Top 5 Diet Scams

Experts say roughly the same top five diet scams seem to keep resurfacing every few years, each time with a shiny new marketing gimmick. But they're all based on the same bad science.

Those top five diet scams include:

* Metabolism-boosting pills based on herbal ingredients
* Fat- and carb-blocking pills
* Herbal weight loss teas
* Diet patches, jewelry, or other products worn on the body
* Body wraps or "slim suits"

"There have always been quack weight loss schemes out there because nobody ever believes that you can't lose weight faster than you gained it," says registered dietician Althea Zanecosky.

"It maybe took two years for them to gain those 15 pounds, but they want to lose it in two weeks."

A more realistic timetable for lasting weight loss is to lose about a pound or two a week, says Zanecosky.

Nonetheless, researchers say diet scams continue to flourish, thanks in part to the law of supply and demand as a growing number of Americans find themselves overweight and looking for an easier way to lose it.

In addition, many of the most popular diet scams are based on herbal ingredients, which are not regulated as drugs by the FDA. Therefore, the weight loss claims are not evaluated for accuracy by the FDA.

In fact, a recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report found that more than half of the weight-loss ads th