Weight Loss Products

When investigating weight loss products beware of high costs, pressure to buy special foods or pills and fraudulent claims. Many diet products offer a quick, short-term fix, but there is no magic bullet for weight loss.

Survey shows that approximately 50 million Americans go on a diet each year yet only 5 percent keep the weight they lose off. Many trying to lose weight continually struggle to find an effective weight loss method. Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet. The only proven way to lose weight and keep it off is by making permanent lifestyle changes. One must eat healthier, watch portion sizes and be active.

Even if you choose to use a weight loss product or participate in a weight loss program, the bottom line is that you still must eat fewer calories than you burn to lose weight. When selecting a weight loss product it is advisable to gather as much information as possible. Beware of high costs, pressure to buy special foods or pills and fraudulent claims.

Following are few examples of ineffective Diet Products

• Appetite suppressing eyeglasses. Claim colored lenses project image on retina and decrease appetite.
• Magic weight-loss earrings. Supposedly control hunger by stimulating acupuncture points.
• Diet patches. Removed from the market by FDA in the early 1990s because they were ineffective as a diet aid.
• Magnet diet pills. Purportedly flush fat out of the body.
• Certain bulk fillers may cause internal obstruction.
• Electrical muscle stimulators. FDA may remove from market if promoted for weight loss.

Many prescription diet medicines have side effects and may not work for long-term weight loss. Pills containing the appetite suppressant PPA (phenylpropanolamine hydrochloride) can raise blood pressure. Pills containing ephedra may cause serious side effects like dizziness, increased blood pressure or heart rate, chest pain, heart attack, stroke, seizure and even death. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking action to limit and/or ban the use of PPA and ephedra in medications and dietary supplements.

Diet drink powdered formulas usually are mixed with a glass of milk and are substituted for one or more meals. Many users of these shakes report feeling constantly hungry and regain the lost weight when they give up the shakes. By relying on shakes, dieters follow artificial dieting methods and avoid learning how to work food into their lives.