Just Say No to the Diet Scam--An Editorial

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An online headline caught my eye the other day: “Rachael Ray Loses 34 Pounds.” I will admit that the attention-grabbing headline was successful in luring me into reading the full story. When I connected to the link, it was an advertorial about a woman who lost about 40 pounds in two months using this company’s “free” trial product. But here is the amazing part--the woman was a stay at home mom from Arizona. I am not even sure that "the" Rachael Ray endorses this product.

The products are a two-part pill system of a colon cleanser and diet supplement. When the woman boasts about giving up her exercise and continuing to eat she what wants and still losing the weight, I knew that it screamed scam. But I worried about the person that could not see this as easily as I could.

Only to confirm my own curiosity, I searched the woman’s name on Facebook. There was nothing. Next I googled her name. As I suspected, there were pages of comments from people who had ordered the “free trial” and now are fighting with the company to get their money back as it is automatically being taken from the charge card that they used for the shipping of the free product. Also, the woman who claimed to be from Arizona apparently was from all over the world. It seems that the company is able to track your computer’s location and presto!-- the fake person from the ad tries to relate to you by being from your area. A lot of people have fallen for this.

It was clear to me how they pull people in and get their money. Although losing 40 pounds in two months without exercise and a balanced diet is just too good to be true, desperate people may try it. They really seem to play on peoples' weight loss weaknesses. The product is presented in a way that it is healthy for your body and cleaning out the impurities. And if the result was so incredible for the person who never exercised, it must be even better for the person who follows a fitness and diet schedule, right? Wrong. Don’t do it.

I remember almost falling for the acai berry scam once. I wanted to drop 10 more pounds before a vacation and was running out of time. As I began to order the pills, which advertised a very similar idea as the "Rachael Ray" diet, I changed my mind and backed out of the screen before giving any of my credit card information. The next day, I received a call from that company explaining that they didn’t receive all my credit card information and once I gave it to them, they would ship my free trial pills out immediately. I was amazed that I had typed my phone number in for the order for only a few minutes before deleting it and backing out of the screen, yet still they had it. Once I explained that I had changed my mind, I spent the next 15 minutes trying to break free from the call as the person on the other end put the hard sales pressure on me.

It makes me mad that companies like this exist. Here is an idea: develop a product that people will use without having to be “tricked” into buying it.
Eat well and stay active. This is the only way that you will achieve and maintain a healthy body.

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We value and respect our HERWriters' experiences, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice, although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.