Weight-loss pills a waste of money

Weight-loss supplements losing you more money than weight

Pills - Health News - Marie Claire
Pills - Health News - Marie Claire
(Image credit: Rex Features)
Natalia Lubomirski
By
published
in Features

Weight-loss supplements losing you more money than weight

Million of pounds are spent every year on weight-loss food supplements, but they could just be a waste of money, diet experts claim.

Weight-loss pills filled with cabbage powder, bitter orange or even bean concentrate promise to help you shed those unwanted pounds, but they could in fact be having as much effect as a placebo in helping you slim down.

‘The findings from systematic reviews fail to provide sufficient evidence that any food supplement can be recommended for reducing body weight,’ said experts from the Peninsula Medical School in Devon.

As these food supplements do not require a licence like other mainstream drugs, very few of these products have been submitted to clinical trials to demonstrate their efficacy. Therefore there is little proof that these supposed diet pills actually work.

A study in Germany proved this, where overweight people were either given a weight-loss pill or a fake. The results: the weight-loss pill showed no better efficiency than the imposter.

Celebrity endorsements of these products, however, have enhanced their appeal to those struggling with their weight. A few years ago, when a well-known face launched a supposed ‘miracle’ pill, containing guarana caffeine, green tea extract and citrus powder, 50,000 tins of the pills were sold in the first two weeks.

The only real way to bust the fat is through a calorie controlled diet and exercise, so instead of splashing the cash on so-called fat-busting pills, simply eat more healthily and become more active.

A spokeswoman for the British Heart Foundation recommended, ‘Small, sustainable changes to diet and physical activity are likely to be the most effective approach to keeping the weight off.’

Professor Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at Glasgow University agreed. ‘The reality is that in terms of weight loss people need to make sustainable changes in lifestyle, particularly dietary habits. There are no quick fixes.’

What do you think? Do you think weight-loss pills work? Or do you think they are just a waste of time and money?

FOR MORE HEALTH NEWS CLICK HERE

Natalia Lubomirski
Natalia Lubomirski
Natalia is a health journalist with 14 years experience in the publishing industry. She has worked for a number of well known magazines and websites including Marie Claire, Woman&Home, Top Sante, Boots and The Telegraph.  She likes to think she practices what she preaches when it comes to health and fitness. Her athletic prowess began early. A keen fencer for 13 years, she wielded an epée for Olympic Team GB during her teenage years. She likes to think she made sword-fighting cool before Game of Thrones came along! While working on her sporting performance with the team, she also participated in a lot of nutrition and psychology training, When it comes to time off, you’ll most likely find her up a mountain somewhere. It seems holidays have become a time for climbing several thousand feet, rather than chilling out. She’s now hiked eight of the major mountain ranges across four continents – including the Appalachians, the Smokies, the Sierra Nevadas (she spent her honeymoon hiking to the top of Half Dome), as well as hitting the summits of Snowdon, Pen-Y-Fan (Brecon Beacons), Table Mountain in South Africa, the Blue Mountains in Australia and the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. She’s also passionate about all things health, particularly vaccinations, and will happily jump on her soap box at any given opportunity to talk about their benefits to anyone who will listen!
Latest