When looking for new things to try to treat your chronic illness it’s common to come across a lot of products that are marketed as being very beneficial.
Some could be summed up as ; “Clears up all your symptoms! A miracle cure for the low price of 9.99 per month!”
Or ; “Studies show this new ultra nutritious ingredient is amazing, it costs a lot but it’s worth it for your health!”
You’ll see these type of products over and over again, maybe not as obviously fraudulent, but you get the idea.
It’s just a fact that the marketing of many products leads to over promising various benefits, especially in the health product industry where the placebo effect can be enough of a benefit to some people that they’ll stick with a product for a long time.
There’s also health fads, which are trends or practices that gain popularity within the realm of health and wellness but are often characterized by their lack of scientific evidence or long-term effectiveness. These fads can include diets, exercise regimens, supplements, or wellness practices that promise quick fixes or miraculous results but may not be sustainable or beneficial for overall health in the long run. Examples of health fads include detox diets, juice cleanses, extreme exercise programs, and unproven supplements touted as miracle cures.
Health fads often promote unproven or extreme practices, risking individuals’ health by neglecting balanced approaches backed by scientific evidence. They can also foster unrealistic expectations and perpetuate harmful attitudes towards food and body image.
People get desperate when they are chronically ill, desperate for a cure. Pushed into this corner, they’ll often try anything, even if there’s no solid evidence or scientific proof of a tangible benefit.
Supplements are often promoted with exaggerated claims of health benefits, exploiting consumers’ desire for quick fixes and leading to unnecessary expenses and potential health risks due to unregulated ingredients and misleading information.
You can end up spending a fortune on supplements for absolutely no benefit at all, and in the worst scenario, you could even worsen your health with them.
The issue is that we can get hooked on looking for cures, and lose sight of any strategy for improving our health. The nature of chronic illness means you can both easily lose hope and easily get your hopes up. After a long time, it’s normal to start to dampen your expectations, you stop believing anything and focus only on results. The problem in this development is that you generally lose patience and scrutinize everything.
Being sceptical is good but you can cause issues with your health strategy by having standards that are too high. Realistically, even if something gives you a 1% improvement, in a way it can be worth it based on the price. If something gives you a placebo effect for a cheap price, that’s also probably worth it.
The issue you need to avoid is spending too much and putting too much hope in “the next thing”. Too many times I’ve been convinced by something new, and it often follows the same pattern; you read about something new, you get your hopes up, spend a lot of money to order it and then you suffer through trialling it. Finally you eventually realise it doesn’t work and you’re back at square one.
Whether it’s with a new health fad, a new supplement, a new treatment or an article promising the cure is on the way, you have to temper your expectations and look at things realistically. An instant cure sounds great, but we know it’s unlikely. Just keep hoping for improvements, even slight ones sometimes and evaluate them strategically.
