Oprah Versus The Supplement Scammers

I knew this would come at some point.

We’ve talked about all the fake celebrity supplement endorsements that are being splashed across the Internet and in popular magazines and newspapers.  And because a recommendation from Oprah is second to only a blessing from the Pope, it’s no surprise that her face is attached to all kinds of miracle supplements including acai and resveratrol pills and juices.  I believe it all stemmed from an episode of her show where she and her resident “health expert” Dr. Oz touted the benefits of acai.

Supplement makers saw that, put their scheming heads together, and came to the conclusion that:

“Hey, if she likes acai, then she must love resveratrol!  And if she likes them in their natural form, she must love the convenience of having them processed and crammed into pills,  powders, and potions.  And hey, didn’t she lose alot of weight recently - again?  It must have been the acai!”

Guess Oprah has tired of seeing these supplement makers bless their products with her smiling face and newly toned body.  She and Dr. Oz have teamed up and dropped lawsuits on 40 different supplement companies.  Well, 40 different company names, anyway.  Truth is, many of these “free sample” supplement scams are run by multiple shell companies that roll up into one large holding company.  One that is usually located in the corporate meccas of Vietnam, Granada, or some other hard to reach business haven.

On her website, Oprah Winfrey has laid out her law:  “Consumers should be aware that neither Oprah Winfrey nor Dr. Oz are associated with nor do they endorse any açaí berry product, company or online solicitation of such products, including MonaVie juice products…Neither Oprah nor Dr. Oz are associated with nor do they endorse any specific resveratrol product, company or online solicitation of such products. Any companies that misrepresent their affiliation are making false claims.”

“We know that thousands of people have been misled by these marketing practices,” said Marc Rachman, the attorney for Oz and Winfrey and companies that manage their images and trademarks, on Friday. “Oprah.com has received e-mail in the thousands from people who believe Oprah and Dr. Oz are affiliated with these products and have endorsed them when they haven’t.”

It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out.  But as most of us know, whether it’s a photo, an advertisement, or an email, once it’s out there on the Internet, it’s pretty much there forever.  So, I would expect to see some of these companies just disappear, leaving a trail of acai, resveratrol, and colon cleansing ads with Oprah’s smiling face scattered across the World Wide Web.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Resveratrol Supplement Web Scam

Oh, this is just too good. A few days ago I posted about the acai berry supplement scams that have hit the Internet.  But this new one I found just takes the cake.

I want you to click on this link to a site called News13 Direct.  If you don’t feel comfortable going to an unfamiliar site, I’ve also included a screen shot of the site’s front page here.  Or you can just click on the smaller version you see in this post.

Did you look at the site, or the screen capture?  News13 Direct.  Hmm, appears to be the news site for a New York television station.  Look just to the right and under the photos of the anchors.  Yep, says New York, NY.  And look at the menu items.

News. Weather. Sports. Entertainment.

Sure looks like a local television station’s site.  News on the front page.  Sports, business, weather, etc all available by menu.  Of course, I don’t live in New York, but it looks like News13 is one of the city’s local news affiliates.

Let’s check out the headline story on the front page:

“Health Specialist Cathy Diaz Reports On Her Experience Using Resveratrol”

A news report written by the station’s health “specialist”.

The first few lines:

I’m a 35-year-old news veteran, who’s been covering health and wellness news for more than a decade. I admit I can sometimes be jaded and skeptical with an ‘I’ve seen it all attitude.’

When the news director John Beamer asked me to do an investigative report on the nutritional supplement Resveratrol when combined with Dermapril, I had no idea that I would end up as the ’star’ of my own story. But I did!

Apparently this is a news investigation into the nutritional supplement resveratrol.  Resveratrol is the stuff found in red wine that provides healthy antioxidants.  It’s also in the current class of wonder supplements, along with the acai berry, that are supposed to provide “miraculous” anti-aging, weight loss, and cancer prevention benefits.

At first glance, this story appears to be a welcome change from all the hype we see around resveratrol on the Internet.  An actual news investigation by a health “specialist”.  Now maybe we can get some facts around whether resveratrol really works and whether I should be spending my hard earned money on buying it in pill or powder form.

The story goes on, citing multiple “authoritative” sources who rave about the benefits of resveratrol.  The story also includes multiple links to a site ResveratrolUltra.com, where lo and behold, you can get a free trial of this miracle supplement!  How convenient.

Okay, let’s look closer.

Take a look at the top of the News13Direct site (or screen capture).  See there just above the header in really tiny print?  It says “Advertisement“.  But it’s really small and blends into the brown background.

So, our television news site with it’s authentic look and feel, including the requisite airbrushed photos of the on-air personalities, is really a fake.

There is no News13.  There is no health “specialist” Cathy Diaz.  And most importantly, there is no objective or investigatory evidence around what resveratrol is or what, if any, benefits it provides.

Furthermore, the site links back to ResveratrolUltra.com via what is known an affiliate link.  That means someone is making a commission everytime someone clicks on one of those links and actually buys into the ResveratrolUltra free trial program.

Do your homework people.  These guys are getting really sneaky.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Before You Pop That Vitamin In Your Mouth…

Interesting study results coming out of Germany.

A group of scientists in Hamburg have determined that athletes that take vitamins after a cardio workout may be reversing the primary benefits of their exercise efforts. Specifically, taking in supplemental doses of the antioxidant vitamins C and E soon after an exercise session appears to hamper a critical byproduct of exercise - the body’s natural ability to improve energy regulation.

How?

First a little refresher in body chemistry.

Intense cardio activity enhances the body’s sensitivity to the hormone insulin. This allows the body to more efficiently govern cellular use of sugar as an energy source. In other words, as you are pumping the pedals or cranking on the treadmill, the body adapts to the pace and becomes better at managing sugar levels in the blood to keep the energy flowing.

This ability to manage glucose levels in the blood is one of the more critical functions in the body.  In fact, Type 2 diabetes actually develops when the body becomes less sensitive to insulin levels and thus unable to effectively manage blood sugar levels.

Now, a quick lesson in antioxidants and free radicals.

Antioxidants occur naturally in the body and serve to neutralize the destructive “free radicals” that are responsible for, among other things, the external cellular damage associated with premature aging, sun damage, and muscle tone deterioration. These free radicals are a byproduct of our metabolism and thus are produced in larger quantities during periods of intense exercise when our metabolism is working at accelerated levels.

Antioxidants good, free radicals bad, right? Not entirely.

Turns out that scientists now believe that these oxygen free radicals, in addition to the destructive cellular reactions they generate, also increase the body’s sensitivity to insulin. Again, the more sensitive the body is to insulin levels in the blood, the better it can manage blood sugar - i.e. energy levels. Type 2 diabetes is a disease directly linked with a body that is unable to manage these sugar levels due to a lack of insulin sensitivity.

Antioxidants destroy free radicals. So, free radicals good, antioxidants bad? Nope. It’s all about balance. In a perfect world, an optimally performing body should maintain a healthy balance between free radical and antioxidant levels.

What we are learning, is that taking in antioxidant supplements right after exercise will offset that balance by over-neutralizing the free radicals produced by cardio exertion before they can work to benefit our blood sugar management system.

In addition, by throwing an excess of artificial antioxidants into the body, we are potentially weakening the body’s own ability to naturally produce them. This leads to a weakening of the exercise induced free radical defense system, which depends on naturally produced antioxidants.

Dr Michael Ristow and colleagues from the University of Jena in Germany wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: “We find that antioxidant supplements prevent the induction of molecular regulators of insulin sensitivity and endogenous antioxidant defence by physical exercise.”

Now, I do firmly believe that there is a place for antioxidants in a supplement regimen. Especially as we get older and our body begins to lose the cellular war between antioxidants and the age accelerating free radicals.

But this latest study does contribute to the increasingly compelling argument that vitamins and supplements can have complex, yet to be discovered, and potentially damaging effects on the body.

Something to remember when you grab that bottle of mega-dose nutritional vitamin or supplement formula.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Look, Up In The Sky…It’s A Bird..It’s a…Bird?

A new article in Science Daily is reporting that the omega-3 fatty acids commonly found in animals such as cold water fish and shrimp may do more than just manage cholesterol levels and protect against cardiovascular disease.

A study of sandpipers that undertake the world’s longest annual migration (from the Canadian Arctic to their Winter condos in South America) has discovered that these little birds make a pit stop every year before beginning the long flight south.

Prior to their migration, they stop off and spend two weeks at the Bay of Fundy on the east coast of Canada.  They spend those two weeks gorging on a breed of mud shrimp that are plentiful in the Bay area.  These mud shrimp contain some of the highest concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids of any marine animal, including salmon and tuna.

Scientists postulated that the birds were loading up on the omega-3s to somehow better prepare themselves for the long flight south.  The question was, while the omega-3s have been proven to work in the prevention and treatment of heart disease, what could they be providing to assist in a marathon migration?  So, like any good scientists should, they got a grant and did some testing.

Turns out that birds who are given a diet rich in omega-3s for two weeks increase their aerobic capacity by anywhere from 58%-90%.  This capacity was measured by the level of oxygen producing enzyme related activity in the blood.  This is pretty amazing when you consider that a human undergoing intensive cardio training for seven weeks can only expect to see a 38%-76% increase in these aerobic levels.  And the birds are making those gains by just resting on their tail feathers and chowing down on shrimp.

Further studies are underway to try and isolate the particular stamina increasing effects of the omega-3s on the birds.

I’m not planning on jogging south for the Winter, but if a few shrimp help me pump out a few more miles on the treadmill, I’ll bring the cocktail sauce.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Maybe He’ll Make A Fortune Selling Viagra In Prison

The CEO of Atlanta-based Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, Jared Wheat, was sentenced last month in the ongoing trial that has blown the lid off of Internet prescription drug scams.  According to the original indictment back in 2006:

“Jared Wheat, the principal owner of Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, and the other defendants opened a drug manufacturing facility in Belize in approximately 2002. The defendants allegedly used Hi-Tech funds and Jared Wheat’s own funds to cover the costs of operating the Hi-Tech facility in Belize, and would travel to Belize to manufacture various prescription and controlled substances. The defendants allegedly made approximately 24 different drugs that they marketed through so-called “spam” advertisements over the Internet as authentic generic versions of those drugs being imported from Canada. The drugs included steroids such as “Oxymethelone” and “Stanazolol,” along with unapproved versions of controlled drugs such as “Ambien,” “Valium,” and “Xanax.” The defendants also manufactured versions of prescription drugs such as “Viagra,” “Cialis,” “Lipitor” and “Vioxx.” From 2002 through 2004, the defendants allegedly ordered enough active ingredients to manufacture millions of pills, many of which were then shipped into the United States to individuals who purchased the drugs after receiving Internet “spam” and also to various wholesalers of drugs.”

Under a plea deal, three other named defendants were sentenced to jail terms of 16 to 27 months.  However, the judge found that Wheat would not receive the suggested 37 month jail time detailed in the plea.  Due to the severity of his criminal actions in personally spearheading the scheme, the judge imposed the 50 month term.

It is interesting to note that during plea negotiations, prosecutors dropped allegations of racketeering, spiking supplements with ephedrine alkaloids and conspiracies of blackmail and murder.

Just another example of why it is critical to do research before buying any type of supplement or prescription drug over the Internet.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.