It is normal that when summer approaches, people, whether they are athletes or not, carry out methods that are effective in losing a few kilos of fat.
The problem is when some of them they are deceived with products that more than help them lose pounds of fathelps them waste money and time on products that are not valid and can be harmful.
what happened
The OCU (Organization of Consumers and Users) has commented this Monday that certain products that are sold for the purpose of losing weight are fraud. In addition, even some of them can be a risk to the health of those who consume it.
The OCU, together with the Italian and Belgian organizations, have dedicated themselves to investigate a total of 78 products that have been purchased on different platforms: Amazon, Alibaba, Promofarma and on the official websites of the products.
Of those 78 products analyzed by the three organizations, Spain analyzed a total of 20 products.
What information has been obtained from these 20 products
According to the OCU itself, the conclusions “are worrying.” firstly because 12 of the products that Spain acquired were not even authorized to be sold in our country, so it was illegal to obtain them.
In addition to that, it seems that many of them were “ghost products” since they were difficult to trace and check if what we had bought was really what we had seen on the web. In fact, three of the products did not arrive and one of them was retained in customs.
Finally, a large number of these products cost more than 100 euros per month. Those 100 euros per month could be used in something effective and efficient, such as paying the gym fee or buying quality food such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, etc., which have shown that a high consumption of these decreases appetite and promote fat loss.
What “slimming” substances were in those products
When analyzing the products in the laboratory, it was observed that most of the substances that are promised as slimming, either they were not in the right concentration or, simply, they were not supported by the scientific literature.
Some of the substances contained in these products were the following:
- Caffeine: We know that caffeine is an activator of the sympathetic nervous system and that it can improve our sports performance. But from there to being a fat burner, there is a very long way. It is true that it helps to eliminate liquids due to an increase in urination, but as we have just commented, its main function is that, to eliminate liquids and not body fat. On the other hand, a large amount of caffeine can cause side effects such as anxiety, nervousness, insomnia, anguish, gastrointestinal disorders, tremors and tachycardia.
- Garcinia: Garcinia is a fruit with supposed slimming properties because it modulates metabolism and reduces appetite. Nonetheless, It has not been seen that this is really the case. On the other hand, yes It has been shown to have toxic effects at the hepatic and cardiovascular level.
- Glucomannan: Glucomannan is a soluble fiber that has shown changes in appetite if consumed in an amount of 3 grams per day. Despite this, it also appears that continued consumption of this type of fiber could cause harmful side effects at the digestive level. On the other hand, the amount of glucomannan contained in this type of product did not reach 3 grams per day. Glucomannan was the only ingredient authorized to claim “helps you lose weight when you follow a low-calorie diet. Even with that, as we have mentioned, it did not even reach the figure mentioned.
- Amphetamine: Although no samples of this amphetamine derivative were found in the products analyzed by Spain, in Italy they have found products with this dangerous substance for its great stimulating power.
In its press release, the OCU has requested the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) “Greater controls over slimming supplements sold onlinenot only because of the fraud involved in the marketing of unauthorized products, but also due to the possible unwanted effects of this type of product“
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