It should be no surprise that FRMI studies prove men respond to an hourglass figure like a drug.Or that women unconsciously respond to wide shouldered- slim waist proportions of the golden ratio.
No wonder people want a great body.
Headlines make headfast statements of fact that are 100% scientifically wrong, says John Barban, who wh o has master degrees in Human Biology and nutrition and taught exercise physiology at the University of Florida.
Most health claims are cleverly worded to exploit human psychology said Barban. Lawyers also advise advertisers about what they can legally say.
For eight years, Barban researched and developed weight loss supplements, and helped advertise these products. He eventually became disillusioned by the misinformation and hype. He still currently consults with supplement companies on formula and product development and developed the science behind The Adonis Effect.
Barban claims ‘health advertising exploits peoples psychological need to believe they are the exception. Advertisers feed a victim mentality – your weight loss is harder than most, or you are the hard gainer struggling at the gym.
So the diet fails because they chase a magic nutrient – when the magic nutrient ‘works’ it simply resulted in you eating less.
Because most of us like to outdo each other hard luck stories, marketers carefully exploit your fears, says Barban.
“We know how you feel because of …. “ begins the ad, “We’ve been their too …we feel your pain”.
Then go into explaining why it’s not your fault you are thin or over weight. You have poor genetics, or a slow metabolism, or its because science or the health industry are suppressing information and don’t want you to get better.
They then compellingly offer hope through their product . The solution is exaggerated and the science behind it often distorted.
Telling someone you are responsible for your health is not a popular message that people don’t want to hear, say Barban.
Science is progressive and many scientific ideas promoted to help with weight loss have been found wanting by further research. However, they are still rehashed in the media.
For a while scientific community did consider the GI diet, or slow metabolism until science proved results came from a caloric deficit, Says Barban.
The media still talks about these once popular scientific theories have been dismissed
While eating plans may ensure you have good nutrition or minimize the feeling of hunger, actual weight loss comes from eating less carbohydrates than you burn up. Or people get results simply because a program starts them doing some exercise.
Each style of diet has its strengths and weaknesses. It takes more calories to burn a gram of fat, than say a gram protein or carbohydrate. But fat fills you, so on a low fat diet you may over fill on carbohydrates.
Then there are people over eating protein- I knew someone eating 8 kilograms of bacon a day to lose weight.
Ultimately, you must reduce calorie intake against calories burned.
Non steroidal muscle growth claims are often just as bogus.
Muscle building research is scarce because it is hard to do, said Barban.
Usually researchers hand pick ridiculously thin or below average the test subjects and build them up to average strength. The skewed test sample gives a statistical result that look impressive.
Read the details and you realize you could easily do the same with basic exercise. However, the ‘science’ is linked to a photo of a steroid fed model.
Researchers tell us that your actions are often hindered by your beliefs.
This is why some trainers begin clients with what they think they believe will work. This validates the belief they have.
“That the gym instructor knows what he is talking about – he agrees with me”. If a customer is serious they can then slowly lead you to better training practices.
Once they have a clients trust they can teach them what really works.
People won’t accept truth unless it is sugar coated or very well argued. Tell a person straight and you get their back up.
We are culturally conditioned to eat, says Barban who recognizes some people may emotionally eat.
Probably one of the most effective weight loss strategies is to have less food in the house.
Research shows that the harder it is to get food, if they have to go out of you r food you will eat less, he said.
To reach your health goals takes full responsibility. The gains people make with a program came because people did more exercise than they did before -or they ate less.
It was not a miracle food.
Find a program that works for you – just recognize that behind the hype weight loss is less calories in than calories out.
“Real gains requires thought, hard work and planning” says Barban. People who have done the hard wok earn our respect and admiration.
“Without a plan you are just dreaming.”
