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Diet Weight Loss Supplements – Sales Are Exploding
Why have diet weight loss supplements become so popular?
Many observers of the health and nutrition scene believe that people in the United States are very aware of, and concerned about, being overweight.
Obesity in America has become an epidemic, in the opinion of many medical experts. Research has shown that, by World Health Organization standards, America is home to the most obese people in the world.
For instance, the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta report that 60 percent of the population is seriously overweight and a minimum of one person in three in the U.S. has enough fatty tissue in their body to be classed as obese. That's one reason why diet weight loss supplements have sold so well in recent years.
The choices for diet weight loss supplements range from products known as fat burners to such items as appetite suppressants, and everything in between. There are commercially produced pills and powders in addition to herbal formulas in capsules, pills and concentrates.
Herbal patches can also be a convenient and effective method for taking natural health supplements without taking pills or liquids orally. They allow nutrients to be absorbed through the skin.
A 1998 survey found that only 7 percent of adults used diet weight loss supplements that could be purchased over the counter. That changed dramatically in three years. Retail sales of diet weight loss supplements were estimated to be more than $1.3 billion in 2001, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Metabolife 356, an ephedra-containing combination supplement, was the top-selling diet supplement with $70 million in sales, representing a 127 percent increase from sales in 2000. In 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.
The American Academy of Physicians has compiled a list of possible reasons why people find diet weight loss supplements such an attractive idea. The list includes:
- social stigma of obesity
- health benefits of weight loss
- desire for a "magic bullet" for weight loss
- less demanding than accepted lifestyle changes, such as exercise and diet
- frustration with previous attempts at dieting and/or exercise
- easily available without a prescription
- more easily accessed than a professional consultation with a physician, nurse, or nutritionist
- inflated advertising claims; appeal of a "natural" remedy
- perception that natural equals safe
Reputable marketers continue avoid false and misleading claims, but many unscrupulous marketers are making false claims promising dramatic and effortless weight loss to sell their products.
There are diet weight loss supplements proven to have no serious side effects that actually produce gradual, safe reduction of weight. According to Federal Trade Commission resources, any advertised supplement that promises healthy, safe weight loss without lowering calories or increasing physical activity, is probably selling false hope.
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