Hydroxycut
Hydroxycut, currently sold in the US without ephedra, is a dieting product which is touted to help customers lose weight. Hydroxycut is sold at major retailers such as GNC and Wal-Mart in addition to direct marketing email and TV advertising.
The catch is simple; increases metabolism, reduced hunger, lose weight. However, like the bulk of these types of products, there is little scientific evidence to back these claims up and what evidence there is is questionable.
In 2003, Hydroxycut was brought to court for false claims. The lawsuit pointed to the company, Muscle Tech’s, own research stating that there was no difference in weight loss against a placebo. There was also the question of Hydroxycut with ephedra and the side effects, including death, which were not properly disclosed on the package. The lawsuit was settled with a 100,000 payout by Muscle Tech yet admitted no wrongdoing.
The truth about Hydroxycut is a little more grey. It seems that the ephedra was really the hook; and that the side effects with ephedra made Hydroxycut too dangerous a product to market.
Yet now that Hydroxycut has no ephedra especially, there is the question of whether there are any health benefits? Some of the companies marketing paint a bleak picture. Apparently the before and after photos of one woman in particular were rather misleading. They were taken “months apart” and in one she had just given birth. Not a very honest depiction.
Also the past medical side effects of the Hydroxycut formula leads a person with common sense to believe that there really are no medical benefits and that the whole product is just a lot of hot air.
We need honesty in advertising and marketing. Especially for weight loss supplements; the people who have resorted to these measures are either extreme in their beliefs or they are desperate to have something work, so they shouldn’t be lied to or shown false results as they will automatically think that they too can be that same person, by merely taking the supplement. Words and the truth are things that shouldn’t ever be minced with.