SCAM ALERT: E-Factor Diet Shrinks Your Wallet

E-Factor Diet is a  so-called diet currently being peddled on the Internet.  Its slick website ask for the “low price” of $47 for what appears to be an ebook or a “program” that “guarantees” weight loss.  This is a textbook version of the numerous other  infoscams that have infected the Web over the last six years.  E-Factor is seizing upon histamine as the new food villain to be avoided at all costs………actually at a cost to you of $47.  Of course, it claims that the retail value of the deal is over $200.   But the real catch is hidden in the pitch is:  “Join The Mission“.  (More about this later).  Like so many of its scammy ilk, the E-Factor Diet is overcharging you for scientifically dubious information.

If this claim looks familiar, it probably is — it is almost identical to other questionable diet offerings also hawked on the Internet — and it was probably conjured up by the same marketers.   In some cases, one marketer may be offering a host of related products.  Here’s how it works:  you are treated to a videomercial that touts the “proven way to lose weight;  many of them are targeted specifically at women.   Is it a scam?   Is it a rip-off?  Does it work?   You’ll never find out, largely because of an increasingly pernicious Internet industry that uses fake product review sites to hide customer reactions.   So, should you spend the $47?   We recommend not, for the following reasons:

1.  There’s a reason this sales pitch is slick — they spend a lot of marketing money to get it to you.   Who is paying for that?  You are.   And, like many scammers, they are using Clickbank to sell their ebook so don’t assume you’ll get a refund.  “Rock solid guarantee”…..don’t bet on it.   The scammers bet on the fact that most consumers won’t seek refunds until after the 60-day period expires.   In fact, they count on it.   Moreover, they are betting on their ability to “upsell” you.   This is marketing-speak for efforts to sell you more than you want or need.   And you can bet that the E-Factor Diet will be doing some heavy upselling of other products and services.

2.  If you look for a review of the product, you are deluged with lots of fake review or “scam” sites that simply direct you to the main sales site or offer some officious pablum talking about how the product is highly rated or recommended.   The marketers for this service large commissions for any referrals they generate.   So these “affiliate marketers” create create fake review sites which effectively thwart any customer who is looking for real reviews.   It is also a tactic to obscure any customers who have posted complaints or alerts about fraudulent claims.  This affiliate marketing trick makes it very difficult for consumers to detect this and other such scams,  As one persevering blogger has noted, scam artists rely upon these fraudulent reviewers to be using tags like:  “does it work?”, “is it a scam?” or “verified review” to suck unsuspecting consumers into this fraud.    Here’s a page from the affiliate promotion page detailing what the fake review sites will be paid if they direct unsuspecting consumers to the E-Factor lair:

The Inside Scoop About Histamines

There is serious scientific debate over whether low-histamine diets actually are healthy for you.  It is far from settled-science.  Foods that contain histamines include all fermented foods (cheese, sauerkraut, kim chee, tofu etc), spinach, eggplant and other nutrient-rich foods;  all of these should be included in a healthy diet.   Other foods that trigger histamines response in your body include: chocolate, red wine, eggs, shrimp and a number of other foods that many nutritionists would say are the foundation for a healthy living.    While some people do have strong allergic response to some foods (which prompts the bodies to produce histamine responses),  the vast majority of people do not have that strong allergic reaction.    Histamines are, in fact, an important part of your body’s immune response system.

Histamine is a tiny messaging molecule that some cells use to communicate with each other.  It is naturally found in all kinds of plants and animals.  Histamine is best known for its role in the body’s allergic response.  If you are allergic to a food or outside stimulus  (e.g. bee sting)  your immune cells will flood your system with histamine.   For some people who suffer from a strong allergic reaction, the histamine release will wreak all kinds of havoc–from hives to low blood pressure to difficulty breathing.  But this is histamine in crisis mode.  Under normal circumstances, tiny amounts of histamine are quietly conducting the daily business of the body.  In fact, histamines are essential for regulating body functions as diverse as digestion, sleep, sexual function, blood pressure, and brain function.  How does this one molecule do so many different things?  The secret to histamine’s multi-faceted nature lies in which type of cell and which type of receptor it binds to.  For example, when histamine binds to special cells in the stomach called parietal cells, they respond by producing stomach acid.  When histamine binds to receptors on the surface of blood vessel cells, blood vessels dilate, dropping blood pressure. Small vessels called capillaries become leaky and fluids ooze out of them, which can lead to runny nose, watery eyes, and puffy skin/fluid retention.  In the brain, histamine acts as a neurotransmitter, carrying chemical messages between nerve cells.

So are you histamine intolerant?   According to an authoritative 2007 review article, histamine intolerance affects about 1% of the population, and 80% of those affected are middle-aged.  The majority are women.   If you believe you are histamine intolerant, you should get this confirmed by a physician and then, and only then, begin a histamine-restricted diet.   There’s plenty of good information about histamine intolerance if you are interested.

OUR SUGGESTION:  Use Free Proven Weight Loss Plans Available on the Web

The vast majority of reputable health studies show that quick weight loss pills and potions simply don’t work.  If you are serious about exploring a diet aid, check out these free and reputable dieting and weight-loss resources for you on the Net:

Smart for Life

Livestrong Diet –  Aims for a loss of about 1-2 pounds per week.

GM Diet  –  It’s not really a General Motors-designed diet plan.  It’s actually a short one-week detox program.   But it could be a useful starter to a major personal diet reboot.  Linora Low gives a helpful (and free)  step-by-step video and written guide to how to do this detox program.

The Lose Weight Diet –  It does what many of the diet scammers do (take free  information and distill it down to 3 easily understood phases) but he actually offers it for free!

Mayo Clinic – This  free and reputable website contains scientifically verifiable diet information.  Then follow-up with your doctor to make sure that the diet you’ve chosen will work for you.

Contrahealthscam recommends Truth From Within (Truth About Keto.  It claims that this program by Brad Pilon is designed specifically for women in response to the 2017 keto craze that left a lot of women in hormonal disrepair. So if you are a woman who wants to lose weight the right way, Truth from Within is something you should try.   It also recommends Eat Stop Eat, also by Brad Pilon has been studied extensively and has stood the test of time.

And if you are serious about wanting to shed some pounds, begin by going to the Mayo Clinic’s free and reputable website.  The medical experts at the Clinic have fashioned a thoughtful and time-tested plan that has worked for untold numbers of people. Effective weight loss requires you to master the habits, urges, and feelings that rule our lives.   It’s really all about learning more about your impulses.  Once you do, you can create your “new” normal and the pounds will begin to disappear.

Our Bottom Line

Avoid John Rowley’s “mission”.   His mission is, in reality, to get you to spend $47 on a dubious diet and to get you locked into all of the other things that he’s planning to sell you.   Importantly, you don’t have to spend your good money to get information about how to lose weight or to create a histamine-restricted diet; it’s already available on the Net at a fraction of the cost of most weight loss schemes.  Save your hard-earned money.  And beware ANY Net-based sales pitch that has uncredentialed, slick video presentations with no independent reviews. It may not be a scam, but it is probably a rip-off because it is overpriced for what it is offering.

One additional warning:  once you give them your money, you’ll be tagged as “meat”.  Once they know that you’ll fall for this pitch, the same marketers will be coming back to you over and over and over for other such pitches.  So understand that if you pay these marketers anything….let alone $30…..they’ll continue to hound you with more slick schemes designed to prey on your fears and concerns.  Don’t open your door or wallet to them.