FALSE: Lishou helps consumers lose weight in two weeks

At a glance

• Claim: Food supplement Lishou will help consumers lose weight in just two weeks.
• Rating: FALSE
• The facts: Lishou is not registered with the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Several studies concluded that caloric restriction partnered with exercise is the best way to achieve weight loss.
• Why we fact-checked this: The post with this claim has over 4,100 reactions, 2,100 comments, and 504,000 views on Facebook, as of writing.

Complete details

A video posted on June 24 by the Facebook page “Lose Weight in 2 Weeks with Lishou 10” claims that a product named Lishou can help its consumers lose weight in just two weeks.

This claim is false.

Lishou is not registered with the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is not on their list of approved food and drug products.

Research published by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the American Journal of Physiology (AJP) says that the process of weight loss can only occur when an individual expends more calories than what is consumed by the body, known as a caloric deficit.

This is supported by research published by the Institute of Medicine (US) Subcommittee on Military Weight Management that says caloric deficit can be achieved through nutritionally balanced, hypocaloric diets. The research says “individuals need only to follow the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Guide Pyramid” to achieve the deficit.

Another study published by the NLM on the role of exercise in weight loss and maintenance notes that, although exercise is important and can cause “modest weight loss,” caloric restriction still has profound and consistent effects compared to exercise alone. The study concludes that doing both exercise and caloric restriction is the best way to achieve weight loss. 

Other products named “Lishou” were flagged by the Australian Government Department of Health Therapeutic Goods Administration and the US Food and Drug Administration for containing sibutramine, a prescription-only medicine removed from the market in October 2010 after a study showed that its consumption could lead to “major cardiac events.” The TGA also declared Lishou illegal since it contains undisclosed sibutramine.– Lorenz Pasion/Rappler.com

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. You may also report dubious claims to #FactsFirstPH tipline by messaging Rappler on Facebook or Newsbreak via Twitter direct message. You may also report through our Viber fact check chatbot. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.