Take It With A Grain Of Salt

Now for a new Feature on Oh She Glows, called the ‘OSG’s Misleading Product’ of the day:

This one really makes me roll my eyes!

A new product called ‘Skinny Water’:

Apparently celebs like Kristen Bell and Nicollette Sheridan are endorsing this product. The product contains Green Tea EGCG, which is supposed to increase the metabolism aiding in weight loss.

You know the saying: If it sounds too good to be true….

These are my main concerns with this product:

1) No drink will make you skinny. Sorry it just ain’t happening.

2) The drink contains Splenda, which as some studies have shown, may increase your appetite and make you less sensitive to sweet tasting foods (i.e., when you do eat real sugar foods, you will eat more to obtain the same high level of sweet taste!)

3) At the bottom of the label it says ‘Proprietary Blend’ (732mg) of EGCG (green tea) and Garcinia Cambogia Rind Extract. What is the problem you ask? Well, suspiciously enough, the company doesn’t state exactly how much EGCG is actually in the drink. We know that it is less than 732mg, but that is it. The blend could be made up of 50mg of EGCG and 683mg of the other ingredient. So you don’t really know how much bang you are getting for your buck. Keep in mind that the best green tea out there (Kapanese Sencha) can have about 150 mg of EGCG per cup.

4) Studies have shown that drinking green tea may be a beneficial aid to weight loss, however, in most of these studies the participants were drinking about 8-10 cups PER DAY! Call me crazy, but wouldn’t you just be better off banking your weight loss on exercise and healthy eating?

The peeps over at Diet Blog aren’t too thrilled about this mention of ‘Proprietary Blends’ either:

Proprietary Blends: Secrets and Lies

Whenever I look at the nutritional labels on diet supplements – there is often an anomalous ingredient called a “proprietary blend”. The blend lists it’s ingredients but without the amounts. Independent researcher Will Brink has written some interesting notes on this:

A supplement that lists a “proprietary blend” on the bottle can be there for one of two reasons:

(a) to prevent the competition from knowing exactly what ratios and amounts of each ingredient present in the formula to prevent the competition from copying their formula exactly (commonly referred to as a ‘knock off’) or

(b) to hide the fact the formula contains very little of the active ingredients listed on the bottle in an attempt to fool consumers. (umm ya think!?)

Sadly, the latter use is far more common then the former. They see a long list of seemingly impressive ingredients listed in the “proprietary blend” none of which are there is amounts that will have any effects. This is commonly referred to as “label decoration” by industry insiders. The former use of the term is a legitimate way for a company of a quality formula from having the competition copy or “knock off” their formula and the latter use of the term is to scam people.

 

There is no miracle cure out there that will help you loose those last stubborn pounds. No drink, no pill, no food, no new workout gizmo. These products are highly misleading, endorsed by celebrities to boot, and are probably very over-priced (like other weight loss products!).

It may sound boring but this never changes: Eat natural unprocessed foods 90% of the time and get exercise most days of the week. ‘Nough said.

If there is one thing my extensive training in research has taught me it is this: Be critical of everything you read. Every study, every article, every media advertisement, and every endorsement.

What do you think about celebrity endorsements? Do you think they actually think the stuff works or are they in it for the money? Do you like when celebs endorse products? Are you more likely to buy stuff that celebrities endorse?