Dirty Rotten Tricks Video #3: The Funky Nomenclature Trick
The third video in the Dirty Rotten Tricks series covers something I like to call the “funky nomenclature” trick. Yes, I could call it something a little more accessible, but I have to confess… I like “funky nomenclature”.
Anyhow, if you’re sitting there scratching your head and wondering what the heck I am going on about, let me get to the point…
“Funky nomenclature” really means nothing more than using uncommon labeling when disclosing a product’s ingredients. There are a couple of reasons for this…
- Consumers tend to be more impressed by “scientific sounding” ingredients they can’t identify, than “run of the mill” ones they can.
- By using less familiar terms on the product label, manufacturers can make very ordinary products seem “revolutionary”.
- Impressive looking and sounding ingredients give consumers the impression a product is on the cutting edge of scientific research.
- It makes it more difficult for consumers to investigate product ingredients by analyzing existing scientific data.
Here’s a perfect example…
What looks more impressive on a label?
a) Caffeine
Or…
b) 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine
Or…
c) 3,7-Dihydro-1,3,7-trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione
Of course, “b” and “c” look much more impressive, despite the fact that they are simply different, less common ways of labeling caffeine.
Other notable examples? Using…
- Camellia sinensis instead of green tea.
- Cis-9, Trans 11 isomer and Trans 10, Cis-12 isomer instead of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).
- 2-Aminoglutaramic acid instead of L-Glutamine.
- 3-Beta-Hydroxyetioallocholan-5-Ene-17-One instead of DHEA.
- 4-Hydroxyphenylalanine instead of L-Tyrosine.
- 6,8-Thioctic Acid instead of alpha lipoic acid.
There are a million examples of this sort of thing gracing the product labels of just about every type of supplement on the market. All you have to do is pick up a couple and look.
At the end of the day, the moral of the story is a simple one…
Just because a product’s label looks impressive, with unidentifiable ingredients, doesn’t mean it is anything but ordinary.
And it certainly does not mean it is on the cutting edge of weight loss research or that it’s going to be any more effective.
