2000 Slim Chance Awards
Each January, Frances M. Berg, M.S., editor of Healthy Weight Journal, presents “Slim Chance Awards” to promoters of weight-loss schemes. Here are the awards for 2000. Worst Product: Chitosan Chitosan or chitin is being sold under time-tested names like “Fat Magnet,” “Fat Blocker,” “Fat Trapper” and “Fat Absorb.” Promoters claim this indigestible fiber of crushed crab and lobster shells causes rapid weight loss by assist in weight loss [and to] binding fats in the stomach, preventing them from being digested, and that it lowers cholesterol. Two studies show no differences in weight or cholesterol reduction between chitosan and placebo groups, even in short-term effects. Safety claims may also be misleading ó side effects have not been studied for more than two weeks, according to one expert. …
Continue Reading >1999 Slim Chance Awards
Each January, Frances M. Berg, M.S., editor of Healthy Weight Journal, presents “Slim Chance Awards” to promoters of weight-loss schemes. Here are the awards for 1999. Worst Product: Herbal Weight Loss Tea Herbal diet tea sounds harmless, but in fact it often contains potent laxatives, diuretics or other drugs that can cause abdominal cramps, nausea, fainting, breathing difficulties, fluctuation in body temperature, diarrhea, and even death. In June 1998 the death certificate for Debbie Helphrey, 20, of Palm Harbor, Florida, was amended to show the cause of death as drinking Laci Le Beau Super Dieter’s Tea, which led to an electrolyte imbalance and cardiac arrhythmias. At least four deaths have been reported. The most severe effects have been observed in women who drank the diet tea …
Continue Reading >1998 Slim Chance Awards
Each January, Frances M. Berg, M.S., editor of Healthy Weight Journal, presents “Slim Chance Awards” to promoters of weight-loss schemes. Here are the awards for 1998. Worst Product: DHEA – Lifestyle The search for the Fountain of Youth is now ended, along with discovery of this new, easy way to lose body fat, claim quack promoters of the hormone DHEA (dehydroepian-drosterone). But to affect weight, if indeed this much-maligned hormone could, would require doses so high they would have harmful side effects, experts warn. Although the source of DHEA is animal, supplement promoters claim to have discovered a “natural precursor” in the wild yam of China and Japan. DHEA is heavily advertised in herbal catalogs, health food stores, and on the internet in the usual quack …
Continue Reading >1997 Slim Chance Awards
Each January, Frances M. Berg, M.S., editor of Healthy Weight Journal, presents “Slim Chance Awards” to promoters of weight-loss schemes. Here are the awards for 1997. Worst Product: Equinox Weight Management System The Equinox Weight Management System is an herbal program based on the quack theory that our bodies must be detoxified for proper balance and function of digestive and enzyme systems. It includes Equilizer Fast Start capsules (claimed to suppress appetite, stimulate calorie consumption and burn fat), Equi-lizer Steady Burn capsules (claimed to increase thermogenesis and stabilize appetite), Equi-lizer NightTime Formula (claimed to promote weight loss while you sleep, reduce sugar’s ability to produce fat, reduce toxins, and help detoxify your body), Protein Plus ChromeMate capsules (“essential to keep calorie-burning capacity at its peak”), Equi-vites …
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