Internet celebrities often promote different products on their social media accounts, especially their Instagram profiles. Do to their high number of followers, they can command fees of between $3,000 to $250,000 per post. This sort of money can tempt celebrities to endorse products they haven’t researched.
Unfortunately, this is the case with the trendy herbal detox teas that are supposed to help you lose weight. These teas have been found to be little more than laxatives.
The active ingredient in most of these teas is called “senna”, which is also the active ingredient in Ex-Lax, one of the most popular laxatives on sale today.
Senna is considered by experts to be an effective natural laxative. However, there is no evidence to recommend it for weight loss. In fact, there is evidence that habitual usage of laxatives can be one of the behaviors comprising an eating disorder. The companies that make these teas, however, are not about to admit any of these things.
Often, the companies say that the teas are essentially laxatives, but disguise this in words that suggest other functions. The word “detox” for example, doesn’t necessarily bring to mind the effects of a laxative. These companies know how to bend the truth to make it sound good for their product without actually lying. And the Instagrammers making money off of endorsing these products? They either don’t know what they are promoting or they don’t care.Most people in the know about this matter feel that the Instragrammers are simply trying to make a quick buck and not knowingly promote a harmful product. However, this doesn’t mean that they are entirely without blame. If they are going to put their name behind something, they should research it first. Natural diet and simple exercise are almost always better than a trendy product, but these practices don’t get as many likes on Instagram.Featured photo credit: Pablo.buffer.com via pablo.buffer.com