That's Fit

You've seen the infomercials and you've gotten the spam... miracle weight loss in a pill. When it comes to weight loss (actually, when it comes to almost anything in life) if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

FitSugar gives us the skinny on some of those weight loss supplements. Some of the components in the pills can actually be detrimental to your health. The list of red flag components includes ma huang, bitter orange, guarana, synephrine HCI, caffeine anhydrous, and more.

For long-lasting, healthy weight loss your best bet is eating well and working out. Check out AOL Body's America Takes It Off for tips. The proof is in the low-fat pudding, people. So far, ATIO participants have lost 155 pounds and counting.

Laid up with a bout of flu, I spent a couple of days channel surfing recently, something I rarely ever do. I can across a bright, flashy ad for a Cortisol-reducing supplement, which explained to me in an energetic TV voice that by reducing cortisol, it would reduce my belly fat. So I decided to figure out just what this cortisol stuff is anyway?

Turn out, Cortisol is a hormone that, in response to stress, increases appetite and in turn, belly fat. So weight-loss companies have drawn the conclusion that by reducing cortisol, appetite and therefore belly fat can also be reduced. It seems like an obvious conclusion but there doesn't seem to be any conclusive evidence that Cortisol-reducing products help with weight loss. A better way to reduce cortisol would be to reduce your stress.

Have you seen any results from using Cortisol-reducing products?

Have you found yourself paying attention -- every year -- to the barrage of marketing and advertising on "weight loss supplements" that will magically allow you to lose weight and burn fat by taking pills and supplements? Most of these items are bogus from the research I have performed, although there are certain starch blockers and other products that can cause a loss of appetite -- leading to weight loss naturally.

What about the hype that surrounds most weight loss supplements, though? In a recent study, American adults thought that weight-loss supplements were safer and more effective than they actually are, and more than 60 percent of the 1,444 telephone respondents -- all of whom had made significant efforts to lose weight -- mistakenly said that such supplements have been tested and are proven to be safe (65 percent) and effective (63 percent).

Since the weight-loss supplement industry is not controlled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration like the prescription drug or over-the-counter drug industry, weight loss claims are sometimes blatantly false and misleading -- but never underestimate the untruthful power of marketing to fool millions .