Diet Supplements

The weight loss and diet industries are massive. Nobody knows the size of these related industries, but they certainly run into the billions of dollars rather than millions in the US. A major part of these industries is in diet supplements.

There is also an ever increasing interest in health matters, and to an extent self help when it comes to people looking after their own health. Millions of people every year seek alternative health treatments if they have a problem, and on the preventative side, millions also take diet or food supplements.

What Is A Diet Supplement?

Put in its simplest terms, a diet supplement is something consumed in addition to your "normal" diet. Really, therefore, the term diet supplement can refer to either a food supplement, such as a multivitamin, or a weight loss supplement for somebody "on a diet," and trying to escape the clutches of obesity or being overweight. Of course, a weight loss diet supplement is also a food supplement, but I gave the distinctions before concentrating on one: the weight loss diet supplements.

Why Is There A Diet Supplement Industry?

The diet supplement industry has developed in tandem with the growth of the weight loss industry. The weight loss industry has increased in parallel with our ever expanding waists of recent decades. People know they are overweight; or at least, a portion of the overweight population know that their weight is well in excess of what it should be.

Some people, at some stage, have the desire to reduce their weight to a healthier level, and the diet supplement industry has evolved to fill that market. There is a steady flow of new diet supplements, and there has been for several decades now. Pills, powders, complete meals, drinks. You name it, and they have appeared on the shelves of your local store. People keep buying the products, come back for more, but often move onto another product a few days, weeks or months later.

Why Do Diet Supplements Not Work?

The diet supplement industry has grown steadily over recent years. Had it been successful in reducing weight amongst the population, then it would have gone into decline as the market shrank along with our waists. However, obesity has continued to increase to epidemic proportions, thus feeding the weight loss industry more, and encouraging the industry to feed us more with supplements.

There is probably not much point in complaining about the industry itself. The companies in the industry just sell their products to whoever is prepared to buy them. Those who make false claims can, in most countries, be dealt with by existing regulations and laws. That is not really the problem. Some diet supplements may help a little bit, some may not. Even so, those people who are destined not to permanently lose weight will not do so even after consuming the diet supplements that can help.

The weight loss industry thrives on the failure of people to lose weight, so will not be too concerned about this sorry situation. It is said that only 5% of people who seriously try to lose weight ever do so and maintain the lower weight. I have no way of verifying that, but I can well believe it. In a way, it is similar to many other parts of life; a small number like 5% succeed, the rest give up and fail. For example, millions of people want to start their own business online, and it is said that only 5% ever make any money; that means 95% fail.

What then, do these two quite different industries have in common? Maybe it is just that certain things in life are by their nature very difficult. They require tenacity, long term commitment and learning, and a deep psychological desire to succeed. They also require sacrifice and lifestyle changes as you learn and implement. However, in an age where instant gratification is often the only inspiration, instant success is not possible, feasible, or practical.

As with any profession, only a few actually make it, the golden 5% who have had the whim, converted it to a desire, then strengthened that desire enough to follow through for the many years needed to become professional.

Those who succeed in losing weight and maintaining it after being obese are true weight loss professionals. As with milk, the cream comes to the surface. But those people who succeed would probably have done so whatever method they had used, because they had the commitment and desire in sufficient abundance to know that they just had to keep plugging away, for months and years, and they would succeed. They succeed often despite the distractions of diet supplements, not just because of them. They were destined to succeed because they were, quite simply, who they were. And no diet supplement can ever change that, only the people themselves.