A Look At The Fad Diet Business
There are business people out there who really should be ashamed of themselves. Shady business practices are a fact of life; fortunately, most of those who practice them do so in a manner that is so egregious and obvious that those that they prey on almost deserve to be caught. Others make promises that are subtle in their deviousness, and all too often it is these snakes that seem to catch the most vulnerable.
Next to get-rich-quick schemes, the biggest scam in the business world seems to be the weight loss game. Obesity is such a sad condition. On the surface, it is easy to blame the sufferers for their condition, which is both heartless and oftentimes misguided. This isn’t to say that someone whose diet for several years has been based on big macs, super-sized fries, and diet cokes is entirely blameless for their own failing health. The roots of obesity are often more complicated and obscured than just simple overeating.
Wherever the blame for obesity lies, there is a common desire for sufferers to do something about it, and this is a desire that is so overpowering that it is incredibly easy for less-than-scrupulous business people to take advantage of. There are several ways that they do this. Probably the least offensive method is the sales of exercise equipment and programs. These have an air of legitimacy because, if used regularly, exercise will reduce body weight in addition to other benefits. However, most of the exercise equipment sold in fact goes unused, and having it around the home is just another reminder of failure. But that doesn’t matter to the vendor, who has made his money and moved on.
Diets and dietary supplements often don’t even have the illusion of legitimacy. Some diet claims are ineffective, while there are others that are simply dangerous. Those that call for small changes in diet and calorie intake have a chance of succeeding without too much danger. However, there are radical programs on the market, like the HCG Diet that have the potential to do serious harm to health. The HCG diet program calls for daily injections of a hormone that is produced in women in the first trimester of pregnancy. Use of the hormone alone is thought to have little effect; the regimen also calls for an ultra-low calorie diet, less than 500 calories a day. This dangerous practice is not unlike the binge and purge practice of bulimia.
