By Reporter Joseph Toth
Washington Micro Bank BBS
Submitted 11-17-08
Infomercials; We’ve all seen them for one product or another. A lot of products on these programs can be productive, safe and useful, … such as mops, and music albums. On the other hand there are infomercials that should warrant you to do some homework before spending your hard earned money, … especially when it comes to buying pharmaceuticals.
When it comes to buying drugs through a TV or internet ad, your prudence is in deed warranted. In a lot of cases the advertiser won’t give you the full story on the product they are selling. I’ll use a popular diet pill that starts with the letter ‘L’ as a example.
This drug sold under it’s commercial name, is actually Glucomannan, (the pharmaceutical name) which comes from the plant root of Amorphophallus Konjac
This drug is known by other names such as, … Devil’s Tongue, Elephant Foot Yam, Konjac, Konjac Mannon, Konnyaku, and Snake Plant. This drug is being sold as a over the counter item, but shouldn’t be. This drug is in fact very dangerous to a large part of the population, and yes can be fatal for some people.
This drug does things the commercials won’t tell you about. If you are diabetic don’t use this product because of the way it will change your blood sugar level. Most importantly, if the drug is taken incorrectly without enough water, … it can affect your airway by restricting it, or closing it off.
Before taking any diet pills, do your home work on the product before buying it. Get on the internet or talk to your doctor. Learn the ingredients and all the affects of the drug. Then make a informed decision as to using the product or not. It’s a good idea to make your doctor part of the decision process.
Another drug sold on commercials is one that starts with the letter ‘E’ and is supposed enhance a mans life just by popping these pills. The internet finds numerous materials on this particular drug. Everything from it getting people very sick, to legal action taken against the company and owner of the company selling the drug.
This drug contains the following items.
Niacin
30 mg
150
Zinc (as zinc oxide)
15 mg
100
Proprietary Blend:
Tribulus Terrestris extract (aerial), L-Arginine Base, Korean Ginseng, Maca (Lepidium meyenii) (root), Orchic Substance, Epimedium Sagitatum extract (aerial), Yohimbe Extract (Pausinystalia yohimba)(bark), Muira puama (aerial), Avena Sativa extract (aerial), Zinc Gluconate-200% DV, Ginkgo Biloba extract (leaf), Saw Palmetto (Serona repens) (berries), Niacin-150% DV, Copper Gluconate-200% DV, Octacosonal, Thymus Gland.
1494 mg
*
* Daily value (DV) not established.
Other ingredients: Dicalcium phosphate, micro-crystalline cellulose, croscarmellose sodium, stearic acid, magnesium stearate, sillca, and film coat ingredients (hypromellose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, polyethylene glycol, titanium dioxide, propylene glycol, and FD&C blue #2 lake).
Again, … do your research and homework before taking the chance with any drug sold on commercials.
Yet another drug sold on commercials is one for maintaining mental alertness. This drug contains the following items.
Serving Size: 4 Tablets
Servings Per Container: 30 Amount Per Serving %
Daily Value Vitamin A (from natural beta-carotene and mixed carotenoids) 4,000 IU 80% Vitamin C (as ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate, potassium ascorbate, zinc ascorbate, and ascorbyl palmitate) 250 mg 417% Vitamin D (as cholecalciferol) 100 IU 25% Vitamin E (as natural d-alpha-tocopheryl) 30 IU 100% Thiamin (as thiamin mononitrate) 3 mg 200% Riboflavin 1.7 mg 100% Niacin (from inositol hexanicotinate and 50% as niacinamide) 25 mg 125% Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxal-alpha-ketoglutarate, pyridoxal 5-phosphate) 15 mg 750% Folate (as folic acid) 400 mcg 100% Vitamin B12 (on ion exchange resin) 20 mcg 333% Biotin 300 mcg 100% Pantothenic acid (as d-calcium pantothenate) 12 mg 120% Calcium (as calcium citrate, calcium succinate and calcium ascorbate) 50 mg 5% Iron (as Ferronyl ® carbonyl iron) 5 mg 28% Iodine (Kelp [Ascophyllum nodosum]) 15 mcg 10% Magnesium (as magnesium citrate, magnesium malate and magnesium taurinate) 100 mg 25% Zinc (as zinc citrate and zinc ascorbate) 10 mg 67% Selenium (as selenomethionine) 50 mcg 71% Copper (as copper citrate and copper Chelazome™) 0.4 mg 20% Manganese (as manganese citrate) 2 mg 100% Chromium (as chromium polynicotinate) 100 mcg 83% Molybdenum (as molybdenum amino acid chelate) 10 mcg 13% Potassium (as potassium citrate, potassium aspartate, and potassium ascorbate) 50 mg 1% Synergistic and proprietary formulation
Diemethylaminoethanol (as DMAE bitartrate)
L-glutamine, Bacopin ® (Bacopa monnieri extract; leaf)
L-pyroglutamic acid, phosphatidylserine,
docosahexaenoic acid concentrate (15% DHA from fish body oil), choline (as choline bitartrate), inositol, N-acetyltyrosine,
bilberry fruit standardized extract (25% anthocyanosides),
gamma-aminobutyric acid, grape skin extract and Activin™, (grape seed extract), vinpocetine, Trace-Lyte™ electrolyte concentrate, huperzine A (extract of huperzia serrata; whole plant), boron (as boron citrate), and vanadium (as vanadyle sulfate).
* Daily value not established.
Other ingredients: Diacalcium phosphate, microcrystalline cellulose, croscarmellose sodium, stearic acid, sillica, magnesium stearate and pharmaceutical glaze.
That was another drug with numerous mixed revues on the internet. I should also point out the fact that you should discuss with your doctor, … the impact of supplements with heavy metals.
To much iron is not good for you. Talk to your doctor about iron, copper and mercury supplements.
Problem infomercials don’t stop with just the drug sales. There are others, others that involve selling books with information they insist you can use.
One man selling some of these infomercial books is a man with the initials K.T. Again,… doing a internet search on this man and his products reveal mixed revues and talk about legal action that he has been involved in.
Another book sold on infomercials a couple times a year talks about grants for everyone. This one has so much to be said about it that I’m not even going to bother to do so. I will point something out. Use your common sense.
A guy dressed like Uncle Sam selling a book bigger than a metropolitan phone book saying it is full of grant opportunities, is not your knight in shining armor to get a grant.
Money doesn’t grow on tree’s, nor should we be lead to believe that it is that easy to get. If it was, … why aren’t’ these resources being used to help the homeless across America.
Lets say this guy dressed like Uncle Sam sells 10,000 of his books in one year. 7000 of those people want grants from the Government to buy their first homes or businesses. Do you honestly in the real world think that our Government can do this. Of coarse not!
Oh sure, … if you feel I’m wrong by telling you this, go ahead and order the book. When you’re disappointed you can put it in the bathroom and use it like old Sears catalogs were used 90 years ago.
We live in a time when people will do whatever it takes to make a quick buck. The sellers are only concerned about making money. They don’t care about the customers feelings, safety or health. These are reasons why I’m writing this article. I sit back and watch people I know try some of these things only to be disappointed. They wouldn’t take the advice of a bookworm (me), and research the product first, … then later they wish they had.
Lastly, …
Commercials advertising real estate that can be purchased really cheap are something else you may want to do your homework on. Some of these commercials get you believing this is a good idea, … so you can buy the property and turn around and resell it. Sorry to be the messenger of bad news again folks.
Doing just that, is called ‘flipping’. Buying a property for the purpose of reselling it at a higher price is called ‘flipping’. Again, the advertisers don’t tell you the negative side of what they are trying to encourage.
‘Flipping’ in a lot of the U.S. States is against the law. Something you don’t want to get in trouble for.
Oh sure, … if you want to live in the property you buy, that’s okay. But, … if you are buying just to flip it, you are breaking the law in some states. Make sure you know this before hand.