If you’ve been around the blog or our office for any length of time, you know that we are passionate about practicing principled chiropractic. We feel quite strongly that chiropractors should only practice chiropractic and should not claim expertise or offer additional products and services beyond adjustments. Unfortunately, not all chiropractors feel this way, and many of them have attempted to manipulate the market by selling things to practice members outside of chiropractic care.

One thing that some chiropractors offer is weight loss products or programs, and we view this as a red flag. Here are a few reasons why.

Weight Loss Products Rarely Work

First of all, let’s talk about the obvious: weight loss products rarely work. They are like fad diets that come and go and very infrequently produce actual results. Even if a product helps you lose weight quickly, as many claim, the long-term effects of dropping weight fast can be detrimental to your health. Additionally, most weight loss products don’t offer long-term support for maintaining weight loss.

Safety Is Key

Depending on what the weight loss products are, safety may be a serious concern. Many contain herbs and supplements that have not been studied thoroughly or are newer to the market. Without an in-depth knowledge of weight loss products and their ingredients, along with the expertise in how those ingredients, health concerns and severe side effects are possible. Keep in mind that many weight loss products were once thought of as safe but have since been removed from shelves due to concerns with cardiovascular effects, liver damage, and more.

Medical Supervision Is Important

If you are taking a weight loss product, pill, or supplement, you should be under the care of a medical doctor and perhaps even a nutritionist or dietician. You need someone to keep track of your stats, your overall weight loss, and more. You need someone who will be a sounding board for your concerns and who will be able to help you if something goes awry. Chiropractors are not experts in medical weight loss or weight loss supplements, and you really need supervision from someone with an appropriate specialty. 

Lack of Expertise in Weight Loss

As mentioned above, chiropractors don’t have expertise in weight loss. In order to sell someone on a weight loss product or program, it needs to be something unique and exclusive, which often leads to supplements, diet plans, workout plans, and more. Chiropractors are not experts in any of those things. Even general nutrition and diet advice should be sought from a registered dietician or a qualified nutritionist rather than your chiropractor. While chiropractors do take nutrition classes in school, they do not hold the same level of knowledge as an expert in the field and should not be your first go-to for weight loss insight.

If you are looking for a solution to your weight concerns, we applaud you. It’s an honorable thing to get your health under control and take steps toward achieving better health. We encourage you to seek out assistance from a medical professional, nutritionist, or dietician who can help you in your journey. If you need quality chiropractic care in Charlotte, you can trust Dr. Grant Lisetor and the team at Greater Life Chiropractic.