Pill claims weight loss with no diet

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Akavar 20/50, a pill produced in Salt Lake City, has become the most recent product to advertise weight loss with no diet or exercise.

The product's manufacturer, Dynakor Pharmacal, claims in TV, print and Internet ads that it facilitates weight loss while allowing users to consume as much food as they choose, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Dynakor cited statistics that appear to have been taken from a 2001 report featured in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, a publication of the British Dietetic Association, which found that a group of people taking three herbs -- yerba mate, guarana and damiana -- lost an average of 11 pounds in 45 days while the placebo group lost nearly no weight.

However, the study is described as a "short report."

"That can be a designation for a preliminary report that is about something interesting," Catherine Collins, chief dietitian at St. George's Hospital in London, the Times said. "It can indicate further, scientifically robust study is needed."

The Federal Trade Commission wouldn't say if an investigation into the substance is pending.