rabodzey's Full Review: Kevin Trudeau - The Weight Loss Cure They Don't Wa...
UPDATE: Apparently Kevin reads my review - I got a lot of hidden negative feedback in my posts today.
Disclaimer: I am a professional with a scientific degree, but this review should be considered as a skeptical analysis and not a scientific argument. I am also a part of The Governmental Conspiracy Machine that tries to hide "real" cures from American people.
This book, as all other books by the same author, requires to be nailed down very carefully. We cannot afford a sluggish argument on this matter - people's health is at stake. Here I will try to provide a reasonable opinion about great work by Dr. Trudeau (wow, he's not a doctor? How come? He writes about medical treatments!)... I mean Mr. Trudeau.
Let's start:
The basis: The Governmental Conspiracy Machine (TGCM)
So what is the basis of Kevin's success? He claims that there is a huge conspiracy between the Government (people we elected to represent us), Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and Big Pharma. Basically TGCM works as following: Big Pharma develops a drug which does not really help cure any disease and wants to sell it for skyrocketing $100-200 per pack, they then lobby the Government to get FDA to approve this noncense and conduct some fuzzy tests we have no idea about on mice, rats, monkeys and humans and falsify the results. Then they start to sell the drug to us, we waste our money while we could just get a natural cure that would have been a lot cheaper and better!
WOW! Sounds like we are really in deep trouble! What to do? Global warming is coming, ocean level rises, terrorists are everywhere, Mexicans are taking our jobs and... now TGCM!
You kidding me, right? You can't be really serious about that, eh?
The Real Facts
When we talk about such a serious matter as our health, we need to be certain, we need real hard, consistent data. This is our health, at the end of the day! There is ONLY ONE way to provide repeateble, relible, consistent data on any subject: SCIENCE. It is a hard work and you have to go to school, then to college, then get you B.S., then M.S., then Ph.D., then you become an Assistant. Prof., then you become an Associate Professor, then you become a Professor. Generally the latter are the people who actually lead scientific discoveries (you need to work until you 40-50s to get there). People working for Big. Pharma may be on Ph.D. stage (they spent ~19 years simply studying).
This is what it takes to be able to get to the level of knowledge that allows you to conduct research and judge appropriately scientific facts.
"This is a hard way!" - one would say- "Is there an easy way to make a million?".
"Yes, just call everybody stupid and tell them this system is a scam and you will make a short cut!".
Kevin decided that wasting 19 years of his life in order to make scientifically justified claims and being subject to peers critics is too much for him.
Well, actually he did not waste that time completely - he went to jail for couple of years after pleading guilty for...fraud. What a coincidence!
Natural VS GMO and Drugs
-Yeh, this is an easy one! - one would say.
Do not be so sure. First of all, it seems to be obvious that eating natural foods is better than those crazy mutant genetically modified crops. The facts are less obvious, however. Most of the crops we eat were breeded for centuries to increase their productivity. Do you think "breeding" is not the same as genetic modification? You are so wrong! In fact VERY FEW of the crops we have in the stores (even "natural" ) are wild crops. How often do you see these crops in your nearby forest anyway? Or you think Florida had everything growing there before Indians?
- Well, yes, but isn't it safer to treat yourself with natural herbs instead of using DRUUUUUGS? These herbs are from Nature and drugs are not.
Let's face it - most of us are alive BECAUSE of the drugs - vaccines and antibiotics increased survival rate dramatically, Kevin would be most likely dead by his age if born at all if he lived five thousand years ago! No herbs would save him from smallpox or plague.
As far as the "natural" is concerned, well these things are in fact drugs! If they were not drugs, they would not have any action on you, right?
But you do not eat all mushrooms you see in the forest just because they are "natural", you know they can kill you! Same here - we have NO idea about the way how each herb acts on you and no research has been conducted on that.
So you put in your body something that noone knows anything about and you expect it to help? Are you dumb?
The fact is: few herbs actually work, but even those that do never deliver consistent dose of active ingredient (it varies by 17 folds sometimes).
But most importantly, we have drugs that work better for each case of "natural cure". They are tested and we know how to use them and what will happen if anything goes wrong.
Quotes From the Book
So what's in there? Some things that struck me dead are:
"The sun does not cause cancer. Sun block has been shown to cause cancer", this is my personal favorite. Here is a link about the skin cancer and sun from American Cancer Society http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/ped_7_1_What_You_Need_To_Know_About_Skin_Cancer.asp
Another interesting idea promoted in the book is that you should not take drugs: "all over-the-counter nonprescription drugs and prescription drugs cause illness and disease". Overall idea that Kevin pushes is that drugs are man-made poisons and we should avoid taking them. This may in fact be true, if you overdose them. But if you overdose salt you will also have a disease, pretty much everything in excessive quantities will make you sick. So it is IMPROPER use of drugs that make you sick, not the use itself. It is the same for herbs, by the way, those that do have an effect on your health (may be even positive) in excessive quantities will cause headaches and nausea.
Another thing that you should know is that Kevin does not stop there: book is just a hook to get you to spend even more money. He runs a website NaturalCures.com where the "natural" treatments he advertises are sold. So, let's check it out! The first thing you find is "Total Body Package", this natural component system will clean your digestive system, "strengthening you immune system, maintain normal cholesterol levels, provide joint support, boost your mental awareness and maintain non acidic PH levels". For just $360... And I thought that it is The Governmental Conspiracy and gas shortage that is responsible for high prices. In fact, Kevin goes on by saying: "... there are absolute natural cures for these problems. They don’t cost a lot" - you bet!
Book also promotes the idea that people who are obese are not the ones to be blamed for that. It is kind of out of their control. Accordingly to the book, food companies intentionally include additives to their products to make people fat. Well, there is something to it when I see people at McDonalds, but you should not let people think they are powerless and not responsible, then they will not attempt to fight the problem.
Weight Loss by Book
Okey, this is Kevin's bread and butter: book claims that the problem stems from improper functioning of hypothalamus. Presumably this part of the brain forces us to consume more than we actually need (Kevin references another person's discovery of this link). This is not such a nonsense by itself, but you should look at this discovery from a broader perspective. Here is a parallel: there are hundreds of ways how cell's DNA may mutate to cause cancer and IN FACT, some of the cancirogens may be found in sun block cream, BUT exposure to sun increases your chances of getting skin cancer 1000 times. Who is the one to be blamed for that? Cells and their DNA, sun block manufacturers or your behavior? Just avoid sun and you will be fine, you will not have DNA damage and you do not have to use awful sun block. Same here: yes hypothalamus controls appetite, but it is you who decide to take a XL Coke, it is you who grabbed double Whopper, not hypothalamus.
So what it the solution accordingly to Kevin? Kevin suggests that we should inject ourselves with an extract from pee. PERIOD. Is there anything else you need to know about this book?
You should not buy into "reasonable ideas" in the book, they are so obvious that you do not need a book to lean that. You may say - what's wrong with that? There is something: instead of getting a REAL solution for their problems, people will fall into this easy way ILLUSION and that will make them even more desperate.
Weight Loss Facts
The facts are that any diet will work for you and no diet may work for you depending on only ONE thing: your will. Studies have shown that on average ALL diets tested (Adkins and all other high and low shugar stuff) have NOT resulted in a statistically significant weight loss in a long term (5 years). They did cause temporary loss within half a year or year period, then people gained it back. There was only one subgroup that actually lost weight - those who ACTUALLY complied with the diet! That is they had the will to lose weight.
So the easiest diet is just to eat less. There is nothing more natural than that, even women's pee injected in the butt.
Conclusion
This book is yet another scam from a person who spent two years in prison for fraud, who was prohibited to sell his remedies by court and switched to selling books. He is protected under 1st Amendment of Freedom of Speech and we cannot do anything about that, but educate others that this is a fraud.
There is ONLY ONE WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT - TO EAT LESS AND HAVE WILL TO COMPLY.
There is no magic pill and you simply have to be strong, No matter how desperate you are, you must not buy into scams like that, instead make a diary and put there calories you consume every day and consistently decrease your consumption by 5% every month.
I will not charge you for the advise, but I would appreciate your feedback. I really want to help.
To read more on Kevin, you may visit Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Trudeau
If you want to know more about the actual people's experiences with Kevin's remedies, visit this site: http://consumeraffairs.com/health/trudeau.html
This work by a #1 New York Times -bestselling author presents a revolutionary plan that helps readers to reshape their body, get rid of abnormal fat, ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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