Big Fat Lies part 2: The Fat Burner Fraud‏

In this lesson, you will discover the truth about “fat
burner” supplements.

The real facts about fat burners, diet pills and the
misleading advertisements that sell them is going to shock you, maybe even
upset you if you've wasted money on them before.

This is the longest lesson of the series, but I urge you to
find a quiet moment and read the entire thing… (be sure to check out the video
at the end).

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto, Fat Loss Coach
Author of Burn the Fat, Feed
the Muscle
www.BurnTheFat.com

Fat Loss Lie #2: "You need supplements or fat burners to get lean"

EPHEDRA AND EPHEDRINE - THERMOGENIC "FAT BURNERS"

The most popular of the "fat burner" supplements ever on the
market were ephedra or ephedrine-based products, which hit the shelves in 1993.


Ephedrine was immensely popular because there was actually
some good scientific evidence showing that it had measurable fat-burning
effects.

You could also “feel” it… you got an “energy buzz.”

Ephedrine is a drug derived from a plant (a Chinese herb)
called ephedra (also known as ma huang). It is similar in chemical structure to
amphetamines and works as a "beta-adrenergic agonist" - which means, in plain
English, that it's a thermogenic (metabolism-stimulating) agent that helps with
the release of stored body fat.


So if it worked, why did it get banned by the FDA and taken
off the market in 2004?


Well, there were probably some political and financial
agendas involved, but the reason given to the public was concern about adverse
affects and safety.


To this day, the decision to remove ephedrine from the market
is still controversial because the research was mixed on whether the risks were
severe enough to warrant the ban.


PROBABLY SAFE WHEN TAKEN AS DIRECTED, BUT...


Although the FDA had 80 ephedrine related deaths and 1400
adverse effect complaints on file, including strokes, coronaries and seizures,
when compared to deaths caused by prescription drugs and other over the counter
drugs like aspirin, ephedra actually appeared fairly safe when used as directed
by healthy individuals and not abused.


However, one huge downside that was not often mentioned by
the pro-ephedrine camp is that stimulant-based fat burners can be highly
addictive.


In the early and mid 1990's, I used ephedra products because
they were legal, over the counter and at the time, they were not banned from
the natural bodybuilding competitions I participated in.


Research be damned, I never believed that these pills helped
me all that much with fat loss.


But what I did notice was the "rocket-engine" stimulant boost
- the buzz, The pounding heart rate, the increased physical energy, and the
amplified mental focus and workout "intensity."


At the height of the craze, 12 to 17 million people were
using ephedra and no doubt, many of them were hooked on what was essentially a
mild form of legal speed.


These products were being abused en masse as “pick me ups.”
Students were popping these pills to stay awake and study all night. Partiers
were doing the same. So were many truck drivers.


Like any addictive habit, it's difficult to stop. When you
first go cold turkey, you crash emotionally and physically and your workouts
suffer as your crutch has been taken away. I suppose it's a lot like trying to
kick the booze or cigarette habit. You go through withdrawal.


WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN


For every artificial peak or high you create, there will be
an equal or greater valley or low point.


If you over-stimulate, your body can respond by slowing down
your natural metabolic rate to compensate. As a result, when you stop using the
stimulant, your metabolism is slower than ever and you gain back any weight you
lost and more.


This often prompts you to go back on the stimulants and the
vicious cycle of stimulant addiction continues. Some experts say that long term
use can even lead to adrenal burnout.


So even if there aren’t any serious coronary or health risks
from proper use by healthy people, there IS the risk of irresponsible use and
the risk of addiction and dependency on "fake energy." Just remember, if you
borrow energy you will eventually have to pay it back.


EPHEDRA FREE FAT BURNERS


When the FDA finally pulled the plug on ephedra, supplement
companies scrambled to come out with "ephedra-free" formulas for their "fat
burners" as they anticipated the imminent doom of their multi-million dollar
cash cows.


The ads proclaimed,


"More powerful than ephedrine-based fat burners!"


"The next generation of thermogenic technology!"


The great irony is that most of the fat burners currently on
the market today are worthless. At best they provide a watered down, unproven
substitute for ephedrine and a slight buzz (most are loaded with caffeine).


Or, they may provide some mild appetite suppression. But NONE
of these so-called “next generation fat burners" are the “miracles” that the
advertisements say they are.


Bodybuilding industry columnist Will Brink put it this
way,


"The explosion of ephedrine-free weight loss products was
more a function of market pressure vs being based on any science. Claims by
some companies that their new ephedrine-free "fat burners" were equivalent to
or even superior to EC based products was wishful thinking and marketing-driven
BS."


But it didn’t matter. Consumers had been hoodwinked with the
classic bait and switch. The ephedrine was gone from the formulas, but the
brand names remained the same.


STAGGERING FORTUNES IN FAT BURNERS AND DIET PILLS


In the last year before ephedra was banned, sales had
skyrocketed to $1.25 BILLION DOLLARS, according to the Nutrition Business
Journal.


The money still continues to pour in at a staggering rate
today.


Most people who aggressively recommend "fat burning" pills of
any kind are profiting from their sale and it's hard to get unbiased
information when so much money is at stake.


THE TRUTH: A LEAN BODY DOES NOT COME IN A PILL


It's a common misconception that you can't reach your fat
loss goals unless you take some kind of "fat burner" supplement.


It's also a misconception that you can pop a pill and get
dramatic results like you see on TV and in the magazine ads.


The results you see in the ads for fat burners are
persuasive, but before and after testimonials are NOT proof that diet pills
were responsible for those results.


Not all before and after pictures are bogus. I've seen dozens
of transformation photos that I know were real.


But there's something fat burner supplement companies aren't
telling you:


TRUE body transformation is 97% the result of an effective
nutrition plan, and dedication to a strategically designed training program
- NOT "miracle pills." Most supplements don't work at all. Those which do might
give you a few percent extra edge, at best.


As for the “miraculous body transformations” advertised as
the direct result of diet pills, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state
attorney general’s offices have been exposing them for what they really are…
set-ups and outright fakes!


In January of 2007, four diet pill companies you've probably
heard of were sued by the FTC and ordered to pay $25 million in fines.


The reasons: False advertising and no evidence to back up
their claims.


San Diego Attorney Todd Macaluso took sworn depositions from
several diet pill before and after models. According to a story in the San
Diego Tribune by Penni Crabtree, Los Angeles bodybuilder Mike Piacentino Swore
under oath that he was paid to stop working out and to eat ice cream and donuts
to fatten him up three weeks in advance of his “before” photo shoot. Then he
used his bodybuilding expertise to get back in his usual top shape.


According to an ABC 20/20 expose’, fitness model Marla Duncan
said in advertisements that she lost 35 lbs with the help of a popular fat
burner pill. However, Jay Nixon, the Missouri Attorney General, found out that
Duncan had recently been pregnant and given birth. The “before” photo was taken
shortly afterwards. The fat burner pill company settled the case out of court
for $100,000 while denying any wrongdoing.


AN INTERESTING END TO THE FAT BURNER SAGA…


Diet pills and fat burners are nothing but quick fixes.


Even if they help in the short term, they don’t help in the
long term because you are only treating symptoms. Body fat is a symptom of a
complex problem with multiple causes including unhealthy lifestyle, poor
nutrition, lack of activity and even mental factors like subconscious
self-sabotage.


The true solution to any problem, including body fat, is to
find the causes and treat them.


After using them for a few years in the 1990's, and after a
lot of research, self-experimentation and personal reflection, I made the
decision to dump "fat burning" and "pre workout stimulant" pills down the
toilet forever. I then decided that I would no longer recommend these products
to my readers and clients.


Since then, I've continued my training with no fat burners
whatsoever. There has been NO difference in my results and I’ve gone on to win
numerous bodybuilding titles.


As a natural bodybuilder today, I routinely reach 4% body fat
for competitions and maintain my body fat at around 9% all year, using my own
system of natural nutrition and training - NO DRUGS, NO PILLS and NO FAT
BURNERS!


I find the obsession so many people have with taking a
pill to lose weight both perplexing and troubling, especially when you
consider that fat loss can be achieved naturally, so simply and predictably by
eating the right foods in the right amounts, and doing the right kinds of
workouts...


That's what I teach in my Burn The Fat Program. I don't sell or promote diet
supplements and never have.


Spending big money, sometimes $40 to $50 a bottle or even
more on pills is even more baffling to me when you consider that even if you
get some small fat burning effect from the supplements, it's nothing you
couldn’t get from another week or two of good nutrition and working out!


I recommend you take a pass on "fat burner" pills and
supplements and learn how to burn fat the way mother nature intended – through
proper nutrition, by building more muscle, and by increasing your activity
level to burn more calories.


If you're not satisfied with your results, trust me, it's NOT
because you have a "diet pill deficiency."


In the next lesson, we uncover the dirty little secret of the
fitness and bodybuilding publishing industry...