CritiCalorie's Top Diet Pill Pick
Do we ever rate a diet pill positively?. Yes (rarely). Why aren't we recommending Thermocerin? We're looking for clinically-researched ingredients, at the right (that means clinical) dosage. There are a few diet pills that have chosen this better route, and our favorite is Apidexin. You can read our review or go to the official site.
Thermocerin Review
The Company Behind Thermocerin
According to their about page, the company behind Thermocerin is Thermocerin Industries, based out of Naples, FL. Well, I did a search through the Flordia Department of State Division of Corporations and low and behold, Thermocerin by any name simply does not exist (click the image to the left to see for yourself). We’re not off to a good start.
If you want to contact them, it has to be through customer.support@thermocerin.com. I suppose you could send a letter to the address they have listed:
Best Call Center
1414 Rosemary Lane
Naples, FL 34103
A call center? Sounds promising.
Thermocerin’s Label
Thermocerin states that it has an “exlclusive thermogenic1 blend”. They make sure to note that it is ephedrine free. This is a quick maneuver to imply that it’s a very effective, strong pill. Diet pill companies do this a lot with “ephedrine free.”
Thermocerin’s Ingredients (it barely has any)
The amount of ingredients in Thermocerin is laughable at best, and highway robbery at worst. They boast 150mg of caffeine (caffeine is an effective weight loss ingredient) and 255mg of a proprietary blend. Remember, proprietary blends are a company’s way of saying “just take our word for it.” A lot of diet pill companies (even the good ones) use it because their products will be copied faster than you can pop a pill.
What’s worrisome is the fact that Thermocerin’s proprietary blend is 255mg…that’s just tiny! The proprietary blend is full of herbs for which no research could be found in regards to their weight loss. I’m yet to dig into Yohimbe in depth, so we’ll give them a pass on that one. The other ingredients are just eye candy.
Now back to the caffeine. Caffeine is the only important ingredient in Thermocerin. Caffeine does increase your metabolic rate. It may give you the jitters (though if you drink soda, which you shouldn’t, the effect will be lessened). The amount of caffeine in Thermocerin is so small though that the likelihood of an 80-year-old-never-touched-caffeine-grandma of getting the jitters is slim to none. Okay, that’s maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but Thermocerin’s caffeine content is the equivalent of drinking three Cokes.
I’m not one to promote getting wired on caffeine, but what bothers me here is how Thermocerin hawks their product as this amazing (“exclusive”) weight loss product when, in reality, it’s not amazing at all. As a matter of fact, I don’t like a lot about Thermocerin’s approach, starting with their gimmicky “free trial”.
Thermocerin’s Free Trial
Don’t be deceived at all by the free trial. It reminds me of the sleight of hand that you can find from Miracleburn (I reviewed Miracleburn as well). Their free trial is an autoship program plain and simple. I’ll outline how it works: You paid $3 for them to ship you a 30-day supply of Thermocerin (which probably costs them about $1, shipping would cost $1, and labor + overhead is maybe a $1, so they break even on this part). They say you can cancel after 14 days, but you better know before then if you like Thermocerin or not because they want you to send back the unused pills (as if they’re going to use them for anything!? If they are that’s disgusting). They won’t be using those pills for anything. They just want to make sure there’s a hurdle you have to clear because the odds of you clearing it are pretty slim when your return has to arrive at their receiving department before the 14 days are up. So you better know within a week if those 150mg of caffeine are doing anything for you. Odds are, they aren’t.
If you don’t clear the hurdle, then they’re going to send you a three-month supply of Thermocerin for “only $99.00″. We know theirs is probably the least expensive diet pill to manufacture ever since they don’t put much in it. Their mark up is north of 900% most likely. I feel nauseated.
Oh, they ship it for free. What saints they are over there.
Aw crap! I completely mis-read the $49 part the first time through. If you don’t send back the 30-day supply and have it arrive on their doorstep within 14 days then they charge you $49 for the bottle! And then turn around and slap you by charging you $99 two weeks later so you can get a “fresh” three-month supply. Yeah, this is highway robbery.
Thermocerin = Highway Robber.
You can read the actual Terms & Conditions yourself if you’d like. I’m not going to make them in tiny print like they did. I might do the opposite.
Terms & Conditions: Start your FREE Trial now to receive a full one-month supply of Thermocerin. You’ll have until February 7th, 2008, (14 days from placing order), to evaluate this product and see the results for yourself. If you enjoy Thermocerin simply do nothing. Plus, when you accept this FREE Trial, you will be enrolled in our Thermocerin VIP Program and be charged the super low price of $49.00… a 15% savings at the end of your 14-day trial period. You’ll receive a fresh 3-month supply of Thermocerin at the end of your trial bottle (30 days from your order date) for only $99.00 (a $78 savings) plus free shipping. We will continue to provide this savings to you every 90 days after. Cancel anytime. If, for any reason, you should decide Thermocerin is not for you, simply return the unused portion within 14 days of the placement of your trial order to withdraw from the Thermocerin VIP Program. The unused portion must reach our Receiving Department within 14 days of your order date.
Thermocerin’s Marketing
This approach has been used time and time again. Those logos to prominent news sites don’t actually lead you to a story where Thermocerin is mentioned, they don’t lead you anywhere. The people behind Thermocerin just put that up there to make you think they’re some type of established brand. They’re not. This is just another tool in Thermocerin’s gimmicky utility belt.
The same goes for their image of well-known magazines. They’re probably using the following logic–holes included: “Well, we have some ingredients in our Thermocerin pill that have been mentioned in these magazines…probably.” Gimmick.
Thermocerin’s Clinical Proof Reviewed
Thermocerin’s site quotes this back issue (page two, third full paragraph) of Alternative Medicine Review. Note that according to Thermocerin’s label, they have 60% polyphenols, while the study that’s cited in the article was with 90%2
I reviewed green tea thoroughly and it is effective for weight loss, but there needs to be a good amount of it, and if it’s the only ingredient then claims like losing a pound every 36 hours (25 in 6 weeks is Thermocerin’s claim at the time of this writing) is way off base.
And keep in mind, because they’ve kept their blend proprietary, we have no real idea how much is actually in the pill. I hate that.
I do find it amusing that they prominently link to their “clinical proof” of Thermocerin and then quote a magazine that was quoting a study. Why not cite the actual study? They’re banking on people not doing what I do best: dig in.
Thermocerin’s Attempt at an MD’s Endorsement
While I haven’t taken (nor will I) the time, if I were to go to this type of site, I’m guessing I would probably find this guy’s picture. It looks about as much like a stock photo as you can possibly find. Notice how Thermocerin never actually mentions the doctor’s name? They just throw the picture up there and give some wordy explanation to make you feel like some how this doctor is telling that this diet pill will work. Gimmick.
They even went so far as to name the image DrLiretti.jpg to pull the wool over someone’s eyes who was looking a little bit closer. I couldn’t find a Dr. Liretti in any searches. I’d be willing to bet that he’s a figment of Thermocerin’s imagination.
Thermocerin Review Concluded
The company behind it is a mystery. Their ingredient profile is weak. Thermocerin’s autoship snare is an absolute consumer disaster and they market it as some great free thing. There’s nothing free about it. They try to come off as having clinical proof and they simply quote a magazine that cited a study about green tea. That hardly is supportive of the other ingredients in Thermocerin. They spin their pitch in such a way as to sound like their diet pill offers something new, but it’s just the same ol’ same ol’. A pill that costs $4 per bottle where they try and get you on autoship to buy three bottles at a 1,000% markup.
Oh, and pretending to be endorsed by an MD isn’t too great either. Run from Thermocerin.
- “Thermogenic” is way overused in the diet pill industry. It basically means ‘the production of heat’ so don’t be fooled if you think it sounds fancy. There’s nothing really fancy about it. [↩]
- Dulloo AG, Duret C, Rohrer D, et al. Efficacy of a green tea extract rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans. Am J Clin Nutrition 1999;70:1040-1045. [↩]