10 Overhyped Health Products

By Leslie Quander Wooldridge for U.S. News Health

You see these items on store shelves and on TV, but don't buy into the hype. These 10 over-the-counter products aren't always worth your money -- and some can cause health problems instead of treating them.

RATE IT!   |  

VOTE

I'd still use this.

Totally overhyped!

CURRENT TOP 5 PICK YOUR OWN TOP 5

USERS WHO VOTED

NEW! CREATE YOUR OWN SLIDESHOW

For more on wellness, click here.

Comments

[DJ BugnHard]

09:14 AM on 03/04/2012

This is what I did over 15 years ago on my own. I cut out beef, pork, white sugar, commercial salt, black pepper, ALL fried foods, white flour (anything that contains it), alcohol (except for wine), all juices that came out of a bottle or carton, soda, junk food, cut back tremendously on dairy. I ate chicken and seafood. Broiled, boiled or baked. cane sugar, brown rice wheat bread, increased veggies and fruits, juices made in front of me, water, water,water and exercises . the result? i lost 20 pounds, slept 4 hours a nite (no alarm clock, 1am-5am), i was full of energy, was growing hair where it fell off, my skin cleared up, my eyesight got better, my urine wasn't bright yellow. So I said " I'm ok now. let me go back to the way i used to eat". the result? i gained weight, I'm always tired, my hair fell off where it was growing back, my skin is always dry, i can't read a thing without glasses, my urine is as bright as a yellow taxi. I'm already going back to the way I used to eat when i got healthy....

[Felicia Hunter]

01:23 AM on 03/04/2012

8 out of 10 people do not eat a single vegetable or fruit in a day. So do not stop taking your multi vitamin because most likely you do not eat healthy enough to get daily value of everything. I take separate vitamins, not a multi and I eat very healthy and make every meal at home. It does make you feel a heck of a lot better

[dbeso]

02:15 AM on 03/07/2012

Where are you getting that 8/10 figure from?

[michael medeiros]

10:39 PM on 03/03/2012

Often we worry more about how we look on the outside and not on the inside. Proper nutrition can lead to looking and feeling healthier better than any product.

Exercise and Nutrition Tips
http://exerciseandnutritiontips.com

[Dubagee]

09:11 PM on 03/03/2012

Whoops! Totally use expensive moisturizer and take multivitamins! Oh and I def use eye drops when my eyes are itchy, they do help when it comes to that!!

http://youtu.be/_UHQQ2KX3Ys
http://gigieatscelebrities.com

[1swimmom]

11:19 AM on 03/03/2012

All of those are worthless, and toxic.

[JScott]

10:09 AM on 03/03/2012

Never found any use to buy any of these, I mean gender specific that's obvious but the others, never found the need. To sanitize your toothbrush just put it in the dishwasher.

[sljslj]

08:27 AM on 03/03/2012

echinacea CAN and DOES work. taken judiciously - when you are around someone with a cold/flu, or if you feel symptoms coming on yourself, and only for up to a maximum of 2 weeks at a time when necessary (NOT daily like a vitamin pill) - then i myself have found that at least 70% of the time, it kills the infection and i feel better/cured. or if i do get a cold, the symptoms are shortened and far less bothersome

just putting that out there. not all 'experts' are experts

[catmagnet]

01:46 PM on 03/03/2012

Ah, and we should just trust a random HuffPo poster? No thanks.

[melefty]

06:31 AM on 03/03/2012

Hm every HP slideshow displays some concert pictures on my iphone for the past few months..

[pepper1311]

05:14 AM on 03/03/2012

Read 'brandWashed', we have all be sold a bill of goods.

[jonesadam32]

01:33 AM on 03/03/2012

Wow, such misinformation. especially the part about vitamin c causing Kidney stones, just not true.

[Fromageball]

10:38 AM on 03/03/2012

Do you have a source?

[jonesadam32]

12:59 PM on 03/03/2012

http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v01n07.shtml
http://www.helpyourselfcommunity.org/features/does-high-dose-vitamin-c-cause-kidney-stones
http://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/misc/ascorbate-lies.htm
http://www.doctoryourself.com/kidney.html
http://www.doctoryourself.com/kidney.html

1) Hickey S. Roberts H. (2004) Ascorbate: the Science of Vitamin C, Lulu press.

2) Hickey S. Roberts H. (2004) Ridiculous Dietary Allowance, Lulu press.

3) McCormick W.J. (1946) Lithogenesis and hypovitaminosis, Medical Record, 159, 410-413.

4) Curhan, G. C., Willett, W. C., Speizer, F. E., Stampfer, M. J. (1999) Megadose Vitamin C consumption does not cause kidney stones. Intake of vitamins B6 and C and the risk of kidney stones in women, J Am Soc Nephrol., Apr, 10, 4, 840-845.

5) Curhan G.C. Willett W.C. Rimm E.B. Stampfer M.J. (1996) A prospective study of the intake of vitamins C and B6, and the risk of kidney stones in men, J Urol, 155(6), 1847-1851.

6) Chalmers A.H, Cowley DM, Brown J.M. (1986) A possible etiological role for ascorbate in calculi formation, Clin Chem, 32(2), 333-336.

7) Massey L.K. Liebman M. Kynast-Gales S.A. (2005) Ascorbate increases human oxaluria and kidney stone risk, J Nutr, 135(7), 1673-1677.

8) Tiselius H.G. (2000) Stone incidence and formation, Clinical Urology 26(5), 452-462.

[Felicia Hunter]

01:24 AM on 03/04/2012

your body will actually only absorb the amount of vitamin c that it needs that urinate the rest of it out

[bje106]

11:36 PM on 03/02/2012

My grandmother lived to be 103, she used vasoline on her face everyday & she had the smoothest
skin youever wanted to see/touch. Now, I use vasoline everyday and ny skin is wrinkle free and very smooth. I am 73 years young, everyone can't beleive I'm that old from the looks of my face

You take a hot washcloth and rub over face & neck, then you rub a little vasoline on face & neck
and put the hot washcloth back on face & neck again and rub upward. That's your facial treatment everyday and feel the difference on your skin.

[pepper1311]

05:13 AM on 03/03/2012

It's made from oil, like fuel oil!

[1ifhtims]

11:30 PM on 03/02/2012

I think a really big problem is how many people don't even bother to wash their hands -at ALL. Antibacterial or not, have you ever been in a multi-stall womens bathroom, and noticed how many women either fly out of the stall and run right out of the bathroom, or do the half a second sprinkle of water, grab a paper towel, and leave?? Yuck. I actually heard one woman I work with tell another coworker "I don't wash my hands after using the bathroom because I don't touch myself". Really?? I'm glad to not be sitting at her desk. People don't realize that even if you are not touching yourself, people eath with their hands, sneeze and cough on them, pick up garbage, and yes, some do inadvertently touch themselves while using the bathroom (and I am sure any woman on here has unfortunately bore witness to some of the horrors left in bathroom stalls by other "women"). All of these people are then touching the door to the bathroom, the bathroom stall doors, and the sink handles. I always think that no matter what you are going to the bathroom for, its always a great excuse to wash your hands. Antibacterial or not, just wash those hands well and regularly, and you will stave off more colds, infections, and viruses than any other method could.

[JScott]

10:06 AM on 03/03/2012

That Seinfeld epi.

Yup on more than occasion while in the stall, I hear someone finish doin their biz, then I don't hear the faucet, just a door closing and I hope they are not an employee esp. in a restaurant.
Even tho in LA County public restrooms have a sign posted that employees must wash their hands after doing their biz.

[catmagnet]

01:48 PM on 03/03/2012

If you actually traveled outside of LA County, you'd notice that sign in most restaurants all over the country.

[gardenmom]

08:34 PM on 03/02/2012

the only time i truely use antibacterial soap is after gym time/ my daughters tumble class/ or anytime me or my family is in contact with other people excersizing. i dont want their ick on me and i would hope they would do the same.

[hilndpuppy]

09:05 PM on 03/02/2012

warm water and soap used properly will do the same thing. Wet soap & put on hands. Rub hands and sing the Happy Birthday song, then rub while rinsing and sing the song again. Then rub dry with a towel singing again.

[DirtyLiberal]

08:28 PM on 03/02/2012

.

[gerimd]

08:22 PM on 03/02/2012

Oh wait, I don't need antiperspirant for my chest? Or a special product to make my armpits soft?