[JohnP]

Jillian Michaels has become what I dispise most about the weight loss industry.

This is a SIMPLE topic. The diet industry makes it confusing because that is how you make $$$. The ridiculous claims about shampoo are not surprising at all.

They rolled a truckload of money up to her driveway and she sold out.

I don't find her coaching style objectionable at all. It's the BS marketing claims that anger me.

[Nola Celeste]

Originally Posted by memyselfni

First anyone who thinks your skin cant absorb something thru it then why does the nicoteen patch work so well for smokers? Why can you put a patch on your hip to prevent pregnancy? How can your rub wild yam estrogen cream on your hands as directed to help with menopause?

I never said that there was no such thing as trans-dermal medication. But two of those things are drugs recognized by the medical community and the third is a folk remedy that remains unproven. And while you're right that handling garlic or using henna (my research showed more information about natural dyes staining urine than artificial ones) can turn something a funny smell or color, those things don't have an effect on physiology. It's no more dangerous than eating beets and carrots and seeing the funny colors they produce in the potty.

Molecules have physical characteristics that limit where they go and what they do. Big honkin' proteins don't make it through skin while smaller molecules like nicotine do. A toy poodle fits through a doggie door that a Great Dane can't enter. In this case, JM claims that entire herds of elephants are squeezing through that little doggie door every time we wash our hair.

There is no science to back this up. By what mechanism would large molecules move through skin? We've evolved to have fairly impermeable skin; if we didn't, we'd be susceptible to poisoning every time we waded across a stream or touched a toxic plant.

You just proved my point that substances that affect the body's function when taken in through the skin are called drugs, not beauty products.

[memyselfni]

I stand corrected on that one Manndalinn82, thanks for clarifying that...I couldnt find it anywhhere on the other products I looked at and thought it may have been a misunderstanding...I see it is in fact true.

[memyselfni]

Like I posted I still use platics, lotions ect... I do try and limit it though. I think that there are many people who are extreem in what they believe as far as the enviromental factors and our health. She is more extreem than most, but my point is I think its wrong to write her off as some quack just b/c of her views on make up on skin. In her book she goes on and on about eating healthy unprocessed foods, eating whole foods and enjoying more foods that are organic. To me this is like the tosca reno Eating clean book, except isnt of dummed down with pictures and simple facts, this is the explanation of WHY and HOW it all works. I know from my own experienec that eating clean really does work and my body responds crazy and out of wack when binge on some processed crap now. So I can see the difference from what I used to eat to how I eat now. I guess what I am trying to get at is yes, she chose to market herself for stupid diet pills and yes on Biggest Loser she throws in thosse dumb ads for progresso soup and so on (because she is contracted to do those I am sure) but it doesnt take away from some of the best points of her Master Your Metabolism book.

Its like Atkins...people say he's a quack but as extreem as he was he managed to grab hold of our attention and at least break the mold for our thinking that all fat is bad and low cal low fat was all it took to lose weight. He made us look at the truth behind cals in and cals out and changed the diet industry. yet in many ways you can say he cashed in on some stuff too just in a different way. Look at all those marketed Atkins products including the one and only milk your "allowed to have" Atkins milk. But it doesnt take away from his science and what he brought to our attention.

I think Jillian makes great points and I like her whole food eating advice. I dont think it would harm any of us if we switched over to more organic products both in and out of the kitchen..if thats not your slice of pie then forgo all the enviro stuff...but just FYI she is def not the only one to make such claims and some people get super super into it (heard of Dr Mercola?) and make her approach seem a lot more normal. Many people try to avoid toxins...shes onee of them and yes she believes that an overload of chemicals in out house mess with our hormones and can lead to weight gain.