Quick and easy weight loss schemes are - to put it simply - bogus.
Nonetheless, every year millions of Americans spend their hard earned money on such myths. The perpetrators of these lucrative (for the marketer) programs and/or products play not only upon widespread ignorance among the general population, but more sadly upon the wishes and even desperation of many people to lose weight fast.
Here we take a closer look at each of the four most common and misleading weight loss myths - targeted misinformation campaigns that you likely encounter every day you browse the web. These schemes happily take your money while in return do nothing for you but give false hope, often alter your metabolism in unknown ways, and at worst cause mild or serious health complications.
1. The Acai Berry Myth
This variant of the "newly discovered jungle fruit" myth first emerged almost ten years ago, but is still going strong.
Marketers of acai berry products make unfounded claims that this magical mystical fruit and its antioxidant qualities result in quick weight loss, and also may provide a variety of other health benefits such as reversal of diabetes and other chronic illnesses.
The truth is that none of these claims has scientific confirmation. Dr. Stephen Talcott (Associate Professor of Food Chemistry at Texas A&M University) who conducted a series of published studies on the acai berry summed it up quite nicely: "There is currently no scientific research to support a weight loss claim for acai fruit...Some companies are capitalizing on the fact that the acai berry is still mostly unknown to the broader public, and is sold as a miracle curative fruit from the deep, dark Amazonian jungle. It is doing nothing more than playing on consumer ignorance."
Likewise, there is no current scientific support for the plethora of health benefits attributed to acai berry supplements. While the berry clearly does contain antioxidants, there exist no long-term studies proving that acai berries (or their derivatives) rid the body of toxins or reduces wrinkles, etc.
Nonetheless, over forty new acai berry products were introduced to the U.S. marketplace in 2008 alone, a trend has not slowed much since.
2. The "Lose Belly Fat" Myth
In so far as modern science informs us, anyone who tells you that it is possible to accomplish what is broadly known as "spot reducing" - deliberately targeting the loss of fat to a specific area of your - is simply lying.
That is not the way fat is added or lost to normal adult human bodies, despite numerous claims to the contrary. The idea that excessive numbers of abdominal crunches will decrease belly fat is nothing more than a popular myth continually reinforced through the almost non-stop repetition of infomercials.
In truth, our bodies are designed by evolution to store excess fat as an energy reserve. Excess calories are stored in a form known as subcutaneous fat. In a healthy individual this ready energy source is mobilized and utilized when blood sugar remains low and the body requires fuel.
However, an individual cannot select a particular location from which to metabolize the stored fat. Subcutaneous fat is laid down in times of food abundance and intake in excess of the body's metabolic needs in a pattern that is based on the unique genetics of every individual.
When fat reserves are called upon, the stored fat will be removed in the same order that it was laid down. But remember, your particular pattern of depositing and metabolizing fat is set by your own body; it cannot be selectively altered by a physical training regime.
This is true for you, as well as professional athletes of the highest caliber. According to the authors of the latest edition of Essentials of Exercise Physiology, researchers found that regular exercise of the dominant arm of professional tennis players did not reduce subcutaneous fat deposits in the playing arm.
So, when it comes to "losing belly fat", stick to the basics and focus on strength training, low-intensity exercise, and aerobic exercise. The fat will come off.
3. The "Five Foods You Must Avoid" Myth
This is another "come on" marketing scheme designed to fool consumers into believing that weight loss is simple - so long as you know the "secret list" of five foods that must be avoided at all cost.
Once lured in by clicking the ad banner, visitors are given one or another high-powered sales pitch offering some gimmick quick weight loss scheme at an "unbelievably low price" if you just "act now".
Of course there is no magic list of 5 foods that if avoided, will guarantee weight loss.
Effective weight loss diets must control overall caloric intake including food in all forms, but particularly in terms of carbohydrates and fats. Carbohydrates and fats come in tens or hundreds of varieties, any of which can sabotage a weight loss program if eaten in excess.
4. The "Proven Fat Burning Dietary Supplement" Myth
This is somewhat akin to the Acai Berry myth, except that it might be based upon an extract of one of any number of obscure chemical components of common or rare foods.
Here, you will generally find that the writer has somehow stumbled upon a "little known secret" ingredient which - if taken in high doses available only through the writer's "special offer" - will result in rapid weight loss without the need to diet or exercise.
This myth almost invariably contains text that supposedly summarizes "medical" or "scientific proof" to back up the absurd assertions of the marketer. The offer generally also proclaims that the writer is making the offer available to you at a special price because he/she has YOUR best interests at heart.
Generally the "secret fat burning ingredient" can be legally sold as a dietary supplement in the U.S. because as such they do not require FDA approval. Claims of its supposed "beneficial" effects do not have to be proven safe or effective through rigorous clinical studies, as do the claimed benefits of certain other classes of "foods" that are regulated by the FDA or other common consumer safety laws.
Avoid these miracle supplements and stick to sound nutrition and healthy exercise. At best, you are simply throwing your money away by purchasing miracle weight loss supplements; at worst you may be actually adversely affecting your own health.
Summary
Here we have briefly examined the top four modern weight loss myths. Our purpose was to help you be informed and less likely to be taken in by offers that are after all nothing more than (often successful) get-rich-quick schemes perpetrated by internet marketers.
Use common sense when planning a weight loss program. Talk to your doctor and stay informed. With surprisingly little effort you can find a healthy and effective diet program for your particular needs.
Like most worthwhile goals, success will depend mostly upon dedication and hard work - not the too-good-to-be-true assertions of some "snake oil" salesman.
Nonetheless, every year millions of Americans spend their hard earned money on such myths. The perpetrators of these lucrative (for the marketer) programs and/or products play not only upon widespread ignorance among the general population, but more sadly upon the wishes and even desperation of many people to lose weight fast.
Here we take a closer look at each of the four most common and misleading weight loss myths - targeted misinformation campaigns that you likely encounter every day you browse the web. These schemes happily take your money while in return do nothing for you but give false hope, often alter your metabolism in unknown ways, and at worst cause mild or serious health complications.
1. The Acai Berry Myth
This variant of the "newly discovered jungle fruit" myth first emerged almost ten years ago, but is still going strong.
Marketers of acai berry products make unfounded claims that this magical mystical fruit and its antioxidant qualities result in quick weight loss, and also may provide a variety of other health benefits such as reversal of diabetes and other chronic illnesses.
The truth is that none of these claims has scientific confirmation. Dr. Stephen Talcott (Associate Professor of Food Chemistry at Texas A&M University) who conducted a series of published studies on the acai berry summed it up quite nicely: "There is currently no scientific research to support a weight loss claim for acai fruit...Some companies are capitalizing on the fact that the acai berry is still mostly unknown to the broader public, and is sold as a miracle curative fruit from the deep, dark Amazonian jungle. It is doing nothing more than playing on consumer ignorance."
Likewise, there is no current scientific support for the plethora of health benefits attributed to acai berry supplements. While the berry clearly does contain antioxidants, there exist no long-term studies proving that acai berries (or their derivatives) rid the body of toxins or reduces wrinkles, etc.
Nonetheless, over forty new acai berry products were introduced to the U.S. marketplace in 2008 alone, a trend has not slowed much since.
2. The "Lose Belly Fat" Myth
In so far as modern science informs us, anyone who tells you that it is possible to accomplish what is broadly known as "spot reducing" - deliberately targeting the loss of fat to a specific area of your - is simply lying.
That is not the way fat is added or lost to normal adult human bodies, despite numerous claims to the contrary. The idea that excessive numbers of abdominal crunches will decrease belly fat is nothing more than a popular myth continually reinforced through the almost non-stop repetition of infomercials.
In truth, our bodies are designed by evolution to store excess fat as an energy reserve. Excess calories are stored in a form known as subcutaneous fat. In a healthy individual this ready energy source is mobilized and utilized when blood sugar remains low and the body requires fuel.
However, an individual cannot select a particular location from which to metabolize the stored fat. Subcutaneous fat is laid down in times of food abundance and intake in excess of the body's metabolic needs in a pattern that is based on the unique genetics of every individual.
When fat reserves are called upon, the stored fat will be removed in the same order that it was laid down. But remember, your particular pattern of depositing and metabolizing fat is set by your own body; it cannot be selectively altered by a physical training regime.
This is true for you, as well as professional athletes of the highest caliber. According to the authors of the latest edition of Essentials of Exercise Physiology, researchers found that regular exercise of the dominant arm of professional tennis players did not reduce subcutaneous fat deposits in the playing arm.
So, when it comes to "losing belly fat", stick to the basics and focus on strength training, low-intensity exercise, and aerobic exercise. The fat will come off.
3. The "Five Foods You Must Avoid" Myth
This is another "come on" marketing scheme designed to fool consumers into believing that weight loss is simple - so long as you know the "secret list" of five foods that must be avoided at all cost.
Once lured in by clicking the ad banner, visitors are given one or another high-powered sales pitch offering some gimmick quick weight loss scheme at an "unbelievably low price" if you just "act now".
Of course there is no magic list of 5 foods that if avoided, will guarantee weight loss.
Effective weight loss diets must control overall caloric intake including food in all forms, but particularly in terms of carbohydrates and fats. Carbohydrates and fats come in tens or hundreds of varieties, any of which can sabotage a weight loss program if eaten in excess.
4. The "Proven Fat Burning Dietary Supplement" Myth
This is somewhat akin to the Acai Berry myth, except that it might be based upon an extract of one of any number of obscure chemical components of common or rare foods.
Here, you will generally find that the writer has somehow stumbled upon a "little known secret" ingredient which - if taken in high doses available only through the writer's "special offer" - will result in rapid weight loss without the need to diet or exercise.
This myth almost invariably contains text that supposedly summarizes "medical" or "scientific proof" to back up the absurd assertions of the marketer. The offer generally also proclaims that the writer is making the offer available to you at a special price because he/she has YOUR best interests at heart.
Generally the "secret fat burning ingredient" can be legally sold as a dietary supplement in the U.S. because as such they do not require FDA approval. Claims of its supposed "beneficial" effects do not have to be proven safe or effective through rigorous clinical studies, as do the claimed benefits of certain other classes of "foods" that are regulated by the FDA or other common consumer safety laws.
Avoid these miracle supplements and stick to sound nutrition and healthy exercise. At best, you are simply throwing your money away by purchasing miracle weight loss supplements; at worst you may be actually adversely affecting your own health.
Summary
Here we have briefly examined the top four modern weight loss myths. Our purpose was to help you be informed and less likely to be taken in by offers that are after all nothing more than (often successful) get-rich-quick schemes perpetrated by internet marketers.
Use common sense when planning a weight loss program. Talk to your doctor and stay informed. With surprisingly little effort you can find a healthy and effective diet program for your particular needs.
Like most worthwhile goals, success will depend mostly upon dedication and hard work - not the too-good-to-be-true assertions of some "snake oil" salesman.
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