The Weight-Loss Cure "They" Don't Want You to Know About

The 2007 book titled The Weight Loss Cure "They" Don't Want You to Know About, a weight lose book authored by controversial author Kevin Trudeau, was released in April 2007 (through publisher: Alliance Publishing).Trudeau is a convicted felon with no certified medical training. The controversial book describes a plan to change activity in the hypothalamus gland, linked to the pituitary gland, with the intention to control hunger and regulation of fat cells, by using herbal supplements and repeated use of the hCG hormone.

The book follows up his two other bestselling but critically panned books, Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About and More Natural Cures Revealed: Previously Censored Brand Name Products That Cure Disease. Weight Loss Cure has appeared on the bestseller's lists of the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and the The New York Times.

The FTC has filed a contempt of court action against Trudeau and the companies that market his book alleging that Trudeau is in contempt of a 2004 court order by "deceptively claiming in his infomercials that the book being advertised establishes a weight-loss protocol that is "easy" to follow. The action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on September 17, 2007. According to a FTC Press Release, Trudeau claims that the weight loss plan outlined in the book is easy, can be done at home, and readers can eat anything they want. When consumers buy the book, they find it describes a complex plan that requires intense dieting, daily injections of a prescribed drug that is not easily obtainable, and lifelong dietary restrictions.

On November 16, 2007, Trudeau was found in contempt of the 2004 court order for making "patently false" claims in his weight loss book. U.S. District Court Judge Robert W. Gettleman ruled that Trudeau “clearly misrepresents in his advertisements the difficulty of the diet described in his book, and by doing so, he has misled thousands of consumers.” A penalty will be determined at a later hearing.

Complaints about Kevin Trudeau's weight loss system and business practices can be found at the Consumer Affairs website. In summary, the complaints tend to refer to a problem of unsubscribing from the website and its monthly fees as well as the inability to follow the protocol, detailed by Trudeau, in the United States due to product availability and legal reasons.

Book diet plan

The book's diet has been compared to a diet plan by British endocrinologist A.T.W. Simeons in the 1950s. The book prescribes a multi-month, 3-phase plan that involves changing to all organic foods, with repeated colonic cleansing and liver cleansing, followed by a 2nd-phase period of daily use of HCG (or hCG: human chorionic gonadotropin), typically injections, under the direction of a healthcare provider (or doctor). The use of hCG has been found for men to increase testosterone linked to muscle growth, for burning fat; however, in some clinical studies with women, testosterone levels did not rise, leaving the possibility that hCG would be in a diet plan for men only, and taking hCG could be inappropriate for women (also see: hCG). For men, hCG can have some potential side-effects, including: gynecomastia (growing female breasts), water retention, increase in sex drive, mood alterations, headaches, and high blood pressure. Of course, these side effects are known to those who have taken hCG in much larger quantities (5000iu at one time)than what is being recommended in this diet plan (200iu at the most). Due to such side effects, others warn to limit hCG to 3-week periods (with 4-week breaks) and recommend professional guidance from a physician. Also, herbs, such as tongkat ali ("longjack"), might be used rather than risk hCG.

In Phase 3, use of hCG stops, but food must continue to be 100% organic, or the plan will fail. Other recommended activities include walking an hour a day or more, eating organic grapefruit, and doing breathing exercises. Critics have noted that scheduled doctor visits, buying organic foods and hCG can be very expensive for the average consumer, but also note that wealthy people have paid to follow the plan, and the critics do not deny that the plan might work for people who can afford it. Those critics did not address if taking hCG would be inappropriate for women.

Other critics note that as early as 1962, the Journal of the American Medical Association warned against the Simeons Diet. Others note that in 1976, the FTC ordered clinics and promoters of the Simeons Diet and hCG to cease making false claims about the effectiveness of hCG and its approval status by the FDA for weight loss. Clinical research trials published by the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition have shown that hCG is ineffective as a weight-loss aid.

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