Hydroxycitric Acid Update

On May 1, 2009 the FDA issued a warning to consumers to stop taking Hydroxycut-branded products. Over more than 7 years they have received 23 reports of health related issues with those taking Hydroxycut-branded products. The main health concern appears to be serious liver-related problems. Iovate Health Sciences Inc., the makers of Hydroxcut, have voluntarily recalled all of the products under question in the FDA’s report

Common symptoms of liver complications include:

• jaundice (yellowing of the skin)
• brown urine
• light colored stools
• unusual tiredness
• stomach pain
• itching
• loss of appetite
• weakness
• vomiting

In light of the recent FDA warning concerning the possible dangers of Hydroxycut-branded diet pills, many believe that the associated health risks are likely due to the inclusion of the commonly used ingredient Hydroxycitric Acid, or HCA. And while according to the FDA, “The agency has not yet determined which ingredients, dosages, or other health-related factors may be associated with risks related to these Hydroxycut products. The products contain a variety of ingredients and herbal extracts.” you can never be too cautious.

So, while further study and research is needed to confirm the link between HCA and the liver problems, until proven otherwise any products that contain HCA are no longer recommended on this website.

Hoodia Gordonii Plus Ingredients

Magnesium 250 mg
Hoodia 400 mg
Garcina 50 mg
Green tea 50 mg
Proprietary Digestive Enzyme Blend 100 mg
Protease
Amylase
Cellulase
Lipase
Invertase
Lactase
Maltase
Papin
Bromelain

Magnesium has healthy benefits, but it does not contribute to weight loss.

Hoodia is overrated and overused. There is NO scientific evidence to prove that hoodia actually contributes to weight loss.

Garcinia contains hydroxycitric acid (HCA), which has been shown to contribute to weight loss.

Green tea is a proven ingredient that increases metabolic rate, causing weight loss. However, studies have found that in order to be effective, green tea must be taken in doses of at least 300 mg per day. Thus, this Hoodia Gordonii Plus review finds there is not enough green tea in Hoodia Gordonii Plus diet pills to be effective.

Bromelain is an anti-inflammatory. It does not contribute to weight loss.

Hoodia Gordonii Plus “Certification”

Hoodia Gordonii Plus claims to use “certified” hoodia. They even have certifications shown on their website. What they don’t tell you is an official looking certificate can be produced in minutes. Their claim to contain “certified” hoodia really means nothing; there is no way to prove that what they include is really hoodia. It doesn’t really matter anyway since hoodia doesn’t work.

Hoodia Gordonii Plus Incentives

Hoodia Gordonii Plus offers membership in their Weight Management Club as well as free gifts when you order Hoodia Gordonii Plus diet pills. I guess this is fair since the pills won’t work; at least you get something out of it.

Hoodia Gordonii Plus Guarantee

Hoodia Gordonii Plus has a 90 day return policy for unopened bottles only. So, if you only buy one bottle and aren’t satisfied, you can’t get any money back. We like the 90 days, but they should be willing to refund your money if you open the bottle and find it doesn’t work.

Hoodia Gordonii Plus Cost

Hoodia Gordonii Plus costs $39.95 for a one month supply. This is about average for a diet pill, but there is no proof that Hoodia Gordonii Plus will actually cause weight loss, so any amount is too much.

Hoodia Gordonii Plus Conclusion

This Hoodia Gordonii Plus review finds Hoodia Gordonii Plus cannot back up their claims. You will not lose weight by using Hoodia Gordonii Plus. If you really want to lose weight, find a pill that includes proven ingredients in proven amounts. Our recommended products list is a great place to start looking.

Lipodrene Ingredients

Lipodrene contains the following ingredients in a proprietary blend (they do not disclose how much of
each ingredient is included):

Sida Cordifolia Extract (leaves) (supplying 25mg)
Citrus Aurantium 10% (fruit)
U.S.P. Caffeine 100mg
5-Hydroxytrptophan
5-Methoxytryptamine
Green Tea Extract (leaves)
Cassia Nomame (whole plant)
Hoodia 12:1 Extract (Cactus)
Yohimbe 8% Extact (bark)
Naringen (fruit).

Sida Cordifolia has been used for centuries to treat various health issues including asthma, flu,
and cough. However, the stem of the Sida Cordifolia plant contains high levels of Ephedrine, which has been banned in the U.S. Although the Lipodrene website does not list Ephedrine as an ingredient, it is very possible that Ephedrine is included as part of the Sida Cordifolia Extract. There is no clinical
evidence to show the effectiveness of Sida Cordifolia in weight loss.

Citrus Aurantium contains synephrine, which has been shown to contribute to weight loss. However,
Lipodrene fails to disclose the amount of citrus aurantium contained in their formula, so there is no way for this Lipodrene review to determine the effectiveness of citrus aurantium in Lipodrene diet pills.

Caffeine is a great ingredient in contributing to weight loss. However, you should be aware of your
personal reactions to caffeine before taking Lipodrene or any product containing caffeine. Unfortunately, once again Lipodrene fails to tell you how much caffeine it contains so you won’t know whether it will be effective or not.

5-Hydroxytrptophan (also known as 5-HTP)is an amino acid included in diet pills for its mood enhancing effects. While studies have shown 5-HTP does enhance mood, studies have not shown what the side effects of 5-HTP are.

Green tea has been proven to contribute to weight loss by increasing metabolic rate. However, Lipodrene fails to list how much green tea is contained in their “proprietary blend”.

Cassia Nomame is supposed to be a lipase inhibitor. Unfortunately, the only studies showing weight loss due to Cassia Nomame tested rats; studies have not been done on humans.

Hoodia is simply an overhyped waste of money. There is NO clinical evidence to prove that Hoodia actually contributes to weight loss. Don’t be fooled by outrageous claims–Hoodia is not worth your money.

Yohimbe, in addition to contributing to fatty acid mobilization, is also used to treat erectile dysfunction.

The Lipodrene diet pills sold on the Lipodrene website do not list ephedrine as an ingredient. However,
many websites are selling the older version of Lipodrene diet pills, which do list ephedrine as an ingredient.

Lipodrene Marketing

Lipodrene makes several interesting claims which they fail to back up. The Lipodrene website talks
about clinical studies done on Lipodrene. However, they do not mention who performed these studies,
when they were performed, or where/if the results are published anywhere.

Lipodrene offers a “Risk free trial”. They claim, “We are the Only Company Online that Offers this (RISK FREE TRIAL)” (website). The truth is there are several diet pill companies that offer almost exactly the same trial offer.

The Lipodrene trial offer says, “Simply try our product for at least 30 days. If you are not completely
satisfied – for any reason – return the product to us within 90 days for a complete refund less
shipping/handling fees” (website).

We do like that Lipodrene gives 90 days for customers to return products. We also like that Lipodrene
allows customers to return open bottles.

Lipodrene Cost

Lipodrene diet pills cost $39.95 for 100 tablets. If you take the recommended 2 tablets per day,
one bottle will last 50 days. This is quite inexpensive for a diet pill. However, since Lipodrene
does not disclose how much of each ingredient is included in their formula, it is impossible to determine how effective Lipodrene will be. Thus, any amount is too expensive for Lipodrene.

Lipodrene Conclusion

This Lipodrene review finds that Lipodrene diet pills are not worth the money. While they do contain
several proven diet pill ingredients, Lipodrene fails to disclose how much of each ingredient they
include in their blend. We recommend you look for a diet pill that includes proven ingredients in
proven amounts.

Phenocal Clinical Findings

Research has shown that the individual ingredients in Phenocal do, in fact, contribute to weight loss. Phenocal mentions this on their website. However, what they fail to mention is that no studies have been done on the combination of the ingredients of Phenocal (Phenocal has not been tested itself). It is concerning that Pharmaxa Labs, the manufacturer, has not conducted their own research on Phenocal, nor are they forthcoming about it.

Phenocal’s Ingredients

The Phenocal website claims, “Phenocal™ is formulated with the highest grade of patented, clinically proven ingredients that will suppress your appetite, increase your energy levels, and get you on the road to a trimmer, toner, and healthier you.” The website also says, “Phenocal™ contains key ingredients Glucomannan and Hoodia that have been clinically proven to reduce hunger and promote a feeling of fullness.” These claims are very misleading.

Phenocal does contain several ingredients which have been proven to contribute to weight loss. These ingredients include Green Tea leaf extract, 5 HTP, Glucomannan, and 7-Keto. While Phenocal is correct in their claims that these ingredients can lead to weight loss, they fail to mention that the amount of these ingredients used in the clinical trials is significantly higher than the amount found in Phenocal. For example, Glucomannan has been proven to contribute to weight loss when dosage equals 2-4 grams per day. Each 3 caplet serving of Phenocal contains only 400 milligrams of Glucomannan. Even with two full doses of Phenocal per day, you are still only getting 800 milligrams of Glucomannan, which is less than half the dosage found to be effective.

Let’s also not forget to mention that they claim the appetite suppression comes from their inclusion of Hoodia Gordonii.  Hoodia has not been validated by any research.  In fact, its efficacy is seriously in question based on the (admittedly still little) research done.  Hoodia is all hype and no delivery.

WARNING: DO NOT INCREASE YOUR DOSAGE OF PHENOCAL IN ORDER TO EQUAL THE AMOUNT OF THE INGREDIENTS USED IN CLINICAL TRIALS. This could cause extremely serious health problems.

The recommended daily dosage of Phenocal is one to three capsules twice daily. The ingredient information listed on the bottle is for three capsules.

Phenocal’s Extremely High Price Tag

The price of Phenocal is $89.99 for 150 capsules. If the maximum dosage is taken, one bottle will last 25 days. You would definitely save time and increase the effectiveness of your weight loss by purchasing these ingredients individually rather than taking Phenocal. Then you can better regulate exactly how much of each ingredient you are getting.   For instance, ninety capsules of 500 milligrams each of Glucomannan cost less than $13.

Phenocal Review Conclusion

Phenocal does contain ingredients “that have been clinically proven to reduce hunger and promote a feeling of fullness” (Phenocal website). However, it does not contain enough of these ingredients to be effective. Research should be done on Phenocal itself, not just on the individual ingredients. Unless you want yet another disappointing weight loss attempt, use your money somewhere else.

Ephedrine P57 is basically a Hoodia pill and that means, and I don’t want to mince words here, that Ephedrine P57 is a sub-standard, ineffective diet pill. The claim by Ephedrine P57 that Ephedrine is still legal is patently false.

Ephedrine P57 Lies about Ephedrine Legality

On the Ephedrine P57 site they state that:

On April 14, a federal Judge in Utah reversed the short-lived ban on Ephedrine. Since then, it’s gone through rigorous tests – and passed with flying colors. According to April’s ruling in Utah, there was never any basis for banning doses of 10 milligrams or less. As a result, Ephedrine has once again been approved for public consumption.

On April 17, 2006 (three days after the April 14th ruling), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver, “upheld the FDA’s final rule declaring all dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids adulterated, and therefore illegal for marketing in the United States. ((http://www.ck10.uscourts.gov/opinions/05/05-4151.pdf))

If you buy Ephedrine P57 not only are you endangering your health (though admittedly, they say there are only 10mg, which makes that danger much less — of course then the effectiveness drops as well), but you’re also breaking the law.

Ephedrine P57 Hoodia Obsession

Ephedrine P57 also appears to be obsessed with having Hoodia in the diet pill formulation even though Hoodia has absolutely no research that suggests it can even remotely do what everyone claims it can do.

Ephedrine P57 Company also sells Nuphedrine?

I have reason to believe that Ephedrine P57 is hawked by the same company that hawks Nuphedrine — a pill I also warn against, if only for their obvious fabrication of before/after pictures and their nasty autoship program.

Not only are their marketing pitches mysteriously similar, but if you click on the “Order Now” button for Ephedrine P57 you’ll see the header change and it goes to secure.nuphedrine.com, starts talking about “Real 20x Strength Hoodia” and a (misleading) “Hoodia Clinical Study”.

Ephedrine P57 Before/After Pics

If you don’t notice the link between Ephedrine P57 and Nuphedrine (and honestly, unless you looked at this stuff a lot, how could you?), but a lot of the Before and After pics for both products are the same. Does that mean that these subjects used both products simultaneously and that’s how their weight was lost? Or did they use both at different times? No. They’re simply doctored photos and the Ephedrine P57 hawkers are too lazy to doctor new photos so they just reuse the same ones for new (lame) products.

Just two examples (there are a bunch of them):

Please do click on the thumbnail to see what I’m talking about. Once you’ve seen it, you’ll definitely start to feel like throwing large rocks at the Ephedrine P57 (Nuphedrine) company right away.

Ephedrine P57 Review Conclusion

With business tactics like I’ve illustrated above, you could have the best ingredient profile ever and I’d still tell consumers to run for the hills. They lie about ephedrine’s legality and they blatantly lie about “customer success” stories. To boot, they have Hoodia in Ephedrine P57, one of the most unfounded diet pill ingredients yet to hit the market. Ephedrine P57 is bad news. Run. For the hills.

• Slimquick’s ingredients
• Slimquick’s marketing approach
• My phone call with Slimquick, and how they didn’t care that I thought my wife was obese and kept mentioning it.

Slimquick’s Ingredient Profile

I’d like to be able to list the entire ingredient profile down for you and go through each one, talking about the weight loss benefits (especially for women remember!) of Slimquick. Unfortunately, their supplement facts aren’t listed anywhere on their website. I gave them a call and the girl started reading them to me from a sheet, but I had a hard time understanding her and cut her off (you can listen to the phone call below if you’d like).

One ingredient that Somnaslim makes sure to note as included is Hoodia — one of my least favorite diet pills. I reviewed Hoodia at length and found that the only research (that’s verifiable) surrounding it drew the conclusion that it would be virtually impossible for a person to ingest enough Hoodia to have the P57 (the active Hoodia appetite-suppressing ingredient) reach the brain and have its supposed effect.

So besides the fact that Slimquick doesn’t show you what’s included, what they do show you as included is a non-player as far as weight loss or appetite suppression are concerned.

Slimquick’s Marketing Approach

Slimquick has one of the nicer looking websites in the diet pill industry, though its actual usability leaves quite a bit to be desired. In their “How it Works” section they talk about how men have an easier time losing weight than women due to more lean muscle mass, testosterone, and the fact that they don’t ever deal with pregnancy. Slimquick claims that women now have the “advantage” over men with weight loss (if the woman takes Slimquick mind you…that’s the advantage).

You can purchase Slimquick directly online or at retailers like GNC and Wal-Mart. It’s on the higher side, especially considering it’s an ingredient blackhole for all intents and purposes. I should probably swing by Wal-Mart and write down all of the ingredients, but it really bugs me that Slimquick won’t take the time to publish them on their website. What do they have to hide?

The Slimquick program has four steps:

1. Take Slimquick
2. Eat Better
3. Exercise More
4. Keep Doing Steps 1-3

I always have to laugh when diet pill companies take this hollistic approach to weight loss. Not because it’s bad, but because the idea behind a diet pill is to see some weight loss (1) without having to do two and three. If you’re already doing two and three great, why do you need Slimquick? You don’t. But the diet pill companies know this, and they know that most people will definitely buy Slimquick and then their job is pretty much done.

In Slimquick’s tools section they show a nice calorie chart, which is a good reference, and they provide some great tips on general healthy eating. All good things (and please buy Slimquick!).

My Phonecall with Slimquick

I actually called Slimquick to see if I could get the ingredient profile, but as I mentioned above, it was hard to hear her, and it would have taken forever to get it all down. The “supervisor” tried to convince me to place an order. I told her I was buying some Slimquick for my obese wife (she really needs it, she’s very obese) and they never batted an eye. I was trying to draw some type of response from them the entire time, just for fun, and they stay focused on the sale. Admirable. I thought a 5′2″ wife weighing over 200 pounds would draw some type of reaction. Apparently Slimquick also thinks quick on its feet.

Listen to the Slimquick Call: My Phonecall with Slimquick

Slimquick Review Conclusion

I wish I could be more detailed about Slimquick, but I can’t. They won’t allow me to. By not showing their supplement facts online they’re basically saying, “We don’t want to show you what you’re putting your body.” Then I guess I can’t talk about it. The fact that they highlight Hoodia as included just scares me since Hoodia is an absolute waste of capsule space (and money). Their website, while nice in appearance, is lacking when it comes to really helpful content. The phonecall was just for fun. There are other alternatives to Slimquick that won’t leave you wondering what you’re getting — or why the weight still isn’t coming off.

Phentramine’s Ingredients

Phentramine’s ingredients are outlined on their website, but the supplement facts aren’t given, so the dosage amount is unknown. This makes it tough to evaluate. Many diet pill companies these days mask the dosage in a “proprietary blend” and Phetramine is no different. It would be nice if they at least listed their ingredients from greatest to least amount so we could get a general idea.

• Hoodia Gordonii is a fad diet pill ingredient where the claim that it suppresses the appetite. The little research that has been done on Hoodia has shown that it would most likely be impossible to ingest enough Hoodia to make it worthwhile, since most of the active ingredient (P57) is metabolized by the liver. Notice how the Phentramine website tries to legitimize Hoodia by simply quoting media outlets about it. The media is in the same business of selling hype — they do it all day long — so it’s no surprise that their quote about Hoodia sounds mysterious and amazing. They’re trying to sell a story. How exciting would the story be if they simply reported what I just mentioned above?
• Guarana, in conjunction with Yerba Mate and Damiana (sometime seen as GYD, or GDY) has been shown in research to aid in fat loss. However, Phentramine went the less effective (less expensive) route and didn’t include the Y and D of this effective equation. The result is that Guarana stands alone in Phentramine — not having nearly the weight loss effect it would have if it were formulated properly.
• Cha de Bugre – is an ancient herb known for its appetite suppressing abilities. Hard and fast research related to Cha de Bugre, however, is extremely limited.
• Ginseng – an herb popularly used for energy and its ability to aid in lowering blood glucose levels, there could possibly be some merit to it ((J Food Sci. 2007 Oct;72(8):S590-4)), though some researchers are demanding more research before being able to recommend it ((Am Fam Physician. 2004 Nov 1;70(9):1731-8.)).
• Phentramine also contains Citrus Aurantium. The active ingredient in Citrus Aurantium is Synephrine. Synephrine has been shown to be an effective stimulant. This doesn’t mean Phentramine can be recommended however, since we have no idea hos muc Synephrine is actually present. The level of synephrine in Citrus Aurantium can vary wildly from selection to selection. It would have been much better for the Phentramine group to purchase Synephrine as an extract, so the inclusion could be measured.
• Both Magnolia Bark and Piper Nigrum are more label eye candy than anything else.

A Call with Phentramine’s Customer Service

I contacted Phentramine’s customer service at 1-877-445-1034 and was pleasantly surprised that a person answered the phone after just one right — not a machine, but an actual person. Kudos to them for that.

Of course, the call went downhill from there. The rep told me where I could find a list of ingredients but admitted they didn’t provide the amounts. He also was excited about Hoodia, which is unfortunate, since it’s a scam. (The “thing” he mentions when he’s trying to explain the 20:1 ratio idea is the P57 extract that I mentioned above).

Finally, the best part about the call was the fact that I discovered they don’t offer a moneyback guarantee. A shame. At least 90% of diet pill companies will offer a moneyback guarantee so it’s suspect that Phentramine won’t do this.

You can listen to the call here if you’d like: Phentramine Review Phonecall

Phentramine Review Conclusion

Phentramine just doesn’t have an ingredient profile that I can be excited about. Their inclusion (and excitement) about Hoodia Gordonii means they’re hawking a product whose flagship ingredient is absolutely worthless. Their pricing is extremely high for what their ingredients could possibly bring. The one upside is that their customer service was quick to answer the phone. It’s extremely unfortunate that Phentramine won’t stay by its product enough to be able to offer a moneyback guarantee. I won’t recommend a product unless the guarantee is in place.

Phentramine’s simply trying to capitalize on the confusion with the similar name of Phetermine. It’s a common ploy, but they don’t have nearly the ingredient profile needed to be even comparable. I do not recommend Phentramine.

Phenhermine’s Prescription Spin

Phenhermine uses some subtle wording to make you feel like you’re getting a prescription, but don’t have to worry about all the “hassles” that come along with it. It’s interesting because they basically try and sell you on the benefits of a prescription drug (Phentermein) known for its use in treating obesity by suppressing the appetite. They also try and sell you the benefits of not having the prescription with wording like:

No membership or doctor consultation fees required!

and

COMMON BRAND NAME(S): Phenhermine

That’s just plan deceit if you ask me. Yeah, I’ll give you the pass on making your name sound like the prescription, but when you start making the whole website look like you’re phentermein instead of your true Phenhermine, well, that’s going a bit too far. Probably what puts it over the top for me is the picture of the pharmacists at the top of every page. Lame.

Phenhermine’s Ingredients

Phenhermine does something that no dietary supplement company should ever do. They don’t tell you everything that’s in the pill you’re about to put inside your body. From their “How It Works” page all we can find out is that Phenhermine contains 800 mg of Hoodia. Hoodia is, far and away, one of the biggest diet pill scam ingredients out there today. The fact that Hoodia is the only ingredient mentioned in Phenhermine makes me even more apt to tell any potential customer to RUN.

I reviewed Hoodia extensively early because I’ve seen how popular it’s become and it is truly a fad. The only research that’s valid surrounding Hoodia came to the conclusion that a person couldn’t take in enough of it (no, not even 800 mg would come close to being enough) to ever make it to the brain to have its appetite suppressing effect. The liver metabolizes it far too quickly.

Just to reiterate: If Phenhermine’s only ingredient is Hoodia, then you will not see any weight loss when taking this pill. You may as well be taking a pill full of…well…nothing.

Phenhermine’s Pricing

Stepping aside from the issue that Phenhermine doesn’t tell us everything that’s in their pill or, if they do, their pill won’t do anything for you…stepping aside from all of that, let’s look at their pricing. They’re asking for $62 for one bottle of Phenhermine. That is astronomically high considering their extremely weak ingredient profile. I wouldn’t be surprised if each bottle cost them less than $3 to make. Quite a margin! The highest-end (effective) diet pills barely ever cost that much. Phenhermine’s banking on the fact that people are going to their website and thinking they’re paying prescription prices.

Phenhermine Review Conclusion

Phenhermine is a waste of money, marketed as a sham because it seeks to imply that it’s a pharmaceutical, and priced extremely high. Its ingredient profile is one of the weakest I have ever seen (and I’ve seen a lot). I can safely say that almost any diet pill would do better than this one.

Phenocerin’s Marketing Pitch

If you go to the Phenocerin website you’ll see the same scam-ridden site you see at the other sites by the same company (see my review of Certiphene for a side by side comparison for how this company uses the same scam formula to sell the same product under different names and only slightly different designs).

As far as Phenocerin’s marketing pitch, I’ll break it down for you:

• At the very top, they make the claim that [Person] lost [amount] lb. in [time] and they show a before/after photo that leaves you wondering if the person in the before/after photo is actually two people.
• They use the doctor in the sidebar on the right to make you think Phenocerin is somehow endorsed by a medical doctor.
• They use testimonial pictures that show questionable before/after situations, where sometimes I believe they’re using a completely different person for the after photo.
• They use the scam “As Seen On” callout box to make you think that Phenocerin was featured on a major network (all of them, if you believed Phenocerin’s website). The way they get around it when you call them on this is by saying that Hoodia, one of their (useless) ingredients was featured on these major news networks.
• They have the image of several magazines fanned out, again, trying to make it seem like Phenocerin has been featured in those magazines. And again, they get around calling them out on it by saying that Hoodia has been featured (or at least mentioned, probably) in each of those magazines.
• They also cite some studies allegedly supporting Hoodia, but we’ll get to that in a second.
• On the right, in the little callout box they mention how you can get a one-month supply of Phenocerin for free. That’s not true. If you examine their fine print carefully, you can see they’re out to give you a royal working over:

Terms & Conditions: Start your FREE Trial now to receive a full one-month supply of Phenocerin. You’ll have until April 3rd, 2008, (14 days from placing order), to evaluate this product and see the results for yourself. If you enjoy Phenocerin simply do nothing. Plus, when you accept this FREE Trial, you will be enrolled in our Phenocerin 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 Phenocerin at the end of your trial bottle (30 days from your order date) for only $99.00 (a $78 savings) plus free shipping (U.S. orders only). We will continue to provide this savings to you every 90 days after. Cancel anytime. If, for any reason, you should decide Phenocerin is not for you, simply return the unused portion within 14 days of the placement of your trial order to withdraw from the Phenocerin VIP Program. The unused portion must reach our Receiving Department within 14 days of your order date.

• Keep in mind that you have to evaluate the efficacy of Phenocerin fast enough for the product to “reach our Receiving Department” within 14 days of the order date. I drew up a little diagram for how good that is for Phenocerin, and how bad it is for you:

You see what has to happen? Everything has to off without a single hitch (even an honest mistake type of hitch, I’m not including here the fact that Phenocerin Inc. might be slowing on the initial shipment or also slow to accept a return, thus pushing you outside the 14-day trial period.

Phenocerin’s Autoship

And don’t forget, if you don’t cancel in time, they’re going to bill you $99 and send you three more bottles of useless garbage. Why is it useless? The same reason Certiphen, Lipocerin, and Thermocerin are useless.

Phenocerin’s Ingredients

Phenocerin’s ingredient profile is schwach, or, to take the German a bit further überschwach. It’s weak.

• Hoodia Gordonii (see my entire scathing review of Hoodia) is an ingredient they tout as being backed by clinical research. It couldn’t be further from the truth. The one verifiable study done on the appetite suppressing abilities of Hoodia Gordonii was concluded by basically saying there’s no way a person could take enough Hoodia Gordonii to have the benefits of any appetite suppression. Phenocerin pushes the fact that they have this ingredient in there, but it’s weak. It’s a fad. Don’t fall for it.
• Chromium Picolinate is one of those ingredients with studies falling on both sides of the fence. Some show chromium picolinate as an effective regulator of insulin levels (which helps regulate the body’s storage of fat). Other studies conclude that it is not effective. Amazingly enough, the study that Phenocerin cites as supporting chromium picolinate doesn’t. When they cite it, they exclude an important point:

You see that little … ? That part of the abstract that they conveniently excluded says, “there was no effect of [Chromium Picolinate] on body weight, abdominal fat distribution, or body mass index.” Also, let’s not forget to mention that the amount of chromium picolinate used in the study was significantly more than what is included in Phenocerin, so even if the study had proven supportive, its effective use in Phenocerin would have been questionable at best.

Phenocerin Overall Conclusion

The “companies” behind these products are really just one company, operating out of Naples, FL, with little disregard or respect for your average consumer. They use misleading marketing tactics, dupe you into an extremely disadvantageous autoship program, dubiously exclude portions of scientific text meant to support their product, and offer (the same) products with a weak, ineffective ingredient profile. Phenocerin is a sham product.

The Company Behind Certiphene

The company behind Lipocerin is Nutritional Science Laboratories while the company behind Certiphene is the Health Center for Better Living. According to Certiphene’s About Us page:

Health Center For Better Living is a family owned business that was founded in 1990. Located in Naples, FL, HCBL is one of the top retailers in the herbal supplement, vitamin, and natural health products market.

When I looked up Lipocerin’s “company” it had been inactive for years. I half expected to see Health Center for Better Living in the same state, but saw that it was active. At least they’re operating this product under an active corporation. (See Certiphene’s annual report for 2007 if you’d like).

I don’t know what it says about a company that will market the same product under different companies, names, and virtually identical websites, but at least we know they’re in good standing with the state (for whatever that’s worth).

Certiphene’s Marketing Tactics

I mentioned the identical websites and took the necessary pains to make the comparison between the three websites easier for Criticalorie readers. Click on the thumbnail to the left and see each site’s header. Notice that the navigational text is all the exact same (just different fonts), the bottle and box are identical, the overall design of the header is the same, the text’s overall message is the same “Jen Lost 32 lbs. in 3 months!” vs. “Kathleen Lost 25 lbs in 9 Weeks!” and they use the same polaroid look for their subjects “testimonials”.

The header’s bad, but the sidebar gets so much worse. Their sidebars are virtually identical. They start with how you can be paid $XXX for trying their product (are they ever going to actually pay out the prize? It’s anyone’s guess. My guess is that Certiphene’s using a simple marketing gimmick convincing people it’s worth the $50/bottle for the chance to win five or even twenty times that amount). They say they’re VeriSign Secure and also show the Entrust image. These images are there to instill confidence in shoppers — that their credit card information is protected from any type of security breach.

Well, the VeriSign image normally is clickable, and you can get verification. On each of these sites, Certiphene included, the image is just stuck there. There’s no link. No verifiable way of checking the legitimacy of these sites in regards to the VeriSign image. They’re lying through their binary teeth here.

The Entrust link does actually work. Notice how Certiphen includes the Entrust link first — because that’s the likely one that would be checked — the first one. I found out through the Entrust certification that the domain is owned by a company named Reelpoint operating out of Wakefield Maine. Now who the heck is that? I thought we were working with Health Center for Better Living based out of Naples, Florida?

I can’t furrow my brow any more. It’s furrowed to the max. I’m confused here. I “entrusted” the Thermocerin site as well and found that domain is also owned by Reelpoint. Reelpoint is a search engine marketing/affiliate company — it has absolutely nothing to do with health supplements, or better living — healthy living..whatever. A list of Reelpoint’s clients starts to make everything come together a bit:

• Health Center for Better Living (Certiphene)
• Nutritional Science Labs (Lipocerin)
• Princeton Labs
• Thermocerin Industries (Thermocerin)
• Phenocerin
• Zovatol
• Captiva Skincare

I’ll have to look into Phenocerin and Zovatol now that I’ve found they’re connected, but we’ve got to stay focused on Certiphene, since that’s the point of this exposé — err, review. Maybe Reelpoint just cuts corners and made the same site for all of these different products…that’s probably it.

But honestly, with this whole sidebar thing, we’re just getting started. We’ve established that their “get paid” banners and security badges are scams. What about that “As Seen On” box on the right? It’s supposed to make you think that Certiphene was actually mentioned in mainstream media. It hasn’t been. A quick Google search lets you establish that very quickly (there was one hit, for a scam diet pill site).

Finally, notice how they use a stock photo doctor to imply that a doctor recommends Certiphene. The wording underneath is exactly the same message, with just a change of specific text.

You start to feel kind of scammed when you see things laid out like this.

Certiphene’s Ingredients

Certiphene’s ingredients are the same as Thermocerin and Lipocerin from what I can tell:

• Hoodia Gordonii is a sham ingredient marketed to be from the deep recesses of Africa. There are two problems with it: 1) you can’t even be sure you’re getting quality Hoodia P57 (which is the active ingredient that’s touted) and 2) P57 lacks any substantiated clinical research to support the claim that it suppresses your appetite. Hoodia Gordonii is a fad. Let me reiterate: it is a fad. You can read my in-depth review of Hoodia if you’d like more information.
• Chromium Picolinate is up in the air for me (read my full review of Chromium Picolinate if you’re interested). Some studies show it to be effective with weight loss (controlling insulin levels) while others say it has no effect unless you’re very deficient in Chromium (and unless you live in a third-world country, the odds are that you are not deficient). What I don’t like about Certiphene’s use of Chromium is that they blatantly mislead their potential customers. How? Read on.

I’ll take the liberty of quoting myself when I noticed this same dishonesty in Lipocerin’s ad as part of my review there:

Their “clinical proof” for Lipocerin cites a study involving patients at high risk for Type 2 diabetes. If you take the time to just read the abstract of this study you can plainly read that while there was an increase in insulin sensitivity, “there was no effect of [Chromium Picolinate] on body weight, abdominal fat distribution, or body mass index.” Gosh, I know scientists like to bury knowledge in lots of fancy words, but that seemed pretty clear to me.

But what does Certiphene cite? They cite a quote, throw in a … so they don’t have to say the part I put in bold above. The part that says that what they’re saying Certiphene will do is not really what Certiphene will do. Disingenuous — to put it extremely mildly.

Certiphene Overall Review

I could go on, but I’m getting tired and depressed from all of this. Certiphene is a sham product from a sham company. If you buy Certiphene, the only thing you’ll lose is your hard-earned money. I didn’t even go into their rip-off autoship trap they lead you into. It’s a consumer’s worst nightmare. Stay far away from Certiphene and any other product marketed by these con artists.

The makers of Zylorin consulted with leading researchers and authorities in weight loss science with one focused goal in mind.

Really? Who were these leading researchers and authorities? They never mention them.

Zylorin is formulated with the highest grade of patented, clinically proven ingredients that will energize your body…

Clinically proven? Then reference the clinical studies.

Maybe it’s just the fact that I dig into these sites a LOT, and maybe Zylorin just caught me on a bad day, but I get so sick of the same old catchphrases used again and again and again. It’s as if the copywriter has a checklist of words they need to include:

And then they just go to town, ensuring that they use those words at least once or twice. Throw in a few hard-to-backup claims, and you have yourself a diet pill ad. Zylorin isn’t looking any different at first glance, but we’ll dig in to make sure we actually give them credit where it’s due (if any).

Zylorin Quick Video Review

Zylorin’s Ingredients

• Hoodia Gordonii is listed as their top ingredient. That’s a shame, since Hoodia Gordonii is the most unsubstantiated dieting fad to hit the market in a long time. My review of Hoodia Gordonii should shed some light on its ineffectiveness. It’s not good to have your flagship ingredient be one that is a complete sham. But we’ll move on. ((When you read on Zylorin’s site about its appetite suppression abilities, they’re talking about the inclusion of Hoodia Gordonii. It doesn’t suppress anything except your checking account balance))
• Vitamins B6, B12, C, and E, Beta Carotene and Folic Acid. Vitamins are good. But you’d get these things (and a lot more) with a $10 multivitamin purchased from Walmart.
• Phosphatidylserine was a black hole for me as far as research goes, but one site that sold it in capsule form cited that it prevents muscle breakdown, stimulates brain function, and maintains brain function, memory and cognitive ability. These are kind of broad claims, but we’ll go with it for a second. How will these claims help you lose weight? I honestly have no idea. It’s a stretch for Zylorin to say the least.
• Beta-sitosterol is used in Europe for the treatment of prostatic carcinoma and breast cancer, with a small study showing a “positive effect on male hair loss in combination with Saw Palmetto”. ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta-sitosterol)) How does it aid in weight loss? Your guess is as good as mine.
• Chromium is an iffy one for me because I’ve found studies refuting and supporting its weight loss benefits. So let’s call it a wash. You can read my review on Chromium picolinate for more information if you’d like. Zylorin has 100 mcg…not the dosage seen in the effective studies… so maybe it’s not so much of a wash.
• Green Tea has been shown to increase the metabolic rate, which will aid in your weight loss. I reviewed Green Tea extensively and support it as an effective stimulant that can be included in diet pills. Zylorin has 50 mg of Green Tea which is an extremely small — possibly ineffectively small — dose. They could have scored some points there but they didn’t.
• Citrus Aurantium, whose active ingredient is Synephrine. Synephrine has also been subject to my review and fared well. It’s an effective stimulant for aiding in weight loss. Unfortunately, the inclusion of one weight-loss promoting ingredient at a moderately high level does not let me recommend Zylorin for anything except…well…nothing.

Zylorin’s Guarantee has a Black Eye

Most diet pill offerings include a moneyback guarantee. Why? They want to make sure customers can purchase with confidence. The trouble with Zylorin’s guarantee is that they only accept returns for unopened merchandise (including allergic reactions) and they charge a “25% administrative processing fee” for all opened products that are returned to them.

Just to put this in clear terms: You buy Zylorin from them, then you open it, then you return it along with a closed bottle. They’re going to refund you the amount for the closed bottle less the bottle you opened. From their wording, I can’t make out if they charge this whether you actually return the opened bottle, or just send them back the unopened bottles.

At any rate, Zylorin’s guarantee is horrible. One of the worst I’ve seen in a while.

Zylorin Reviewed – an Overall Conclusion

Zylorin has one ingredient that will induce weight loss at a moderately high dosage. Most of its ingredients you’ll find in a multivitamin. Their guarantee is extremely slanted toward lining their own pockets instead of looking out for their customers and Zylorin’s long-term relationships with those customers. This one is a big NO.