Have you ever wondered why weight loss is a multi-billion dollar industry?
Many of us can’t figure out why it continues to be so, especially with so many plans claiming to have worked for so many people.
After all, the more diets available that actually produce long-lasting results, the less people would spend on them overall, right?
The ugly truth is that many of these so-called miracle diet plans are exactly the opposite: they are scams designed to obtain money. What’s more, they are putting the health of millions of Americans at risk.
Fake Facts
A number of these weight loss scams will attempt to use what they consider to be generally-accepted knowledge in order to try and convince would-be dieters to try their plan. But many of these are myths.
Companies that claim low fat intake is the key to their weight loss product may be doing little more than putting you on. The idea here is that the less fat you eat, the less fat you will gain. But even minimal research into the body’s fat-burning process will reveal that a low-fat diet will cause your metabolism to slow down, making weight loss that much more difficult.
Another common example is the diet pill, which many will say boosts metabolism or blocks fat. The truth about this particular claim is that a diet pill may indeed result in fast weight loss, but it will not result in weight loss results for the long term. In fact, many diet pills carry significant risks along with them, even if they have been FDA approved. Losing weight quickly places great strain on the body, and can result in illness, damage to major organs and worse.
Other companies may cite the latest technology when trying to sell their weight loss solutions. They claim that only the most current information and corresponding science for weight loss was used when creating their product. The reality is that perhaps current research was used in product creation, but only a small portion of that research went into it.
The News Site Snooker
If you’ve ever searched for weight loss programs online, you may have come across a professional-looking site, complete with video reports about how major companies back up the claim that the site’s weight loss product really does work.
But here again, a site like this is most likely little more than a fake news site, complete with actors posing as doctors, dieticians and weight loss product clients. Some of these may even go so far as to use, without permission, the logos and other materials from legitimate news sites and sources. They may even modify images of weight loss clients to make it look like a significant amount of weight was lost using their product.
Evaluating Weight Loss Claims for Legitimacy
The next time you see a weight loss product that offers a fast drop in pounds, or any other claim that makes you raise an eyebrow, experts advise that potential dieters actually take the time to assimilate what they read.
A site that claims you can lose weight forever without ever again having to diet is an almost surefire scam, because the only way to ensure you never have to diet again is to change your lifestyle. This means not only changing what you eat, but increasing your activity level and quitting bad habits like smoking, which can contribute to weight gain.
Companies claiming large numbers of pounds in just a couple of weeks may look good at the outset. But this is extremely rapid weight loss. A healthier and more average rate of weight loss is one to two pounds per week.
Even sites which offer free trials of their weight loss products can be dangerous unless they have been investigated beforehand. Looking for complaints from customers on legitimate sites like the Better Business Bureau can also help you to better evaluate weight loss claims that are potentially false.