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Healthy Weight Loss Supplements – Choose Wisely
What are healthy weight loss supplements?
What makes them different from supplements that might be unhealthy or not appropriate for a certain individual?
The answers are not simple, but the Federal Trade Commission and medical experts at such as nationally recognized places as Mayo Clinic and Harvard University can give the layman a good idea about the effectiveness and safety of supplements.
As experts at major medical clinics note, the appeal of losing weight fast with over-the-counter weight-loss pills is often hard to pass up. But do these products work?
Are they a safe option for weight loss? What makes a product a healthy weight loss supplement?
The staff of the Federal Trade Commission has issued a "Report on Weight-Loss Advertising: An Analysis of Current Trends." The report states that false or misleading claims, such as exaggerated weight loss without diet or exercise, are widespread in ads for weight-loss products, and appear to have increased over the last decade.
In 2002, the commission held a public workshop to "explore the impact that these ads have on public health and new approaches for fighting the proliferation of misleading claims for weight-loss products."
The report states that marketers of supposedly healthy weight loss supplements use false claims, misleading consumer testimonials, and deceptive before-and-after photos to market their products.
According to the report, "nearly 40 percent of the ads in the study, including ads that appeared in mainstream, national publications, made at least one representation that is almost certainly false and 55 percent of the ads made at least one representation that is very likely to be false."
Reputable marketers continue avoid false and misleading claims, but it appears that too many unscrupulous marketers are making false claims promising dramatic and effortless weight loss to sell their products.
With this in mind, what are healthy weight loss supplements? Basically, healthy weight loss supplements are those that are proven to have no serious side effects and actually produce gradual, safe reduction of weight.
Any advertised supplement that promises healthy, safe weight loss without lowering calories or increasing physical activity, is probably selling false hope, according to Federal Trade Commission resources.
Harvard Medical School and the National Institutes of Health report that there are more than 50 individual dietary supplements and more than 125 commercial combination products available for weight loss.
As far back as 2004, studies found evidence of modest weight loss associated with ephedra-caffeine ingestion. But potentially serious adverse effects led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban the sale of these products. Guar gum and chitosan appear to be ineffective, according to the report.
There are a number of other products that may be advertised as healthy weight loss supplements.
Individuals are urged to consult with their physician before using these products:
- conjugated linoleic acid
- glucomannan
- green tea
- hydroxycitric acid
- L-carnitine
- psyllium
- pyruvate, and
- St. John's wort
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