Beware of weight loss scams such as GRACIA LATTE!

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Especially when it comes to health tips and weight control methods, people tend to believe many methods and products without proper background checks. In many instances, so-called miracle products are advertised on Facebook and other social media platforms. Below is a fact check conducted by Fact Crescendo regarding a business that scammed people with a purported weight loss product.

Social Media Posts:

A post shared on Facebook claims that there is a healthy way to lose weight in one week. Also, this post claimed that this method lacks using any pills or dieting.

Facebook | Archived link

Also, another advertisement post on Facebook regarding this is below.

Archived link

According to the responses to these posts, many people are interested in this product.

However, some comments to these posts, claiming to be customers who had already purchased and tried the product, suggested the suspicious nature of ‘GRACIA LATE’.

Fact Check:

We checked the link shared alongside the viral post. However, the web page it directed didn’t have any product-related information.

Archived

However, the links (related to wellnesssavings.shop ), which can be found in some other similar posts and many advertisements, were designed for online marketing of a product named GRACIA LATTE, which was introduced as a product that can lead to the loss of body weight. Click here for that web page. Archived link

The description of this product mentions that Gracia is a main antioxidant that helps the body burn fat, and this highly concentrated herbal product can increase fat burning by ten times.

GRACIA LATTE Product

One of their web pages indicated that this product was developed in America with the knowledge of American scientists. It also shows that Garcia tastes coffee but can absorb and break down fat with active carbon. Archived link. The web page also displayed the GRACIA LATTE product’s price as LKR 19800. However, the product can be bought for LKR9900 with a special discount.

However, though we searched for this product on the internet, there was no verified evidence to prove that such a product had been developed in the USA. This product can only be found online as online marketing in Sri Lanka with many links, social media accounts and unofficial web pages like here, here, here and here. Archived Link | Archived Link | Archived Link | Archived Link

There is no research about GRACIA LATTE.

Furthermore, contrary to some of the details furnished on these dubious web pages, the World Health Organization (WHO) has not certified any beverage or supplement named GRACIA LATTE or its results. The certificates are introduced as the certifications of the product in different countries, but the details are unclear; hence, we cannot confirm that they are certified. Our investigation confirmed that there is no data of research or report regarding this product or its clinical tests in the countries mentioned above or the International Center of Human Health Advancement Foundation (ICHHA).

In addition, we could find another weight loss drink in Costa Rica with a similar name. This product also has no approval or certification from the official institutions regarding this. Archived Link | Archived Link

No doctor named Dr. Mahesh Attanayake is in the Sri Lanka Nutrition Society!

Furthermore, the Garcia web page mentions that the head consultant of Sri Lanka Nutrition Society, Dr. Mahesh Attanayaka, who has about 50 years of experience in the field, has given an excellent recommendation on this product. He says, “This latest weight loss treatment would result in many of my work colleagues losing jobs. Anyhow, this definitely will be great news to overweight people.”

“This is an important new herbal treatment for losing 5 to 7 kilograms a week without any exercise, diet plan, or danger to health.” This is the quote from Dr. Mahesh Attanayake on the page.

wellnesssavings.shop | Archived Link

So, we searched for the above-mentioned special interview with Dr. Mahesh Attanayake. However, we could not find such an interview on any platform, and we could not get any information regarding a doctor who matches the above details.

So, we searched for the photo introduced as Dr. Mahesh Attanayake’s in Reverse Image search.

The results show that this doctor is Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Director and Head of Orthopedic and Joint Replacement Surgeon at Max Vaishali Healthcare Hospital, New Delhi, India. His photo was misused on this webpage as a nutritionist in Sri Lanka.

Maxhealthcare.in

Here, here and here is more information on Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Archived Link

Also, the comments on this product page speak of a medical consultant named Dr. Ahamed. Sharif.

We Reverse-Image searched for this photo of the doctor as well. This photo was found in an article on a Russian website. According to the details, the person in this photo is Ayurvedic Dr Kieran Anand.

ayurveda.ru | Archived Link

President of the Nutrition Society Sri Lanka

We contacted the president of the Nutrition Society Sri Lanka, Dr Ananda Chandrasekara (Senior Professor, Applied Nutrition Department, Wayamba University), to ascertain whether there is any nutritionist named Dr. Mahesh Attanayake.

Dr. Ananda Chandrasekara confirmed that there is no nutritionist named Dr. Mahesh Attanayake in the Sri Lanka Nutrition Society, and he has not heard of a nutrition expert with that name before.

Is it possible to lose weight by just having food or drink?

We asked Dr Chandrasekara if there is any possibility of losing weight by just eating or drinking without any other weight loss activities. The professor said that this product was totally fake and that it was impossible. According to nutritionists, exercising, dieting or surgery for weight loss are the only ways to lose body weight. Without these methods, no food or drink alone could lose body weight. If some product is tried to be sold with such comments, it can be easily recognised as a scam or fraud.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

The Federal Trade Commission has created an awareness video on the truth behind the advertisements on weight loss products, which say that you can lose weight without a diet plan or exercise.

For any disease, infection, or health issue, it is important not to get any supplement or remedy without the recommendation of a doctor or an expert in the field. The side effects can be more harmful than we expect sometimes. Especially when you find such a post on social media, verifying those data before trusting them is very important. Otherwise, using them with no recommendation or confirmation may harm your health and well-being.

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