Like The Plague
Can you imagine a nation where over 65% of the people are trying to cope with obesity? Well, we have it, right on our doorsteps as the US and also UK are tryng to solve this massive (lol!) problem. In spite of the fact that the governments spend enormous amounts of money in educating children and adults about what and what not to eat there are a large number of people falling for the scams out there.
We are talking about big business here - the diet industry is enormous. About $35 billion is spent every year in the US alone! It is not surprising that not a few charlatans have got on the band wagon and want a share in this enormous cake and they will do anything to fool a gullible populace!
The first big lie is the 'quick and easy weight loss'. Well, it is not going to be easy and neither is it going to be quick. In fact, if it is too quick, it might well be dangerous! If they add in patches and magic pills, then you can smell a scam a mile away.
'All natural, herbal supplements' sounds harmless and healthy! This is the second big lie that some dishonest merchants will chant at you. These herbal cures have not been approved by the FDA which means that no clinical trials have been conducted or if they have, then the time span is not long enough to assess the long term effects of these on your body. Scary!
Now what could be easier than wearing a 'slim suit' - no effort required and you can even eat what you want!. Add to this scam, the body wraps, magic creams and other gadgets and you have a perfect scam, backed up by false claims and nameless, faceless testimonials. The sad thing is that the time and money wasted on these means that people are not getting on with the valid weight loss programs which have been tried and tested.
The fourth scam is my favourite because it is quite original and even sounds scientifically feasible. These magic pills are going to absorb all the nasty fat even before it is deposited around your thickening tummy and thighs! Thse pills do all the work and gobble up the fat. Now if this were true, we would be taking them along with our cereal every morning.
Last but not least you must have seen all the media hype on oolong, green and black teas ! These may well be a help in losing weight but the scam here is that these teas contain lots of caffeine and that means it is diuretic which in turn leads to water loss. Diet pills in general have nasty side effects. How about these for starters (pardon the pun !) nervousness, restlessness, insomnia, high blood pressure, fatigue and heart palpitations, congestive heart failure or heart attack, stroke, headaches, dry mouth, vomiting ,constipation, intestinal disturbances, tightness in chest, tingling in extremities, excessive perspiration- do I need to go on ?
The Mediterranean Diet has been studied all over the world by research institutes, doctors and dieticians. It has been shown, time and time again, that people on this diet have fewer heart attacks and a reduced risk of getting cancer. This diet is no scam or passing fancy. Millions of people over the centuries have been the perfect testimonials.