Many of us will never live to see a true miracle. Dr. Oz apparently found six this year alone!

Dr. Oz had another banner year on his talk show as he brought the latest and greatest health news to our living rooms each afternoon. The only rub is that some of us are questioning the good doctor and what he’s calling healthy advice these days. It seems Dr. Oz may have become more of a talk show host than a well-intentioned physician. This year, especially, the show constantly doled out miracle diet advice. While weight loss is at the top of our health concerns, it seemed the doctor derailed from prescribing trustworthy weight loss guidance to endorsements for every fad that would ultimately yield no life change, just money spent and potential side-effects.

These are the miracle diet cures (his words, not ours) that Dr. Oz unleashed on us this year. It might be more accurate to call them scams.

Raspberry Ketones

These little supplements were touted as a revolutionary metabolism booster and the compounds, typically used as food flavorings, have been purposed for weight loss supplements in Japan. Dr. Oz endorsed raspberry ketones as an effective weight loss tool as well. The theory behind the ketones is that that they alter lipid metabolism, claims found from a study in mice. The mouse with the high fat diet and the supplement gained less body fat than expected. Raspberry ketones have not yet been tested on humans.
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Raspberry ketones have been a major subject of discussion in the weight loss world after Dr. Oz touted them on his show as a “miracle fat-burner.” Raspberry ketones are a widely available supplement on their own, but they are also an ingredient in several QuickTrim products. QuickTrim is the diet supplement promoted by the Kardashian family and is credited with helping Kourtney Kardashian to shed her modest baby weight.

QuickTrim offers a number of different weight loss products, including a 14-day “Burn & Cleanse” that features pills and a liquid “Fast Cleanse.” Two of the QuickTrim diet supplements contain raspberry ketones: the “Extreme Burn” and “Hotstix.”

Extreme Burn is a pill that claims to boost the metabolism, causing it to burn more calories, in addition to curbing cravings and giving the user an energy boost. Other ingredients included acai extract, vitamin C, caffeine and a number of fruit extracts. This product is a stimulant, and may cause side effects such as increased heart rate.

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If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. With raspberry ketones being touted as the newest weight loss “miracle” it’s my job to weed through all the information and give you the facts. The fact is there are lots of online con artists feeding into the raspberry ketone craze. Here are some tips of how to recognize a scam product.

Step 1: Site Reliability

If you’re looking to purchase raspberry ketones what I imagine most people would do is a simple online search. Once you find a site where you can purchase the product, scroll down to the bottom and find out when the site was copyrighted or created. If it says 2012 it may just be someone trying to jump on the ketone bandwagon and may not be a reliable or legitimate site. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, websites like Amazon.com or Drugstore.com are established sites that are concerned with customer service and satisfaction. I feel there you’d be more likely to get the product and be able to return it if you were unhappy with it.
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The amount of questions that came pouring in to my pharmacy about raspberry ketones just hours after Dr. Oz’s episode about them makes me think I need to start DVRing the show. Being in the health care field I feel it is my responsibility to stay current with the latest drug and supplement information. Dr. Oz has a tremendous influence on his audience and I feel it’s important to dig a little deeper and not just take his word for it.

Raspberry ketones work in two ways for a possible weight loss effect. They increase the metabolism by increasing the release of a hormone called norepinephrine. When I think of norepinephrine I think what would happen to me if I were being chased by a bear. My heart rate speeds up and I may even have some palpitations, there’s a good chance I’ll be running the fastest I ever have. My body is going to release some glucose into my blood to give me more energy so I can outrun this bear. I’m sure that I will feel nervous, hot and that I’ll be panting for air even after I stop running. I would imagine that at this point I would not be hankering for food because my focus is to stay alive causing my appetite to be suppressed. My vision may become blurry and I may feel the need to throw up or even feel nauseous. I may also have difficulty falling asleep after my run-in with the bear.
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Let’s face reality. As much as doctors and pharmacists will tell you there are risks in taking diet pills and the effects they could have on your health, people take them anyway. What I do believe in is the power of knowledge and educating yourself before taking any chances. Let’s take a look at three pretty popular diet aids and how they compare to each other: Acai, Hoodia, and Raspberry Ketones, the newest craze.

RASPBERRY KETONES

Raspberry Ketones were recently discussed on the Dr. Oz show and hours later pharmacies were getting calls from patients. “Where can I get it, is it safe?” Well I can tell you that not many pharmacies or stores carry this product yet.  It’s believed that raspberry ketones help burn fat by increasing the release of  norepinephrine in your body. This causes the body’s temperature to rise and in doing this increases the body’s metabolism. Increased norepinephrine could causes an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. Currently most of the raspberry ketone studies conducted were done in mice and we don’t have much to go on for how this will affect humans.

HOODIA

Hoodia is derived from a plant located in Southern Africa called hoodia gordonii. Commercially you can buy it in capsules, tablets, chocolate chews, and a variety of other forms. There are numerous websites selling hoodia, but because the products are not regulated by the FDA it’s possible you won’t be getting any of what you paid for.

There are few studies to support the effectiveness of hoodia. Pfizer was looking to enter the diet pill market and developed a molecule called P57, which was very similar to hoodia, but in 2003 decided to discontinue their research and give the rights to the other company they were working with, called Phytopharm.

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