The Weight Loss Cure- They Don't Want You to Know About
by Kevin Trudeau- A Review
Kevin Trudeau, bestselling author and infomercial star, has no medical or nutritional credentials. Yet, he has built an empire around revealing supposed "cures" - for everything from memory loss to chronic fatigue to cancer - that "The Establishment" conspires to keep from the rest of us. The Weight Loss Cure, according to Trudeau, was discovered 30 years ago by a British endocrinologist but has been systematically suppressed by medical organizations around the world - including the American Medical Association and the FDA - to keep people fat so that pharmaceutical companies and the medical establishment can continue to make billions of dollars a year on drugs, treatment and surgery.
Trudeau devotes the first seven chapters of "Weight Loss Cure" to peeling back the alleged "conspiracy" to keep an obesity cure under wraps. It's finally in chapter 8 that the cure is revealed to be a four phase program that requires a mind-boggling medley of pills, injections(!), colonics, liver detoxes, enzyme supplements, organic foods and an hour of exercise a day that will turn your body into a "fat burning machine."
The marketing for "Weight Loss Cure" claims the plan is "clinically proven, all natural substances that will melt away 30 pounds in 30 days, without dieting, hunger, cravings, exercise, deprivation or surgery -- guaranteed." Better yet, those 30 pounds will melt off the stomach, hips, thighs, and buttocks - and stay off for good.
In phase one you embark on an organic diet that consists of little more than fruits, vegetables, salads, coconut oil and water. The colonics and liver detoxes begin, with the idea that they are cleansing and rejuvenating the body in preparation for weight loss.
The second phase is the weight loss phase. The key here are the recommended daily injections of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), which is a hormone found in the urine of pregnant women. I'm serious. Two things here: scientific studies have proven that hCG does not aid weight loss, and the FDA and the FTC are on record about it. Also: hCG injections are not approved for weight loss treatment in the U.S., so if you want it you'll likely have to come by it illegally. No respectable health care provider will make this available.
In the third phase - "eating right, eating less" - the hCG injections are over and the focus is back on a limited organic diet along with the detoxes, colonics and supplements.
The fourth phase puts the emphasis on whole body cleansing, with a focus on parasite and heavy metal detoxification.
Illegal injections, colonics, oodles of pills and a rabbit's diet sound easy? This is actually where Trudeau has run into some trouble...the marketing claims for "Weight Loss Cure", that it is "easy to do, can be done at home and ultimately allows readers to eat whatever they want", attracted the attention of the FTC in 2007, who filed charges against Trudeau and company for gross misrepresentation.
Take note that Trudeau and the law have tangled more than once: he did 2 years in federal prison for credit card fraud, he settled a case in which he was accused of running a pyramid scheme via a company called Nutrition for Life, and the FTC currently restricts his right to use infomercials, due to his having misled consumers in the past.
If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is - right? The Food and Nutrition Science Alliances has a list called "Ten Red Flags of Junk Science":
- Recommendations that promise a quick fix.
- Dire warnings of danger from a single product or regimen.
- Claims that sound too good to be true.
- Simplistic conclusions drawn from a complex scientific study.
- Recommendations based on a single study.
- Dramatic statements that are refuted by reputable scientific organizations.
- Lists of "good" and "bad" foods.
- Recommendations made to help sell a product.
- Recommendations based on studies published without peer review.
- Recommendations from studies that ignore difficulties among individuals or groups.
Keep these in mind.