Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Testimonials are useless. Scientifically, testimonials are not considered valid proof and drugs are required to go through double-blind testing to be accepted. Supplements, however, are unregulated and don’t need to go through testing. They use testimonials all the time to “prove” that their products work.

But why go to all that trouble? Why find an actual person who lost weight with a product when you can just post an unrelated picture of someone who lost weight with a testimonial? Maree Briggs alleges that Metabo-Speed XXX did just that:

• Woman angry as her image used to sell diet pills – 22 Apr 2007 – Crime News – NZ Herald

Maree Briggs, a mother of two, says the photograph was used without her knowledge in an online testimonial for Metabo-Speed XXX, a dietary supplement touted as “the diet pill of the stars” and supposedly endorsed by Oprah Winfrey and Bette Midler.

While not sure how Lab 88 got hold of the photograph, Maree believes it may have been lifted from the website of an Australian-based company she was involved with in the late 1990s.

“It’s not the money, but the principle,” said Maree. “How dare they put my face to something like that. It’s a cock-and-bull story, it’s a lie and it’s conning people.”

Metabo-Speed XXX has removed the photo from their website, but Diet Blog was able to find a cache of it here:

• Metabo-Speed XXX Success Story 2

Next time you’re looking at those before and after pictures, remember, they might not be true. Don’t waste your money on diet pills or any product that promises you a perfect body without diet and exercise.