Weight Loss Products
tsaunders | May 28, 2010
A few weeks ago Peter wrote about the Acai Berry Scam, and reader izzlecanoe made an interesting comment:
But I do find it annoying that alongside your posts are advertisements
for the very products you are exposing. Can science blogs be persuaded
not to allow advertising from such woo pushers.
She was seconded by Jim Purdy:
Those phony ads are infuriating. And it's even more disappointing when
they appear often on many of my favorite news sites. When a news site
carries lying advertisements, it takes away from the credibility of
their news stories.
Annoying and infuriating indeed. Peter…
pjaniszewski | May 13, 2010 Photo credit: Jeff Cronin
In the recent past both Travis and I have taken a jab or two at the evolving acai berry craze, whether it was making fun of celebrities (i.e. Rachael Ray) who endorse it or by critiquing weight-loss products based on the magical berry (i.e. AcaiBurn). Apparently, we were onto something.
This past Monday, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has released a consumer warning, urging consumers to not fall prey to the viral ads of countless acai berry based products for weight loss, sexual dysfunction, cancers, and other ailments.
In the warning, the…
pjaniszewski | April 2, 2010
Given that today is April 2nd, directly following April Fool's, it seems like an ideal time to bring up the treadmill bike - a odd piece of exercise equipment which appears to be legit, but could very well be a hoax.
So what is a treadmill bike? It's rather self-explanatory, really - "a treadmill on wheels."
And what's the point of this gadget, you might ask?
According to the company selling the product, Bicycle Forest:
"Have you ever wished you could get a quality treadmill workout without paying expensive gym prices? Look no further than the Treadmill Bike by the Bicycle Forest. The…
tsaunders | March 7, 2010
Photo by Todd Huffman.
One of the great things about this site is that people often bring products or research to our attention that we otherwise might have missed. This occurred yesterday in the comments section of Peter's recent post on Acai berry scams, when one of our readers brought up the use of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) in the treatment of obesity. The website that we were provided smacks of weight loss gimmickry - notably the promise of an obesity "cure" and "near 100% success rate", but we thought it best to review the evidence before making a judgement one way or…
pjaniszewski | March 7, 2010
As an obesity researcher, there is nothing that makes the blood boil more than an infomercial pedaling another fat-loss gimmick. The ridiculous claims made on such adverts have ruined many of my weekend mornings and were actually the impetus behind the development of this blog.
While eating my oatmeal and channel surfing on a fine Saturday morning, it took mere minutes before I was transfixed - jotting down notes on a pad of paper while enduring the mental torture of the 1 hour Slender Shaper infomercial (segments of which you can watch here). In short, according to the manufacturer, the…