It’s easy to be drawn in by the lure of no diet/no exercise weight loss, 30 pounds in 30 days, or other weight loss scams. Diet scams work because almost everyone is intrigued by some magical pill, berry, or tea that will melt off the weight, with no hunger or effort on your part at all. Some of these diet scams are harmless “ a fat blocking necklace. Some are dangerous “ herbs such as kava and ephedra. And some are just really, really expensive. The real problem is that none of these scams come with the warning this product doesn’t actually work and may even be harmful to your health, even though that is true for 99% of these scams! Thinking about a too good to be true weight loss solution? Make sure it isn’t one of these scams.
Acai Berries
The sad part about the acai berry scam is that these actually are super berries “ high in fiber and antioxidants. The internet is bombarded, however, with free trials and free offers of a magical acai berry supplement, some ads claiming that this scam is endorsed by none other than Oprah herself. Your trial size is free “ just pay shipping! What a great idea! The problem is that you have to give your credit card number to cover that shipping “ and low and behold you find hundreds of dollars of charges on your bill the next month. Unbeknownst to you, you were automatically signed up for a monthly supply of weight loss magic, to be shipped (and billed) automatically each month. This scam can be cleared up with a few phone calls, but in the meantime those charges are on your credit card. And now they have your number¦
Metabolism boosting herbal pills/weight loss herbal teas
As noted above, some weight loss herbs such as kava and ephedra are dangerous. But many of these scams are just silly. No herbal pill or tea can melt off weight, block fat absorption, increase your metabolism, or result in any other kind of magical weight loss. Avoid this diet scam by skipping over any pill, tea, or other form of instant herbal weight loss.
Fat and/or carb blockers
This diet scam comes in the form of a pill that will magically cause your body to stop absorbing fat or carbohydrates. The only proven result from this scam is a lot of bloating and gas! No substantial weight loss has ever been documented as a result of swallowing these pills, yet people continue to purchase bottles of these blockers for $30, $40, and even higher prices per bottle. Save your money.
Diet patches
The US FTC has been prosecuting diet patch scam companies for over two decades “ there is no known diet aid that can be released through a patch on your skin into your body! It’s been estimated that consumers have spent millions of dollars on skin patches that will lead to weight loss simply by slapping one on your skin. Unlike smoking cessation patches, there is no medical evidence that anyone has ever lost a pound by wearing a diet patch.
