forskolin fat loss extract use

I should say at this point, that I am not a medical practitioner and the opinions I express here are based on a dose of common sense mixed with a dram of scepticism rather than on any expert knowledge or extensive research into medical issues.

When I open one of these emails, the typical pitch goes like this:

1. You can't trust the medical establishment - they're in cahoots with Big Pharma to make you ill and keep you ill - type 2 diabetes being the crowning example.

2. Most if not all prescription medicines have dreadful side effects, some of which are worse than the condition you started with.

3. Surgery is a drastic way to make your back/shoulder/knee pain worse.

4. There are various natural remedies for almost every illness known to humanity, but because of pesticides, poor quality control etc you can't just get your medicine from the supermarket. You need supplements. And ours happen to be the best.

5. If we don't have a supplement to sell, we'll sell you a cookery book or a set of DVDs

The same applies to exercise. These health gurus are now telling us that everything we thought was true about exercise is false. Far from keeping you lithe and young, conventional "cardio" and "carb burning" exercise clogs your body with free radicals that accelerate the aging process. Ditch the running, cycling and gym classes and buy our miracle exercise programme: four extremely intense minutes a day and you'll have a physique to die for...

Some of the promises are clearly overblown and result in fairly swift use of the delete button. But the most effective messages are carefully crafted, with references to rigorously controlled trials published in respected medical journals and "case studies" of people like you and me with "before" and after "photos" to seal the deal.

The most pernicious aspect of these emails, though, is the claim that the medical establishment wants to keep you ill so they can make big bucks from your misfortune. Medical practitioners in the US, where almost all my emails originate, may have incentives - for billing purposes - to tell you you're really ill and you need a battery of medications, surgery, physio etc. though I doubt it. But the situation in the UK is very different Here, because of NHS funding and resourcing issues, medical practitioners have more incentive to ration treatment. For example, patients with long-term conditions such as diabetes or hypertension can claim free prescriptions, so what's in it for GPs in keeping patients drug-dependent for life? There is every incentive to minimise the use of surgery and other therapies because of long waiting lists. The NHS even has gate-keeping services to limit demand by offering telephone or online advice. The NHS certainly has no incentive in keeping you ill.

Similarly, because of lower food standards in the US, it might be difficult for many consumers there to access good quality food. That is not the case in the UK at the moment (though post-Brexit things may be different). Here food production and labelling standards mean that consumers can be confident that a pound of carrots will contain reasonable levels of whatever vitamins and minerals are associated with them.

Some gurus are out to sell the benefits of complementary therapies: reiki, reflexology, acupuncture. These may be helpful - or at worst harmless - for minor ailments or for pain relief for osteo-arthritis. However, the danger comes when they are peddled as cures for cancer and heart disease.

Other gurus alert you to the dangers of eating certain foods: "Never eat these five foods!" they scream. Wheat phobia is a fairly common one and seems to stem from the paleo community, who teach that farming is the worst human activity ever. The fear of wheat is now spreading to other grains that were still benign yesterday: oats, rye, barley. Rice and potatoes are also pure poison for the paleos.

Some gurus tell tales of remote Tibetan villages where everyone lives to be 150 because they use some mysterious herb in their tea. It's true that there are "blue zones" where a significant proportion of people live to a ripe old age and in fine fettle. However, all the research indicates that this is never due to a single factor but to a combination of factors such as genetics, diet and lifestyle. For example, remaining physically active and being part of a close community appear to be crucial. You can't replicate these factors in a bottle.

Some advice looks innocuous because there doesn't seem to be any selling going on. For example, drinking warm water, lemon juice and honey every morning. However, to get the "free report" on the miracle that is lemon juice you forskolin fat loss extract have to provide your email address, which is then sold to other snake oil sellers, so that like me, you're soon inundated with pseudo-medical advice.

Remember, most of these gurus have no formal medical training at all, and the minority who do have opted for a comfortable living as medical heretics.

When you see a claim for the benefits of taking magnesium or L-Arginine, check it out on a reputable website like WebMD. You will generally find:

1. The claims are overblown, i.e. there is little or no evidence that the herb, spice or mineral has any appreciable impact on serious forskolin fat loss extract conditions such as cancer, heart disease etc.

2. A clinical trial on a small group of patients showed some impact on a minor or rare condition - this is the "kernel of truth" that makes the claim defensible in case of litigation.

3. Overall though, the list of proven uses is much shorter than is claimed.

4. There are risks, for example, for pregnant women, the elderly or people using other medications.