The Ubiquity of weight loss aids

Firstly, I hope you are all enjoying your holidays!  

Before I get back to the fascinating world of formaldehyde, I would first like to address something that has been plaguing me all through the Holiday season. I, like any other self-respecting university student, vowed not to engage in any intellectually demanding activity (besides shopping of course) during Christmas break.  It was a vow that I held very dear to my heart and I undertook it with all the seriousness and solemnity that it deserved.  (Preach!) However, as you shall see as I delve into the manner of my betrayal... it was a vow that I could not fulfill.

I believe it was the second or third day into Christmas break, I came up for breakfast and the T.V. in the kitchen was on CNN (already it doesn’t bode well). My mother and a family friend were already in the kitchen eating breakfast so I joined myself to them and tried to integrate myself into their conversation. 

Like many other Nigerian parents, my parent’s conversations usually revolve around politics, whether it has to do with American politics (Those ignorant republics! They are destroying the country! Obama is definitely going to be re-elected) or Nigerian politics (The corruption in Nigeria is institutionalized. Nigeria could be a beautiful country!), nothing is discriminated against.  Sooooo, though normally this would BE deemed as an intellectually demanding activity, i decided to ignore reason and partake in the conversation. (Don’t hate, American politics basically is entertainment; watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart if you need proof).

While we were conversing, CNN went on commercial, and lo and behold, Janet Jackson appears promoting the alleged benefits of yet another weight loss aid, going this time, by the name of Nutrisystem.

Now normally this doesn’t bother me. Indeed, as women we are continuously targeted by these commercials year round, so much in fact that after a while we all learn to ignore it.

Additionally, in Canada, the air time given to such products (which are generally referred to as Nutritional Pharmacology) is regulated both by the Canadian-Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), and Health Canada (HC specifically regulates advertising for drugs, medications and condoms.)  In contrast, in the United States, where broadcasting is usually a private affair, and free market ideals reign, it’s regulated by the individual broadcasting channel rather than individual state bodies. This distinction is very important, because the air time given to a specific product in the States is determined by the amount the producers are willing to pay, rather than specific state-defined quotas.  Though to be fair the FDA does demand scientific backing for most of these products.

So with this in mind, I shall continue my story.

So after the first commercial aired and the obnoxious CNN reporters returned to their obnoxious tasks, my mom and I spared a brief comment to the Janet Jackson ad ( my mom has always been a big fan of Janet Jackson) and we returned to our original conversation.   At this time CNN went on commercial again, and LO AND BEHOLD, yet ANOTHER weight loss advertisement. At this point, my mom and I veered our conversation and focused on this second ad.

To say that I was outraged would be an understatement (I am verrrryyyyy dramatic).  In a matter of a few minutes, we had seen two weight loss ads!  “This can’t be ethical!!” I proclaimed outraged. My mom, ever the reasonable one, informed me that the increased air time given to these ads was probably due to the Holiday Season and all the well-meaning people and their well thought out New Year resolutions to lose weight ( I include myself in this list).

However, I wasn’t satisfied with this explanation. It did not excuse the ubiquity of these ads. In fact, the following day, as I was watching T.V ( I watch a lot of T.V sue me) I saw yet another weight loss product, this time Lipozene, which allegedly mimics the actions of liposuction, but hurray! No surgery, all you need is a pill! (WHAT NONSENSE!)

 It was at this time that I decided to write about this and find out more about the regulations for such products and voided my initial vow, (major tears cascading down my face as I write this, like seriously…)

So now that my betrayal is out of the way, let’s refocus on Lipozene.

The hyper link directly above takes you to Lipozene’s Youtube page, where they supposedly discuss the “Nutritional facts about Lipozene”, but instead you get another load of complete and utter nonsense.

 For reasons beyond my control, I am an obsessive person and a perfectionist, so I evidently I did a bit of research on Lipozene that I shall now share with you.

I’ll try to make this quick, (somehow this post is becoming longer than I initially envisioned).

Firstly, Lipozene is marketing a quick solution. It claims, that with Lipozene you won’t have to change any of your unhealthy habits (“because we are all too busy!”), so you can continue eating unhealthy, artery clogging food with no fear because at least you won’t gain weight!

 Awesome, Awesome, just what I wanted to hear.

Secondly, the active ingredient in Lipozene is glucomannan, which from what I understand is essentially plant fiber in capsule forms. Lipozene claims that glucomannan when mixed with water, creates a sensation of satiation (fullness). But what they fail to mention in their awesome advertisements is that glucomannan, can cause gastro-intestinal blockages, which can lead to colicky like pains in adults, vomiting, abdominal distension, and fecal vomiting (try that one on for size).

Additionally, supposedly the product was certified safe by the “Obesity Research Institute” which conveniently happens to be Lipozene’s parent company! But wait, the “Obesity Research Institute” has already marketed glucomannan in two now defunct products!

I could go on with reasons why this product is more trouble than it is worth but I think you get the point.

I shall conclude in saying that not everybody is as obsessive as I am or has background in nutritional sciences as I do. Ads such as these mislead a population that doesn’t always have time to check the facts. Additionally when comments like “A double-blinded university study verified Lipozene’s efficiency” (obviously paraphrasing) are thrown around, people don’t always feel the need to research further.

As an individual who aspires to work in Public Health, I find it highly irresponsible that such products are given air time. In this era of globalization where all information is available nearly everywhere, advertisements that are given air time in lax countries like the United States, eventually filter into countries like Canada and nullify the work done by the two agencies I mentioned earlier.

Advertisement regulations should be standardized and protect all citizens of the world equally.

And I shall end there.

Until my next Rant,

Nnedimma