Ok, they just announced today on the radio.

The European nations combined spend 90 BILLION on over the counter weight loss/diet aids. All of which have been proven time and time again to not help people loose weight.....so why is it that no one shuts these companies down? I would post the figures for the US too but they were not available. The last statistic says that Germany leads the EU by spending 20 of that 90 billion. Why are people buying things that doctors keep telling them are useless? What you eat, when you eat and how much you eat combined with exercise is the only real way to loose weight that has been proven (short of surgery) So what do you all think about this subject?...90 billion sure would help reduce other real problems in the world.
I think if you add whatever the US wastes on these gimicks we could all probably feed and clothe every individual person on the planet.</font>

EDIT: Wanted to stress Im not knocking over weight people here..I need to loose nearly 30lbs to get back to my ideal weight.

[ 06-09-2002, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: MagiK ]

i think you're right, but bussinesmen are clever, we're being bombarded with comercials about weightlosing things. And we all know that most people are ignorant enough to believe these things when they here it often enough.

It's because a lot of people are lazy - they want to lose weight, but they don't want to do anything about it. So they just lie to themselves and think, well Product X guarantees that all I need to do is take this pill thrice daily and then I can eat anything I want and still lose weight. Which of course is bollocks, but 'it sounds so great'...
That, and the fact that it's simply very difficult to get out of the downward spiral of bad eating habits... People will try anything that promises to help with that. Once your stomach is used to large quantities of food, dieting will leave you constantly hungry...

American women spend over 5 billion every year on make-up alone.

No point to that comment other than its something to think about.

Hey, you know how Americans are always going to Mexico to get cheaper prescription drugs? My Biology Professor was telling us that Mexico is selling encapsuled tapeworms as a diet aid and that there have been numerous cases of infestation because of both American and Mexican women buying them in spite of the picture of the tapeworm on the label! She showed us some newspaper articles from cases that were local enough to get attention in San Antonio while she stressed the fact that tapeworms will not make you skinny!

I had to laugh at that one, being one who remains skinny no matter what, I can't tell you how many times in my life I've heard "Oh my God, you must have a tapeworm!" when people see or are told how much I can eat and not put on a pound.
[img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

[ 06-09-2002, 04:46 PM: Message edited by: Moni ]

Tapeworms???? I want one please please please! Moni, will you send me a worm? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I agree with Mel - losing weight is hard! So if you see an ad for a product that will let you 'lose weight while you sleep/bath/watch TV' then it's going to be pretty enticing. Most are scams though - like the diet pills that, if you take them in conjunction with a healthy eating plan and regular exercise, you'll lose xkg in a month :rolleyes: . And while a lot of fad diets do help you to lose weight in the short term, they're impossible to maintain so you go back to 'normal food' as opposed to 'diet food' and put it all back on.

<font color="#3399cc">Im just flummoxed by the amount to money going into this sort of stuff. You would think that with that kind of backing they would be able to come up with a product that works.

Man Moni..tapeworm..ya know..that might actually help [img]smile.gif[/img] what are the down side of hacing one? and is it hard to remove really LARGE ones [img]smile.gif[/img] Im headed to Mexico ;) oops...just thought of something....if they ever did come up with aproduct that worked....they would quicly go out of business....so I guess that will never happen :( </font>

Melusine is right. Obesity is a physical and psychological problem. Most people who want to lose weight, however, want to do it as a cosmetic thing. I have oodles of people asking about these drugs, as well as about the legitimate drugs, like Phentermine and Meridia. Of course, they don't work, but some people are vain, or otherwise insecure, and are looking for the easy way out. Moni is right to instance makeup, which, artful as some of you ladies are with it, can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. I might also mention cosmetic surgery, such as mammary implants, etc.

Those diet gimmicks to me are just like all the rest of them, i.e., Rogaine, breast enlargement pills, liposuction, botox injections, etc. etc... Where there is a demand, there will always be a bogus supply, and people believe sometimes what they want to believe rather than what is actually fact.

erm, i don't think it would do you any good, i've been told they're allergic to beer.