How To Tell If A Health Product Is “For Real” Or Not

“Take our Weight Loss Secret Elixer

- made famous by Hollywood - 

and you will be Skinny!”

Oh LOOK!  It's ANOTHER miracle weight loss remedy.  

I know.  Sometimes it's hard to tell if a product is “for real” or not. Here are a few pointers that should help you choose effective nutritional products instead of hyped up trash.

1) The first factor you'll wish to look at is scientific research on a product. Ask the company or salesperson for scientific research on their product.

First of all, if there hasn’t been any scientific studies done on the effectiveness of the product, be very suspicious.

If there are scientific studies that show good results from using the product, you should check a very important element in the scientific studies: were they performed using the exact product that you are considering buying?

For example, a salesman may give you a study showing excellent results with “Aloe Vera”. However, the study was most likely performed using fresh aloe vera, not the particular aloe-derived product that you are considering buying. This is very important, because there are many things that a company can do or not do (even without knowing it) in between harvesting the plant and you buying the product that could render the product useless.

2) That brings us to the second factor to consider, which is processing. How is the product processed? Is it processed in a way that ensures that when you purchase it, it still has all of the nutrients that it should?

It can often be difficult to determine if a product is processed properly. So you'll often have to make your decision based on other factors. For example, if you have scientific studies showing that the product gives good results off the shelf, it is apparently processed correctly.

3) Another thing to consider is the reputation of the company you are dealing with. This is a tough one to figure out, though.  Surely, if you do a Google search for just about any major company that sells products, you'll find a disgruntled customer bashing them.  Or, even saying something that may very well be true … just not the whole story.

You know the saying:  There are 3 sides to every story – Yours, Mine, and the Truth.

Here are a few ways to get accurate information on the company – the best way is through the Better business Bureau. The better business bureau processes customer complaints and creates reports on each company based on the complaints received.

The BBB analyzes each complaint, distinguishes invalid complaints from complaints that the company has resolved (or made a good effort to resolve). So the better business bureau is a good source for accurate information on the business practices of companies.

Another place to get customer feedback on companies is Alexa. They allow customers to write reviews on websites. Keep in mind, you will find a lot of people just bashing other companies on Alexa, so try to be selective in which reviews to place much trust in.

Another way to check out a product is to do “testimonial checks”. Most companies will have product testimonials which they use to promote their product. However, many of these are fabricated testimonials. So, just ask to speak with several references. It's harder to fabricate real people!

Just as many companies use testimonials, many use medical references, generally doctors who recommend the product. It's not a bad idea to check and see if the doctors are actually practicing MD's who use and recommend the product, or if they are just employees of the company who are paid to recommend it. Of course, just because they are paid to recommend it doesn't mean it's not a good product, but in many eyes, it lessens the weight of their recommendation.