Tag: dieting scam

Decaslim scam

Posted on | by Devin | 3 Comments on Decaslim scam

There is a new weight loss pill on the market and it is called Decaslim. Here are my first impressions.

Decaslim website

The website looks okay; there are gold stars, pictures of magazines and slender women. The page has the feeling of being flashy and trying hard to sell something. Here are 3 things to consider:

  1. Magazines. Don’t associate the credibility of the big magazines shown on the website with their product. They are NOT associated, it is a simple technique to try and promote sales through credibility.
  2. Testimonials. Do NOT consider these as decision making factors. I generally shrug testimonials off and consider the science, unless they are expert testimonials (doctors, dentists, etc…), but even then, one must take expert testimonials with caution.
  3. Powerful claims. I noticed lots of big claims like, “some have reported losing 8 pounds in 48 hours”, or “burn 400% more fat”. Be careful of these types of claims, losing 8 pounds in 48 hours is unrealistic and unhealthy. It was likely all water weight, if the claim is even real.

Decaslim Product/Research

The idea behind their product is to mix all 10 of the “SuperFoods” from TIME Magazine in a single pill. They claim that mixing them will increase weight loss. Here is what you are getting,

  • Green Tea – this is the only product on their site which has research to back it. At the bottom of the page they reference a green tea study. However, green tea can be purchased at any grocery store for very cheap.
  • Safflower Oil – This is a common cooking oil, get a full jar of organic, top quality Safflower oil at Drugstore.com for $7.69
  • Dietary Fiber – Eat any food with fiber to get this, try whole wheat grains, fruits, or other enjoyable products.
  • Blueberries – You can get better, fresher benefits from real blueberries at the store for about $1.50
  • Broccoli – You can get better, fresher benefits from real broccoli at the store for about $.75
  • Spinach– You can get better, fresher benefits from real broccoli at the store for about $1.50
  • FlaxSeed – You can buy flaxseeds, or flaxseed oil for around $10 online, or at any health food store. This will give you a large, organic supply which will last for months.
  • Tomato – You can get better, fresher benefits from real tomatoes at the store for about $.50. Or you can just use more ketchup.
  • Garlic- You can get better, fresher benefits from real garlic at the store for about $.50, or you can buy powdered garlic capsules with no smell for cheap.
  • Grapes (Resveratrol) – You can get better, fresher benefits from real grapes at the store for about $.99. Reveratrol is a phytochemical found in the grapeskins.

So for about $20 at the grocery store you can get a huge supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, including top quality oils. All of these fresh products will easily provide more health and nutrients then the pills, which have very small quantities. Two bottles of Decaslim will cost you $80. Compare that to the pounds of fresh fruits, vegetables, grains which you will get for around $20-30.

Also, there is almost no science behind their pills. There are no scientific studies listed, they are just trying to makes sales by giving out itty-bitty portions of good foods. In such small, pill sized quantities; I cannot imagine any benefit at all.

They even state on their own website, “You would get better results eating these 10 Super Foods everyday than you will from taking my product.” (http://www.decaslim.com/faq.html)

They then try to argue that these 10 super foods are expensive and inconvenient to eat, that is wrong. Just trying eating a few more fruits and vegetables, and include a new oil in your salads. You don’t have to eat them all everyday, just a few at a time over a week will give you everything your body needs.

Is Decaslim long-term?

The answer is NO. These tiny pills probably won’t change anything. You can get a much better change from eating healthy foods and starting some light exercise. Plus a pill is not a long term solution, you do NOT want to pay them every month for the rest of your life. It’s time to stop dieting and live.

Lipofuze Scam

Posted on | by Devin | Leave a Comment on Lipofuze Scam

I’ve been asked about the Lipofuze weight loss pills and so I decided to go and investigate.

Lipofuze claims to be an ‘extreme weight loss formula’. On their sales page they list 10 ingredients as their secret to weight loss success. I want to review each of these.

Let’s start by ignoring the patent statement, just because someone patents something doesn’t means it works. Now about their claims to science, they include scientific papers for some of their ingredients. After careful review, here is what I conclude with their science.

Thermodiamine™ – Their clinical study was done on mice. Animal studies don’t compare well to humans, we are much more complex. Also, the studies abstract concludes that evodiamine mimics the characteristic anti-obese effects induced by capsaicin. Capsaicin is the hot taste from chili pepper. So really you could probably just buy a cheap bag of chili pepper.

Razberi K™ – This is another animal study on mice. The study showed that having an antioxidant like raspberries can prevent free radical damage in heroine addicts. Honestly, this study doesn’t even address weight loss. It just says that antioxidants can prevent oxidation damage. You could just get some raspberries or blueberries.

FucoPure™ – Again we have a study on rats and mice. The animals were put on specific diets of sea weed for four weeks. At the end of this study, some of animal organs showed less fat mass. Honestly, are you going to be eating a sea weed rich diet, no, you are taking a small pill with a tiny bit of sea weed. Plus our bodies are much more different and complex.

Forslean® – This was a human study, finally. It consisted of oral ingestion of forskolin (250 mg of 10% forskolin extract twice a day) for a 12-week period. The study was only done on overweight and obese men. It raised serum free testosterone levels. This may be a red flag for any women considering the product. Do you want an increase in the male sex hormone in your body?

In men the study did alter body composition while concurrently increasing bone mass and serum free testosterone
levels in overweight and obese men. However, it was only done on 30 people. I would be careful before I alter my hormones with a supplement that is still poorly understood.

BioPerine® – This is the extract of black pepper. In this study the black pepper was shown to increase plasma levels of supplemental coenzyme Q10. The paper never spoke of weight loss. They are considering using coenzyme Q10 for diabetes, heart disease or other treatments. This study has nothing to due with weight loss.

Green Tea – This is green tea, you can get it from any grocery store.

Capsaicin – This is powder from a chili pepper, again you can get it from any grocery store..

Synephrine HCl – They gave no scientific research on this item. Be careful, there is no science to support this item. Also, HCl is hydrochloric acid.

They also listed a few other more common items like cinnamon, but I think this is enough for a quick scientific overview of their research. As you can see, most of it has no real weight loss potential.

Now let’s review cost – This is a really expensive product. We are talking about $57 dollars a bottle with shipping. Any you pay for shipping even if you send it back.

Will Lipofuze work? – I personally don’t think Lipofuze will work at all. This is another internet pill product with a very high price. And, even if it does work, do you want to pay $57 a month for the rest of your life, trapped to these pills? No, no one does. If you want to lose real weight, make permanent life changes. Invest the money in healthy foods, a gym membership, or a trainer.

Moyoberry scam

Posted on | by Devin | 17 Comments on Moyoberry scam

Have you heard about the Moyoberry diet? It’s a new weight loss system and at first glance it looks very professional.

Lets talk about this website and the new Moyoberry diet.

1. Their Research: They say that the university of Yaounde, Africa found weight-loss associated with their Moyoberries. I have searched everywhere and I can’t find anything published. If this study was actually conducted, there are no specifics anywhere. We can’t determine anything about it, was bias introduced, was this a double blind study or was something important left out?

Also, Moyoberries come from Cameroon, Africa, I can’t help but wonder if  the university in Yaounde, Africa will benefit from a greater sale of fruit? That sounds like bias to me.

They also claim on their website that “The Journal of Lipids and Health and Disease” studied the Moyoberry. If they did I can’t find it. Try yourself, go to http://www.lipidworld.com/ and do a search for the word ‘moyoberry.’ Nothing… how odd.

2. Their website: When you get to their website you will notice that it is covered in media symbols like CNN, People Magazine, ABC News, etc… Notice in small print that it says, “as seen on.” Most likely they bought a few cheap ads on these big media portals to appear credible.  Don’t associate the reliability and name recognition of these big companies with Moyoberry, they are not related, it’s just advertising.

3. Ratings: It says they are rated the #1 diet of 2010. That’s great, but who rated them? The rating is according to dietratings.org.  Who is dietratings.org?  I did a WHOIS internet background search on them and found that dietratings.org was registered on 05-Jan-2010 to a private, non-disclosed registrant. Wow, they are a brand new and private entity. You can see the whois report here:

http://www.whois.net/whois/dietratings.org

You can also see that they have no web history at all,

http://web.archive.org/web/*/DIETRATINGS.ORG/*

This is a bad sign.

4. Their sales: Go to the moyoberry’s sales page and prepare yourself. $111 for 4 containers of Moyoberry, $37 for one. And I’m pretty sure the containers look bigger online. I can’t find a quantity or weight anywhere, its just a guessing game for them. Plus they say below each item: In Stock. Current Sell-Out Risk: HIGH

Current sell-out risk: high! Give me a break, this is serious marketing magic. They want to put the pressure on you, to get a quick buy. But don’t do it. Take the money and apply it somewhere else.

Should you try Moyoberries? No, this is not a long term solution to weight loss. I highly doubt this system will work, but even if it does help, you don’t want to be stuck on their costly product for the rest of your life. Try something different, make life changes that work.

To learn more about safe weight loss principles visit Stop Dieting and Live

Is Sensa a scam?

Posted on | by Devin | 66 Comments on Is Sensa a scam?

Have you heard about the new weight loss powder that is becoming a big hit on the internet? It’s a white powder that you can sprinkle in your food to support weight loss.  The claim is that the white powder will curb your desire to eat through sensory signals.

My first impression. Their website looks very professional, with lots of testimonials, a doctor advocate, and some celebrity endorsements. When I first looked at the product I was careful. It seemed too good to be true. I had to take a moment think clearly about this new product.

Here is what is suspicious:

1. Their billing system: They tell you it’s a free trial kit. You can’t find the real price anywhere. I had to give up my address and phone number just to get to the page where they have this message.

You have a full 30 days to try your Sensa 2-Month Starter Kit. If you enjoy Sensa, do nothing. You’ll be billed one low payment of $89.95 on 11/1/2009. That’s a 23% SAVINGS off the retail price.


Plus, you’ll enjoy free enrollment in our Sensa AutoShip Delivery Service. You will automatically receive a fresh supply every 2 months so you never run out of Tastants. Plus you will lock in the low price of only $89.95 every 60 days, billed to your credit card, plus free shipping and handling. You save 23% on every shipment! If for any reason during the 30-day trial period you are dissatisfied with your Sensa 2-Month Starter Kit, simply return the products. Cancel at any time with no obligation.


CA, UT & CO residents will be charged sales tax at time of purchase. Customer is responsible for return postage. Questions? Contact a Sensa Customer Care Representative toll-free at (866) 514-2554

Hmmm…  $89.95 for small powder packages. Plus they automatically sign you up to buy more every 60 days. And if you don’t like the stuff, you pay for the return. These are red flags.

2. Their Research:

(Updated – 6/14/2010) Sensa has finally posted links to their research. They call upon Dr. Hirsch’s study called “Weight Reduction Through Inhalation of Odorants.” His study found some correlation between odorants and weight loss.

His sujects had an inhaler to administer the smells. Unlike the small packs they sell,  his subjects often used the inhaler up to 288 times a day. Also, the study states that the smells only worked for people that had specific traits:

  1. a great sense of smell (identified the apple odorant in the Chicago Smell Test)
  2. only ate 2-4 times a day,
  3. felt bad about overeating but not about themselves

Also, there were other correlations with the weight loss like frame-size, spending time with others, and eating certain foods (chocolate, apples and mints).

At the end of the study the doctor states that their may be some benefit to smells if coupled with a nutrition and exercise program.

Considering the importance of weight loss, this was a very small study. The product has few tests, and no other scientists have attempted to repeat the study to make sure it works. There is money to be made and I am afraid a product is being marketed on hype rather than science.

Another strong argument against using Sensa is that the study was only conducted for 6 months. I would question if the human body would become sensitized to these smells. Before you spend money on this, try a nutrition and exercise program like the doctor suggests. I bet you will get similar results without the smells and high costs.

See the study here:  http://www.aromapatch.com/Hirsch_Weight_Loss_Smell.pdf

3. What others are saying: I went to RipOffReport.com to see what others were saying. People did not seem happy with their marketing practices. There were some complaints about not getting a refund. This is a bad sign.

(added 2/10/2010 – Look at the comments below, we’ve had a big response about Sensa and you can see some of it right here.)

4. What have experts said? (added 9/4/2010)

I found it very humorous that Sensa boasted that they were listed on webMD in their TV commercial. If someone actually did their homework and read the webMD article they would see that it was negative towards Sensa. I guess Sensa didn’t expect us to be smart enough to even evaluate their sources.

WebMD points out that the study was not conducted as a Clinical Trial which is the gold standard for studies. WebMD also points out that Sensa has never been validated, nor published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Their doctor, Pamela Peeke, MD said,

“[Sensa] is not a magic bullet. There is no magic sprinkle. This isn’t even a diet,” … “It oversimplifies the complex physiology and psychology associated with appetite.” She also points out that there is nothing unique about the list of ingredients in the tastants.

So will it really work? I doubt it. I imagine that in the beginning you might feel fuller and less hungry. But over time your body will just get used to the new smells and tastes. Honestly, this is not a good way to lose weight. Take the $89.95  (every 60 days) and buy a gym membership, Wii Fit, or more nutritious foods.

Is it long term? The main reason to avoid Sensa is because it is NOT a long term solution. You do not want to buy their product for the rest of your life to stay slim.

To learn more about safe weight loss principles visit Stop Dieting and Live

Sources:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/sensa.aspx

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/truth-about-sensa

http://trysensa.com/