Weight Loss Supplements Bomb in Major Studies


This just in - you still have to work hard to lose fat! Two comprehensive German studies found that a broad range of weight loss supplements were no more effective than placebos.

Fat magnets, mobilizers and dissolvers, appetite tamers, metabolism boosters, carb blockers, neo-hyper-lipid-flux-capacitors -- regardless of the proposed action and hyped-up marketing, none of them lived up to their claims.

Lead researcher of one of the studies, Dr. Thomas Ellrott, tested nine popular supplements against placebo pills in a randomized controlled trial. The supplements tested included:

* L-Carnitine
* Polyglucosamine
* Cabbage powder
* Guarana seed powder
* Bean extract
* Konjac extract
* Fibre pills
* Sodium alginate formulations
* Selected plant extracts.

Study Particulars

* The researchers bought the supplements, changed the packaging and product names to make them look neutral and rewrote the information leaflet inserts to eliminate the product name from the text.
* They then gave 189 obese or overweight middle-aged consumers packages of either fake pills or of one of the nine supplements each week for eight weeks in doses recommended by the manufacturers.
* Researchers provided identical dietary advice to both groups.

Results

Average weight loss was between 1 kg and 2 kg across seven of the products, depending on the supplement, and was 1.2 kg in the group getting the placebo pills. Not statistically significant.
Different Study, Same Results

In a second study, Dr. Igho Onakpoya of Peninsula Medical School at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, UK, conducted the first systematic review of all existing systematic reviews of clinical trials on weight loss supplements.

The nine supplements reviewed in this analysis are more popular in my estimation (Who really buys cabbage powder? Also, I thought "Konjac" was a tough cop with an affinity for lollipops). The supplements in question are:

* Chromium picolinate
* Ephedra
* Bitter orange
* Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
* Calcium
* Guar gum
* Glucomannan
* Chitosan
* Green tea

"We found no evidence that any of these food supplements studied is an adequate treatment for reducing body weight,"

Onakpoya said.

There you have it.

As a $13 Billion industry, it has always been the M.O. of supplement companies to rely heavily on glittery marketing, carefully selected observational studies and glowing testimonials. These studies highlight their general ineffectiveness.

Photo credit: Richard Dunstan www.personalfx.ca, sxc.hu
Written By Mike Howard on Jul 15, 2010
Diet Pills Science Placebo effect supplements

10 Comments
Mary At Mindless on 15 Jul 2010

There you have. Weight loss is STILL about portion control and exercise. To be honest you can even lose weight without exercise but it makes more sense to keep your metabolism up by building muscle.


Reply
ZacAtHounslowGym on 15 Jul 2010

I totally agree with Mary, I don't see the point with bothering with wieghtloss drugs when you can just eat healthily and go for a run!
Reply
lindsay on 15 Jul 2010

This is one study with a very small sample size.

Ephedra unfortunately does work. And it works too well. That's part of why it's illegal now. It led to arrhythmias and heart attacks. When I was much younger, I was addicted to it. I lost a great deal of weight on it very, very quickly, in a way that diet and exercise never could.
Reply
Ryan on 15 Jul 2010

I would've liked to have seen dessicated beef liver tested.
Reply
TristanD73 on 15 Jul 2010

LOL on Konjac! Cabbage powder. Guess that's a step up from the cabbage soup diet. Or is it down?
Reply
Duane on 15 Jul 2010

This isn't news, these weight loss supplements have been debunked for a long time. Too bad the greater population will never accept the results and will continue to purchase their magic beans, keeping this industry thriving.
Reply
Spectra on 15 Jul 2010

I'm not surprised by this at all. I'm pretty sure that a lot of people that start taking diet pills also eat a little less and move a little more because they "think" they're getting a metabolism boost. I actually tried green tea pills once, mostly because I didn't want to drink that much green tea. It made me kind of sick to my stomach, but that's about it. I threw them away and haven't used them since.
Reply
Mike Howard on 15 Jul 2010

That's a good point. Conversely the people who do get results from them (allegedly) may be unknowingly clamping down on their diets and exercising more and attributing their results to the supplements.
Reply
Alicia Kirschenheiter on 18 Jul 2010

The truth of the matter is that people always want to believe in the easier road. The companies generally advertising these products for weight loss are advertising ease. Hard work...is well...hard.
Reply
shaik on 20 Jul 2010

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Reply
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Created / Updated: July 20, 2010

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