An hour of exercise is a breeze when you are eating healthy. Different approaches for different people but in my opinion everyone can do this.

Pessimists need to be careful of their discouraging remarks.

Thanks Dr. Smith!!

Thanks for the thumbs up–and your question is exactly what I asked the latest little airhead that mentioned “clinical results”–actually I said, “spelling is CliniQUE doesn’t make it a real “clinic”.

@ Stella

I read that book and several others (mostly by science-based dermatologists–which can be difficult to come by) that opened my eyes years ago, but as you report, she has largely sold out, so….. Anyway, this industry needs constant myth busting. It may not be a life-threatening issue, but it’s a good place to start for getting people, mostly women, to think critically.
———

Cosmetics is an area where I think the FDA would be more helpful if they promoted listing the ingredients by their common names. The chemical cocktails on the packages are fairly meaningless to anyone without a chemistry degree, although the first ingredient (no matter the cost) is usually WATER–omigosh, am I actually putting homeopathy on my face?!

By the way, I only buy the sunscreen, because they have a tinted one and I have vitiligo, so it works (cosmetically) a bit better than the drugstore stuff. I wash my face with, –gasp!– soap and use a cheap moisturizer. Yes, I wear makeup sometimes, but what I have lasts me for years. If we could attach pictures, I’d send one just to prove I look good without much cosmetics or any overpriced skin potions. A kindly dermatologist told me when I was 40 (and requesting panic-stricken advice) to do two things: Use sunscreen and get a big hat. I took his advice.

Chances are she ran into what most honest* SCAMmers did – simply couldn’t make enough money off of staying honest, and had to market differently. Most people buy SCAMs for the hope, which good marketing supports, not for the science. Looks like a good accountant** got hold of her business model and did what s/he could to make it more profitable. For instance, the increased price could be seen as paying a premium for an honest product, akin to buying “cruelty free” eggs.

One of the reasons doctors remain a financially viable profession is that it is to a large extent protected from competition by things like the FDA, which also works to ensure their claims are justified, and thus effective.

*in terms of genuinely believing what they do, but sticking to what they can treat with science; of necessity a small number
**defined as someone who helps you make more money without either of you ending up in jail

She started her own line of products that used to be very inexpensive, in plain black and white packaging with zero hoopla. Unfortunately, in recent years her company has dressed up the packaging, exclamation-pointed the product descriptions, and raised prices. That said, she continues to only use ingredients that either have some efficacy or that are needed to maintain the formulation and keep it sanitary. Her website continues to review other companies’ products and rate them on claims v efficacy, as well as on price. She identifies lower priced products that are just as effective, or more so, than higher priced ones and provides footnotes and links to the studies that show what the ingredients do.

(You can tell from my tone that I’m disappointed that her marketing changed. She used to differentiate her stuff with a “science-based, and because there are no magic bullets this is also appropriately affordable” presentation. Now she has a Shazam! presentation and a more upscale pricetag which, to my mind, undermines my confidence even though the products do what they say, and don’t promise to do that which can’t be done.)

Anyhoooooo, I still primarily use her skincare products or those which I check out on her website regarding the ingredients….check out her pages at PaulasChoice dot com.

Nevertheless, this claim remains a useful justification for ordering a cranberry mimosa with brunch.

(Seriously, try it! Cranberry mimosas are awesome. The flavors really go together well. Better than orange, IMHO.)

I suffer from too short an attention span for the Toxler effect to manifest itself. After about 180ms I’d think, “sh*t boy, you really need to lose a few pounds” and walk away before I felt compelled to hit the treadmill.

Great topic! Cosmetics are a multi-billion dollar industry in the US* and many of them claim clinically proven results. So where is this clinic? The lunchroom at Max Factor? Is MAD Magazine considered peer reviewed?

*I tried to find a good and credible source for annual revenues but found numbers ranging from 2.8 billion to 38 billion.

Me, I just get eyes and sometimes not even that… no idea what that means other than potentially an empty mind.

These books do nothing but make money for their unethical authors preying on people who haven’t found the gumption to restrict their calories on a consistent basis by eating sensibly and admitting that you cannot have a “treat” every time you get up off the couch. They think buying the book will “inspire” them or reveal the “trick” to losing weight. The authors know this and use this psychology to make money–nothing more. That this guy has MD after his name is just a sign that it doesn’t always mean that medical school picks the “best and brightest”.

Off Topic:

I’d like one of you to take on the woo that surrounds skin care/cosmetics. Lately, whenever I visit a cosmetic counter (such as perfume purchases at Christmas) I get into some very exasperating back-and-forths with the women who work for these companies. They make outrageous claims (expected) and then further claim it is all “clinically proven” when you raise your (perfectly penciled) eyebrows. Usually, the mention of counter-advice from one’s dermatologist shuts them up, but not so much lately–perhaps I am getting more adversarial in my criticisms?

I read this and my eyes rolled back in my head. How much pseudoscience is allowed before it crosses the threshold from harmless to … not? Hibiscus sabdariffa is OK p.o. but not as an enema?

IMO, this guy and Oz are different only in degree, not in kind. Dr. Smith is a veritable Dean Koons of weightloss books: EAT: The Effortless Weightloss Solution, Shred: The Revolutionary Diet, The Fat Smash Diet, Extreme Fat Smash Diet, The Four Day Diet, The Take Control Diet,and his latest blockbuster, The Truth About Men: The Secret Side of the Opposite Sex.

I think Oz should have him on.

Perhaps when I get around to reading Dr. Jones’ article later this morning I’ll find that my question has already been answered?