Hoodia is an ancient supplement proven to ward off appetite during long journeys. That’s at least what the packaging for The Ice Cube Diet touts.
While shopping the frozen food section the other night at my local market, I couldn’t help but notice this very attractive packaging among the Lean Cuisines and the organic peas. But paying for diet ice cubes? Isn’t that what water is all about?
First, I give them credit for getting out of the diet aisle and into the freezer. But what caught my attention the most is that they suggest that eating an ice cube with this South African ingredient is a natural way for quick and easy weight loss. Ahhh, the two most damaging words in the category.
While we know that women looking to lose weight don’t want to give up what they love to get results (see our post on Taco Bell’s Drive Thru Diet), this product seems to be stuck in the Half Truth land of believing women want miracles and will pay upwards of $65 at the hope of one. Women know better. Of course they’ll say they wish there was a magic pill but the Whole Truth is that the skeptic inside wants proof, results, data (and maybe a celebrity endorsement) before believing an ice cube from South Africa is going to make all the difference.
Tags: Drive Thru Diet, Ice Cube Diet, Taco Bell, Weight Loss
Hi Tracy
First I want to thank you for writing about the Ice Cube Diet. I am glad you were taken by the aesthetics and the by our courageous voyage from the diet aisle to the freezer. But it seems that we have not done well communicating the substance of our product; so, for the benefit of your readers, please allow me to give it another shot.
While I admit that the Ice Cube Diet is easy, nowhere on the package or the website do we claim that is it quick. In fact our package states the opposite: “The ICE CUBE DIET helps you adjust your caloric intake for gradual weight loss and maintain your current weight, avoiding the diet seesaw”. Hoodia is a glycoside rich food, it communicates to the brain that we satiated and therefore it allows us to better control the portions we eat.
Another important fact about the Ice Cube Diet is that it is made from raw Hoodia, fresh plant material crushed and frozen, with a splash of lemon juice and a natural sweetener. It is not a pill and in no way is it made of water with some “ingredients”.
To answer the skeptic we actually did a home use study with 111 women who reported an average 4.5LBS loss in 40 days. The study was conducted by an independent market research firm (details in our website). Furthermore we are in the midst of a clinical study with Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem testing the Hoodia effect on symptoms of the metabolic syndrome (read this: http://hadassah-med.com/English/Eng_MainNavBar/News/Press+messages/Cactus+Extract.htm)
Lastly the price: a tray of the Ice Cube Diet sells for $34.99 in health food stores in Manhattan and Brooklyn and a little less in NJ ShopRite stores. The $65 price tag is for 2 trays which is the minimum quantity that is available online.