In a country where 65 percent of the population is overweight or obese, the search for a miracle “cure” has become a national obsession. In 2004 alone, over 30 billion dollars were spent on weight loss products.

The major appeal of these products is the promise of a quick, painless solution to years of struggle. “We are always looking for a quick fix,” says Donna Wolff, a nutrition consultant in private practice in New York City. “We don’t want to consider the possibility of having to alter our eating habits. We want the easy way out.”

Unfortunately, this has opened the door to thousands of unscrupulous companies willing to do anything to attract potential buyers. Diet scams come in all shapes and forms, from “miracle diets” to patches, pills, and powders. How do you know when something holds potential and when is it just a scam? Here are the tell-all signs that something’s definitively wrong.

They tell you to forget calories and eat all you want

Sorry, that’s just not possible. Weight loss occurs when more calories are burned than consumed. There is no device available that can block the absorption of calories. Many eat-all-you-want products are basically laxatives and diuretics –While they do not help you lose weight, they create the illusion of doing so. “This is a very dangerous concept closely linked to eating disorders,” says Wolff. “A bulimic thinks she can eat all she wants and then purge the excess out of her body. The same theory applies to products that promise you won’t gain weight, not matter how much you eat.” Some fad diets also work on the same concept --Eat all you want as long as you don’t touch these type of food, which brings us to number two…

They tell you to forfeit a whole food group

There is no bad guy when it comes to food. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie, goes a famous saying among nutritionists. “Promoters of dietary schemes such as The Atkins diet and the Zone would have us believe that a special substance or combination of foods will automatically result in weight reduction,” says George Rapitis, BS, a nutritionist and a member of the American Dietetic Association. “That's simply not true. To lose weight, you must eat less, or exercise more, or do both.”

Other fad diets and scams blame hormones or chemicals in your body, and offer magical solutions to deal with supposed unbalances. One such example is the Blood-Type Diet, based on a book written by Peter D’Adamo. “According to naturopath Peter J. D'Adamo, your blood type is a genetic fingerprint that is more powerful than race, culture or geography,” says Rapitis. “D'Adamo, unfortunately, it offers little in the way of scientific evidence, relying instead on a collection of anecdotal reports and case histories. His speculation that the one gene responsible the ABO blood type could exert such a dominant influence over everything else is unable to stand on its own merits.”

They promise results

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to dieting. People have different metabolisms, different lifestyles, and different eating habits. What works for a 250-pound man who needs to lose 50 pounds would probably not work for a 150-pound woman who only wants to lose 10. Diets that promise everybody will lose weight are most likely too extreme to be healthy.

They promise a quick fix

Fat is stubborn. Not matter how much you diet and exercise, it is basically impossible to lose more than two pounds of fat in any given week. Some extreme diets may appear to work faster, but this is simply an illusion. “As [a diet] begins, large amounts of water will be shed, leading the dieter to think that significant weight reduction is taking place,” says Rapitis. “However, most of the loss is water rather than fat; the lost water is regained quickly when eating is resumed.”

The major problem with extreme diets is that the pounds lost rarely come from the right source. “Fad diets […] can cause a 3-6% loss of muscle along with any fat lost,” says Rapitis. “If the weight is regained, more fat and less muscle is replaced, resulting in less overall muscle protein.”

Even when they work, extreme diets do not offer a long-term solution to weight problems.

They offer testimonials and extreme “before” and “after” pictures

Testimonials, especially paid ones, are easy to obtain and often meaningless. Real science is based on research and controlled studies rather than on the results of a few satisfied customers. Do you actually know how many people who used the product lost any weight? Are the testimonials a representation of the large majority of consumers or are they isolated cases? A diet pill was recently pulled off the market for claiming “miracle results.” Further investigation revealed that only five percent of the customers using the product had actually lost any weight. The extreme results professed in their TV advertisement occurred in less than one percent of all cases and only in people who had followed a strict diet and exercise program.

While it is possible to lose large amounts of weight on a diet, there is no guarantee that the weight won’t come back as soon as the program is over.

They tell you they have discovered a secret herb/tea/powder that melts fat “like magic”

There is no magic pill. There are currently only fifteen medications approved by the FDA to treat obesity. Almost all of them act as appetite suppressant, except for Xenical, which works by preventing fat absorption in the body. “At this time, there’s no over-the-counter drug that can do the same,” says Wolff. “Despite what advertisers are telling you, the medical community is not harboring any secrets.”

Obesity is now the number two cause of preventable death in the US, rapidly closing in on tobacco, which was once considered an unparalleled crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about a thousand people died every day in 2000 of an obesity-related illness. “If there were a pill that could save even one of these people, doctors would be prescribing it,” adds Wolff.

They include small print

Small print in ads for diet products should set off all your alarm bells. It’s one thing to have a disclaimer reading “individual results may vary” to have one that reads “exceptional results.” Exceptional means most people won’t get the results shown in the ad.

If that’s not enough to scare you off, keep reading. An outstanding 98 percent of all diet pills in the market now include a disclaimer that reads “diet and exercise required.” Nutritionists see this as a last-resort attempt the companies make to protect themselves against lawsuits –If you don’t lose any weight, they can claim is because you didn’t follow all recommendations included with their “magical” product.

They tell you the secret is in something you have to wear

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently ordered the marketers of “Peel Away the Pounds” weight-loss patch to pay over $1 million in consumer restitutions. The FTC charged them with false advertisement and violations of the FTC Act. Over a dozen other companies that offer weight-loss patches are currently under investigation. “Although anti-smoking and contraceptive patches have proven useful to millions, there is currently no weight-loss drug that can be administered through the skin,” says Wolff. “I’m not saying it’s not possible and that it won’t be done in ten or fifteen years, but right now it doesn’t exist.”

Acupressure devices such as earrings, bracelets, and even “slimming insoles” fall in the same category. They claim to work by applying pressure on specific points of the body, which in turn reduce appetite and cravings, and aid in weight loss.

They enlist medical “experts”

What most people don’t know is that, according to the First Amendment of the Constitution, anybody can express an opinion without having to present evidence to back it up. This includes, of course, “experts” who claim their magic pill may be the solution to all your weight problems. As long as they don’t make false guarantees, anything they said is considered an opinion, and the FTC has no power to intervene.

Always check the credentials of the expert offering the testimony. Is she or he a Registered Dietitian? A medical doctor? A researcher? Because somebody describes himself as a nutrition expert does not mean he is actually licensed to practice.

They just sound absurd

They are a dime a dozen: Products that promise to help you lose weight while you sleep; devices that are said to stimulate fat burning through electric currents; or electronic gadgets that claim to use the power of light to reduce appetite. As they said, if it sounds too good to be true…

Other products that go against common sense: natural oils that increase metabolism; do-it-yourself hypnosis tapes, books or seminars; appetite-suppressing eyeglasses; electronic muscle stimulators (EMS); body wraps. All of them are currently being offered by sale on TV and print ads. “Products like this just defy logic,” says Wolff.

How to Complaint

If you think you have been the victim of a diet scam, contact the following organisms for help:

Federal Trade Commission -- The website offers tips on avoiding scams plus a database of products currently under investigation. An online complaint form allows you to expose a company you think is promoting diet scams.

Consumer Affairs -- Also includes an online complaint form, plus a list of companies and products charged with bad business practices.

DietFraud -- Product alerts, database of articles and recalls.