There are numerous diet products on the market claiming to assist with losing weight. Here is a sampling:

• Prescription diet pills: Xenical (orlistat); Meridia (sibutramine); Bontril (phendimetrazine tartrate); Desoxyn (methamphetamine); Lonamin and Adipex-P (phentermine).
• Over-the-counter diet pills: Alli, Xenadrine, CortiSlim, TrimSpa, HydroxyCut, SlimQuick, Cylaris, RapidSlim, Zantrex, Dexatrim, Leptopril, Metabolife, Mega-Thin/100, SmartBurn,
• Herbal supplements: Hoodia Gordonii, Glucomannan, Chitosan, Chromium, St. John's Wort, Green Tea Extract, Spirulina, Wu-Yi Source.
• Shakes and powders: Herbalife Nutritional Program, Slim Fast, Ultra Slim Fast, Nestlé’s Sweet Success, Atkins Products, South Beach Products, EAS AdvantEdge, Hollywood Diet, OxeSlim, SlimQuick
• Diet patches: Peel Away the Pounds, Diet Patch, Hoodia, Dietrine, Le Patch, Green Tea, Eden Slimming, Zyapex.
• Bulk fillers
• Body wraps
• Magnet pills
• Electrical muscle stimulators
• Appetite suppressing eyeglasses
• Subliminal audio tapes
• Magic weight-loss earrings

Actually, this list could go on for pages and pages. With more than $60 billion per year spent in the United States on weight loss products, there are obviously a lot of them.

All weight products claim to help people lose weight via one or more of the following mechanisms:

• Reduce hunger
• Modify appetite
• Cause a feeling of fullness with less food
• Reduce the amount of fat that’s absorbed from food eaten

Here are two things you should know about these products:

1. For ALL of the non-prescription diet products there is absolutely NO evidence they work, the frequency of serious side effects is quite high and their overall long-term safety is not known. The Food and Drug Administration has almost no control over these products so it is extremely difficult for the govenment to remove these products from the market. For example, it took the FDA years and years to remove Ephedra from the market despite numerous reports of heart attack, seizure, stroke and death.

2. For ALL the prescription diet pills, research studies have shown quite minimal weight loss (e.g., 5 to 10% of body weight) and, if the drug is stopped, the lost weight almost always returns. Therefore, to maintain whatever weight loss occurred as a result of taking these diet pills requires people to stay on the diet pill for the rest of their life.

There is much more you should know about diet products, which is the purpose of the articles below.

If you want a laugh before reviewing these articles, check out this website.

Website created by the Federal Trade Commission for a fake weight-loss capsule
[read the home page and then click on any link]