Disease Proof

Diet pills and quick-fix weight-loss scams are everywhere! Don’t believe me? Just check your bulk email filter. Better yet, take a look at this. Here’s a sampling of DiseaseProof’s recent comment spam:



Yeah, like anyone reading this blog wants that junk. So why do I bring this up? Well it seems Americans aren’t the only ones exposed to misleading miracle cures. According to Reuters many Chinese are lulled by the promise of fast fat-loss too. And it doesn’t appear to be working for them either. Tan Ee Lyn reports:

Unhappy with her weight, Charmaine Tong decided two years ago to try a slimming tea, which supposedly contained only traditional Chinese herbs.

She was overjoyed when she lost her appetite and the bathroom scales began dipping, but her happiness vanished when she began suffering a racing heart beat a month later.


"I chose Chinese medicine as I thought it wouldn't have chemicals and would have fewer side effects, but my heart went out of control," said Tong, a marketing executive in Hong Kong.

She stopped drinking the tea at once, and has since regained the seven pounds she lost, and more.

Pills and teas purporting to "melt away body fat" and help shed unwanted pounds are sold widely across Hong Kong.

Lyn’s report goes on to talk about Asian people's genetic predisposition to obesity and how the Western life- and diet-style are adversely effecting the populous. This reminded me of the report by The New York Times discussing how perilous standard American food can be to Asian physiology, especially regarding the development of type-II diabetes. Here’s the DiseaseProof post about it: Asian-American Diabetes Trends Point to Diet.