You said excuse my hair and I was just going to say how much I liked it like that 😅

I had tape worm when I was around 7 years old and it was EXTREMELY unpleasant, I was so uncomfortable and ill from it. I would never in a million years infect myself on purpose, not to mention that you'd be putting everyone else in your household at risk too.

I am 57. This has been going on forever. I remember when it was Phentermine. People only care about what people look like, and it will only continue to kill. I commend you for addressing this, and I love your introduction.

as a chemistry student, seeing the 2,4-dinitrophenol is WILD, i’m so used to it in a lab setting that seeing it in this context made me do a double take lol

these were already so sad and horrific to think about, but the tapeworm story actually reminded me of something just as terrible on the exact opposite end of the spectrum: a friend of a friend was attempting a "detox" and ended up... taking several coffee enemas for weeks. they later sent out pics of their actual literal shit in the toilet saying "look at this huge worm i just passed from my detox!" and my friend eventually had to tell them like dude, that's not a parasite you had... that's straight up part of your intestinal lining. 🤢 the things we do in the name of "health", like pretending that being thin automatically makes you healthy...

I recently went through quite a bad kidney infection that made me lose a bunch of weight rapidly because I was not eating much at all. I took time off work and then when everyone saw my noticeable weight loss they congratulated me. However I told them it was because I was sick and it's actually worrying me that I'm still shedding pounds. Yet they would all mostly say that maybe it was worth it.

The problem imo starts with how nasty people can be. More often than not, people will judge others for being overweight. It's not your body. You don't know them or their lives. If that person can't change something about themselves in less than 5 seconds, shut your mouth.

I remember an ex-friend of mine trying to get me to do a diet with her and thought it was a good idea until she told me it was to essentially starve myself for 2 weeks and only consume water and supplement pills. I was like, "That's not a diet, that's just starving yourself like you're on a deserted island. That's going to damage your body." She told me that it was ok, that many people have done it, and after you finish the "diet" you need to eat soft food like soup to train your stomach to eat again. I told her that's literally the medical treatment given to survivors who've been lost in the wilderness and nearly starved to death. Needless to say, I did not partake and found out later she had multiple eating disorders. We had just graduated high school. A lot more education and therapy should be given to minors about the dangers of these "diets".

Your wavy hair was actually a vibe. It looked so fluffy and voluminous.

The only time we tried diet teas is when my sister was severely constipated. I knew the whole point of those 'weight loss' teas was to make you poo, so I bought them. She said no dice for days, but then she came to me and said she had a whole new relationship with the toilet. Cured her constipation, but she has never touched them again 😂

I'm so glad you did this james,I was a big runner,weighed 7 and a half stone. Very fit..Started to take thermabol daily,just to give me a boost. Had my first 2 strokes due to caffeine content being so high.i couldn't walk for 6 months. I had undiagnosed heart issues. Didn't know. Ive learned to love my body now,curves are normal ❤meditation helped this..I love the way your not afraid to talk about sensitive subjects.Its shocking how easily led we are for a quick fix . 👏👏👏

For the first time in my life, this year I've had a good relationship with food, my body and exercise. The culture around diet products are often so unhealthy- I've thankfully never fallen into the trap of these dangerous teas and supplements, but it's so important to discuss these topics. To anyone else struggling with body image etc, please know that things can change for the better, and recovery is definitely worth it.

The worst part about tapeworms is they dig into your intestinal lining with their "teeth" (mouthparts) and this can damage it pretty badly. Even after you "poo" it out 😂😂😂😂 it can leave lasting damage to your gastrointestinal tract.

To my shame, I got sucked into buying a teatox at the height of marketing. I only took them for a couple of days before researching them and realising the amount of 'tea babies' women had had due to the tea interfering with the OCP, I absolutely freaked out lol

I had anorexia years back and it started from this diet pill called "garcinia combodia". My parents found those one day and asked me if I was doing drugs. Idk if it did anything to my body but I recovered from my ED after 2 years and had a pretty good relationship with my body and food. Sadly I relapsed 6 months ago and got diagnosed with bulimia. Hopefully someday this will pass and I will recover and love my body again

I grew up skinny by nature, lived worry-free and in blissful ignorance until I suddenly gained 20 kg that won't leave anymore... came here to remind me of real priorities... thank you, James.

My friend and I used to drink this "skinny tea" from the Asian market as a laxative... because, let's be real, that's exactly what it is. Once, her husband drank an entire jug of it thinking that it was normal tea! Needless to say, he was in extreme agony for DAYS!😱😭

Oh my gosh my experiences. 1- tried the dexamphetamine prescribed by the GP before, I think I only had 1 script. Didn't help, also was SO MUCH MORE HUNGRY once I quit them. 2- the green tea fat burner (most fat burners) sent me into a HORRIBLE panic attack. Never ever touching that stuff again. 3- the laxative teas, that turned into just taking laxatives post surgery because I'd starved myself for 2years to lose weight for the surgery, and then the 2 surgeries on top of the starving made my bowels all messed up, and then I relied on the laxatives and ah. I may have permanent damage from that, but after a year I feel like it's starting to become normal. It's really hard not "dieting" to lose fat when my natural body is heavy. I have a big skeletal frame (hips, shoulders, ribs) and gain muscle so easy, just a mini-tank, and then having a healthy amount of fat on top of that just makes me look huge, and thick strong women aren't liked, especially growing up in the heroin-chic millenial era that I did. I looked at photos of me as a 15yo, showed them to my kids this week, and I couldn't believe I thought I was fat. I use to cry from being teased about how ugly and fat I was and I looked fucking amazing. And even now, I'm so strong, so healthy, I'm the smallest I've ever been, but I keep comparing myself to others and thinking I'm huge. I hate it. And I'm so sick of starving myself so I'm not. I eat what I want, I work out heaps (Muay Thai and weight lifting) and I feel and look amazing. Just need to shut the voices up in my head.

Not me eating dinner and the tapeworm diet coming up. 🤢 I remember hearing that story years ago and it was just as horrifying as it was then as it is now. I feel like that story is a huge example as to why diet culture & beauty standards are so dangerous. Some people feel like they have no other option other than to do these dangerous practices to reach these beauty standards and that just breaks my heart.

I took Fen Phen in the 90's. I lost a lot of weight very quickly . I was thrilled. I stopped when it was determined how dangerous they could be, however, that was the start of an eating disorder. Thank you for bringing light to these weight loss products. I'm 55 now and still struggle with an unhealthy relationship with food. I'm world's better, but so wish I had known that my worth is not determined by my weight. ❤️

I remember I had posted pictures of my weight loss on my IG back in 2018 and my weight loss was from just eating a dairy-free diet; however, I saw my pictures being used on one of those skinny tea/ detox tea websites claiming I had lost weight from using their product, but they had cropped my head off. I had asked them to remove my pictures because I didn’t use their product, but they just ignored me. Other people started to notice more stolen images to promote their teas and many people (myself included) kept reporting their account until they finally shut down, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they just restarted a new account

I’ve never gone as far as diet teas and the like, but I’ve presumably tried every fad diet on this planet. Background: I never had problems with weight. I was an hourglass figure, about 5 centimetres too tall for a woman. Then I got ill and ended up with an unending amount of pills, in a desperate bid to keep me alive. Those pills increased my weight at an unnerving rate and no amount of counting calories in or out helped me change the trajectory. Well, that’s where I lost my nerve and just tried *anything* the internet, a health guru or some bargain bin book would throw at me. People treated me differently - substantially worse - literally every week of weight gain. I hated what I saw in the mirror, I didn’t recognise myself anymore. I struggled being close with my partner, not because he was grossed out, but because I was. I constantly had to disclose to complete strangers my medical situation in order to put some breaks on the constant comments on my body - often with little effect. Also, I can tell you, that diet advice is everywhere. Any magazine you pick up at the dentist? Diet advice! The algorithm realising you want to lose weight? Diet advice! Visiting that aunt who only knew you before your health collapsed? Diet advice! Well, I tried it all and I seriously messed with my health as a result. My digestion was awful for literal *years*, because of the weird stuff I was throwing at myself, hoping that this was finally the solution. I became so weak, I struggled to get out of bed, because I was fasting for silly amounts of time - combined with my health crisis, this was incredibly *bad*. My weight did stabilise eventually (though the doctors told me it had nothing to do with my diet, just what happens with medication triggered weight gain). Didn’t matter to me! It was *working*! I just needed to do MORE!! Honestly, it was a nightmare. They only managed to put my head back on straight in hospital. It took years for my relationship with diet culture, food and my body to normalise. My health getting better and the associated pill reduction leading to almost instant weight loss, also somewhat helped. That and the body positivity/healthy at every size movement. The latter helped me figure out exercises I could do with my new body and encouraged me to just…eat healthily no matter what the number on the scale says. The former helped me slowly feel less disgusted with my new form. I now hit the gym or my sport group 5 times a week and cook a lot from scratch. Realistically I am in better shape than I’ve been all of my life. I am still plus sized though, have those lovely stretch marks extremely rapid weight gain gifts you and some flabby skin. The whole experience has left me incredibly resentful with the entire diet industry and often, even other people who are the biggest part of the problem. If my environment hadn’t changed so noticeable, I am not sure I would have fallen as far as I did. Makes me even sadder to see young, healthy people harm themselves, even kill themselves, with this crap. Part of me is angry, because they have been blessed with a healthy, perfectly functioning body and this is what they chose to do with it…but I would absolutely lie, if I didn’t know exactly where they came from.

I’ve never used them but I can understand why people end up there. I had severe problems with my legs when I was in school and had to run the ‘bleep test’. Obviously I didn’t do very well due to severe pain only to be called out in front of a room full of girls about being overweight and unhealthy and i was gonna be fat for my entire life whilst everyone else got to leave we had to stay and ‘taught’ how to exercise. I knew why I had done terribly but comments like that from someone who was supposed to have my best interests at heart could drive someone to take drastic action

The nasty story about the tapeworm, was worth it for your reaction alone 😂!

I love that you emphasize there's no such thing as perfection

Excuse your hair??! I love ittt! It has effortless kpop idol energy 👌On a more serious note, really appreciate how you handled the various topics!

When i was really struggling with an ED as a teenager, i took those fat burners from the early 2000s (i cant remember the name, it had a Q or X or something in it😂. The super popular one in the US anyways) and after a few weeks, one of my friends kinda had an intervention on me and helped me get off them. Im so so grateful for her, i was such an emotional wreck and i already really struggle with sleep (if im in bed for 10 hours, ill get around 5 hours of sleep, if that) so i was hardly sleeping at all. I lost a bunch of weight but its cuz i wasnt eating. Those meds were crazy, and its crazy that theyre still on shelves.

I'm in recovery from a mixture of eating disorders so I have to be careful with content like this, but it's good to see unhealthy diet practices not being glamorised. At my worst I used to buy all kinds of unknown diet supplements online - mostly tablets but some foot patches as well. I was taking all sorts of weird things trying to lose weight, as well as overexercising which resulted in me sustaining a knee injury that still occasionally flares and causes me pain over 10 years later. Diet culture and normalising all these weird diet pills is so dangerous, and it's often people who have skewed views of how they look that are buying potentially lethal drugs. My boyfriend asked me while I was watching this why anyone would buy drugs from the dark web or unknown sources, but I explained that when you're not thinking clearly because of an eating disorder or body dysmorphia, you don't think about these things, you just want to do anything to lose weight. It's really horrible. I'm very careful now not to set those old thinking patterns off, I avoid triggers as I don't want to go back to that dark place. To anyone struggling - recovery is possible, keep fighting through each day. It can and will get better.

I actually had a friend in *elementary* school talk about the tape worm diet and I just hope shes doing ok. And I hope her mom is doing ok because I do wonder if thats where she heard it from, either way, definitely a memory that makes me say "what the actual fuqq"

Wow, it's like you read my mind making this video right this moment. I've been seriously tempted and thinking about buying one of those diet/detox teas for the last few months, the only thing really stopping me is wondering if they would really work; it didn't even occur to me that they could be dangerous! Such an important topic, I'm so glad I watched this video.

My weight has fluctuated a lot over my adult life. I'm currently the heaviest I've ever been. The temptation to reach for a "quick fix" can be really strong. In the past, I have come very close to taking some of these "diet supplements " but, luckily, I had people in my life who knew that these were dangerous and provided me with information. I'm now getting back into my pre-COVID routine of eating healthier foods and exercising regularly. It's hard, and I know that it will take some time, but I'm trusting that I will lose my excess weight and, more importantly, I will feel better and more comfortable in my body. ❤ Stay safe out there everyone - physically and mentally.

Thank you for covering this. I have been in and out of recovery from anorexia for nearly two decades. It started at age 10 with dieting, quickly turned into diet pills at age 12 and totally went downhill from there. I have permanent heart and liver damage from what I put my body through, but I'm much better now. Recently I've been told by quite a few people that I should try this diet try this tea try this and that to lose weight and its been weighing on me and I felt tempted. But when I watched this, all the misery and hospital visits came rushing back and I realized that its not worth it. There's no way I'm going back to that.

Jamila is one of my absolute favorite people. Her posts, podcast and advocacy is amazing with body positivity. She's so brutally honest. I think we need more people like her! As someone who is a trainer/nutrition coach (after my own hard journey) so many struggle with body dysmorphia, eating disorders, etc. It's no joke. I have many friends who have competed in fitness competitions and one of the hardest things is seeing yourself at this "peak" of fitness and then slowly coming back to "being normal." It messes with a lot of people mentally. To stay in that state of fitness is not healthy long term and it's not realistic. But they become so used to seeing themselves super cut, leaned out, muscular, etc. that when they start to adjust their intake after the shows, they hate their bodies. I can see why someone (like the guy you referenced who was very fit) wanted more fat burners and to drop more weight. To most, no one would say he was out of shape or needed to lose weight. It is all such a huge struggle. Getting to be in a healthy relationship with food is a never ending process. In my own struggle (anorexia in my early teens) and severe stomach issues throughout my life thus far, my nutritionist gave out mantra cards to pick from out of a big deck. The one I ended up with said: Healing your body takes one breath at a time. I still repeat that to myself regularly.

I really love that you and Robert drop your videos minutes apart! I just watch back to back and I LOVE that!

I remember trying XLS Medical diet pills about 10 years ago, and on those you really could not eat anything even remotely fatty because if you did, well I’m going to say two words - anal leakage. The first time I took them I got AL and never took them again. It was horrifying! I’m currently trying to loose 1 stone with a super healthy diet and exercise, and whilst it’s not even remotely working, probably due to menopause, I’m definitely not falling into the diet supplement trap again. Anal leakage is far worse than my wobbly thighs!

I used to work with NWM/MLM company that had products like this I always felt something that was off because our CEO is here in us my recruiters were based in UK and every zoom meeting whenever I would ask certain health questions, questions about if they were safe for people with autism(my kids and I) etc I'd always get muted and told to be careful what I ask and how 😢like wth? I basically ended up having a prolapse and was hospitalized for it, smh

I tried the raspberry keytone & colon cleanse diet pills when I was in my early 20’s, when I was already only 8.5-9 stone. I’m now 32 am currently on the waiting list for the ED clinic as I’m still obsessed with how much I weigh. I think with these types of diet pills being so freely available, and obviously when you look at one ad for them, they start popping up all over your Facebook and insta feeds, they have a lot to answer for when it comes to EDs in our younger adults. It’s so, so sad.

The DNP section brought back memories of the ChubbyEmu video about the same supplement. Super interesting talking about the mechanism and I believe that was about a KZfaqr who took it and almost died? Would recommend if anyone wants more info after they've finished this one!

Great discussion and good to highlight these things going through menopause and very overweight and i often get drawn to these adds i have tried a few in the past that didnt help i have long covid and fybromyalgia and had to medically retire from nursing so i am restricted in mobility and pain so struggling to exercise regularly it can be hard not being drawn to them and now there seems so many aiming at gut health now more things we should take etc i know gut health important but how can you really know whats safe or not glad you discussed these things thank you x

Your hair looks super cute curly!! 🥰

Those teas often have senna as the herb and it causes diarrhea. As expected we are starting to see the reports of bad side effects of Ozemoic - slows the intestinal track which can lead to permanent damage which will require long term medical care with no promise of getting back to normal. The quick fix is rarely going to lead to good health.

I have Crohn's disease. I would have people telling me I was body goals when I was at my sickest. Then call me fat when I was recovering from a flare. This led to me having a complex about my looks. So I refuse to let anyone comment about my size, rudely if I have to. No matter the size I am.

Mum always has a box of “Skinny Tea” around and I was way too scared to try it, but I did take L-Carnitine at the peak of my disordered eating and obsessive gym days. I’ve always fluctuated been curvy and overweight and I so focused on getting down to an Aus size 6-8, something I’m genetically not meant to be. It really hit home when I came back from a poorer region of Eastern Europe and what I saw there made me realised that we are basically glamorising starvation. It felt horrible. It’s still hard to train myself out of that way of thinking though, it starts so young!

yes, thank you. your health is far more important than what you look like. it took me a long time to realize that but it's very freeing. i myself abused laxatives at the height of my anorexia and i still have digestive issues to this day, nearly a decade later. it's really not worth it to harm yourself just to look a certain way. we should focus on loving our bodies for all of the amazing things that they do for us.

I cannot believe you prefaced this with "excuse my hair" - your hair looks like a 50s male screen star perfectly coiffed fabulousness. I'm jealous it just does that naturally! YOUR HAIR IS DOING THE MOST IN THIS VIDEO.

I have adhd and most of the stimulants used to treat it have a side effect of appetite loss. I have periods of time where I rapidly lost weight due to medication tricking my brain into feeling full. It’s not fun to have no appetite and when you don’t have the meds in your system, you can go into full hunger mode and basically eat everything because your body wants more, but your brain doesn’t. Don’t take pills to lose your appetite, it’s not worth it.

I took fat burner supplements with Ephedra back in the early 2000s. They were probably the best and haven't worked the same since it was banned. That being said, I haven't used any since and would certainly never order them online or through the dark web. Scary!! I feel so bad for Bethany and all those who suffered.

My senior year of HS (2001) i got totally sucked into Xenodrine...like i would go through 2 bottles a week. I remember when the FDA banned the sale of them here in the US and i legit cried because i was so addicted to them. Now looking back, im lucky i didnt die of a heart attack or from not eating

When I was younger I was made so miserable being bullied for being ‘fat’ I would definitely have taken a tape worm if I’d known how to get one - I was miserable! (looking back I wasn’t even fat, I just had boobs and a bum before it was ‘trendy’) Have taken illegal drugs for weight loss.

Supplements like that are so tempting, especially when you feel like you’ve tried so many things, and you just want that little boost. I’m glad I wasn’t on instagram when all those adds were everywhere, cause I’m pretty sure I’d end up buying it😅

the more I hear these stories, the more I feel confident with my body, as far as I'm healthy inside, the outside doesn't bother me that much.

Thank you for talking about this James! I’ve never taken diet pills, but one thing that constantly bothers me is that as a female-presenting person, it is so hard to get advice about getting healthy and going to the gym that isn’t centered around weight loss. It is so hard to find content online or even in person help that doesn’t immediately talk about all the weight I could lose to "look better". In reality I’m at the gym for the cardiovascular and mental health benefits, if I end up losing a couple pounds fine, but that isn’t even on my list of goals.

I remember watching this one episode of this show that just had ER doctors and staff retelling their craziest stories and this one story was about a woman who actually purchased a tape worm pill and gave it to her teenage daughter so she would lose some weight for pageant. The daughter ending getting sick but in the end she was ok. The mom claimed she didn’t actually know what was in the pill but even if she didn’t she did still buy black market diet pills and force her daughter to take them. I think she should have lost custody or faced criminal charges for that.

Hi James! When I was around 16 I became diet obsessed due to body dismorphia and an ED. I tried so many different types of teas and supplements over the span of a few years and doing so definitely took a toll on my body and my mind. It took me a long time through therapy and support of loved ones to understand that this behaviour was unhealthy and I needed to stop buying into (literally) the dream all of those companies are selling. I’m now 29 and so happy I learned my lesson because I can see right through those types of advertisements and was able to build a healthy relationship with my body and food. Its so easy for people to be swayed into believing something when it’s targeted at their securities so thank you for speaking on this and bringing awareness. Ps I love this series and am excited to keep learning new things from the future videos you post. :)

"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it." Salvador Dali

Thanks so much for posting this video, James! I remember doing the Beyoncé lemonade diet as well as many other fad diets 😬 I feel as though the media in the 00s contributed heavily to people’s diet obsessions. Weekly glossy magazines mocked celebrities for being too thin or too heavy, so it seemed normal for impressionable teenagers and young women to critique their own body in the same way 😫

"excuse my hair" WHY?!? It's GORGEOUS!!!

Great video! This topic is soooo important! So many of my friends have had eating disorders and severe body image issues . Only later did I learn all they kept secret just trying to be model thin. Thank you!

It's so good to see someone like you make videos about these 'supplements' to warn people and challenge our messed up beauty standards 💜 its so shocking to hear how awful Bethany's death was, so devastating. OMFG the tapeworm!! I had no idea they could eat your organs or reproduce. Thank f*** I've finished my dinner, eww

I took the 1st phorm fat burner in 2013(goddess I think) black and pink bottle. I successfully lost 30 pounds in a month and was happy with it. Not only did I put the weight back on, but now in my 30s after 3 children, I cannot get back into shape no matter what I do. I have had a weight plateau for 4 months now and I just want to fit into my clothes again. I have had a healthy weight lifting routine with balanced diet for many months with no change. Those pills damaged me, I admit I did a few rounds of them when I needed to drop weight quickly. Don’t do it, just don’t do it while you’re young. Don’t take the fat burners. Just move your body in the way that you enjoy and eat real food. Dieting is not worth it if you want to look good as an adult too.

When I was a teen, I wanted to be skinny, so I tried the Lemon diet, and I damaged my stomach badly, developed ulcer and some major complications ... My point is that no diet is OK. Just try to be healthy not skinny, have a good relationship with your body. I know it's easier said than done, but that is what we need to acknowledge

Oh my goodness, I felt physically ill when you were talking about the tapeworm pill 🤢

'excuse my hair' he says as it looks the best it ever has, seriously consider letting it do its thing cuz it looks awesome with the texture it has going on :0 Love the vid as always!!!

These videos are my favourite and I am so glad to hear your sensible opinion on this topic! ❤ I have never been skinny "enough" and I've suffered my fair bit with it, but I am relieved I haven't done more than changing my diet in a healthy way and exercising to reduce my weight because I had good examples in the family and, specially, contact with body positivity and these horrible stories when I was growing up!

I tried the diet teas, thought it was working and I had to deal with the cramps. On day 3 I decided to drink 2 teabags and take my dog for a long walk ya know, good exercise to lose weight. A mile from my house in a park walking the dog I started cramping so bad. I had the absolute worse explosive uncontrollable diarrhea of my life. I was literally in a bush with my dog pooping for at least 20 mins. I had to call my boyfriend to come pick us up because it literally was uncontrollable and every few steps me and the dog were back in the bushes. I had diarrhea for the next 3 days straight. Could barely eat of drink because everything trigged the diarrhea and had to call out of work, could not leave the house. This was the worst idea I've evee had to lose weight. Thank god no serious injury after it. It was disgusting

"I would also stay anonymous if I did this" LMAO

Gagging right there with you on the part about pooing out the tapeworm! 😬😬😬😬

Gosh I do so enjoy your balanced and humane way of sharing information! Not an alarmest, not poking fun at misfortune of others, funny- just classy and well done. Thank you for what you do!

Hi James, Looking forward to videos from you, Robert and hopefully part 2 of the LA trip. Part 1 was great.

As sb who recovered from Anorexia and then Bulimia, it's nice to see someone talking about these things. From my experience, when you're in the throws of an ED, it's so isolating and so mind-twisting, that the ED's "voice" dominates and takes over and can either make you do dangerous things despite knowing better, or just completely silence your sensible self. I always felt like I had a monster on my back controlling me. Without you talking about it and pointing out how dangerous and insane it is, the ED's "voice" goes completely unchallenged. I remember being 14 and hoping to somehow end up in a coma so I'd lose weight, or that I'd get horrible food poisoning so that I'd lose weight. EDs take you to dangerous, dark places.

Great information today! A much needed subject

I am so glad I barely see these ads anymore. I was a consumer who tried 2 different companies I did lose weight I was working out and barely eating so unhealthy! Most of this stuff has too much of everything. Thank you for bringing attention to this ❤

Thank you for covering this. I feel so much for the poor people that were affected by pills/teas etc. i myself used to be bulimic for a long time. I primarily started with binging and purging as we all tend to relate bulimia to but as time went on I also abused laxatives. I had IBS so was seeing a specialist who prescribed me medical grade laxatives (usually prescribed to much older people) that was like a powder you mixed with a drink and was meant to have maximum half a sachet a day. But my eating disorder spiralled and I ended up having about 2 sachets a day 😫 and then I got on to the detox tea hype and tried that AT THE SAME TIME *shudders* and lost so much weight but felt physically and mentally awful. The doctor that prescribed the sachets knew I had a history of bulimia but didn’t seem to care and I know they do that sort of thing a lot. It’s terrible. Thankfully I’ve been bulimia free for over 5 years now and, although the urges are still there, I will not allow myself to fall back in to that trap. I commend you for making this video and being so diplomatic about this topic. Eating disorders are real and we are made to feel so much shame around them but at the end of the day they are mental health disorders, just like with any other disorder, they need to be treated well and not judged. Shout out to all my other past (and current) eating disorder individuals in the comments as I know first hand how hard it is to overcome and you’re all so brave and strong, even if you don’t think you are. Thanks again James xx

This video is super important today, thank you for making it!

Legit as soon as I opened the video I was like “his hair looks so GOOD” excuse your hair for what? Being flawless? Lollll

Years ago I would buy diet/cleanse teas from the 99cent store. Horrible times lol, my stomach was always messed up from them, but I thought it was because they were working. I'm glad I never got into diet pills, it is so tragic that people died from them 💔

I’ve had ED’s. I still struggle sometimes but my most dangerous eating habits were linked a medical issue, which I am finally being treated for so I’m doing a lot better. Those teas always made me laugh because people would be like “it helps burn calories and fat.” And I knew they were laxatives, like I have a native mom and grandma I knew about these teas long ago.

Me: omg your hair looks so cuuuute You: excuse my hair MR. WELSH PLEASE

I love this series. Also body dysmorphia is much more common in men than I think people talk about.

I remember hearing about the tapeworm thing when it took off and I've never, ever understood it. Why on Earth would anyone willing take on a parasite like that?

The 12x3x30 is lowkey amazing. I cant believe how much weight im dropping just walking uphill on a treadmill, so happy you mentioned it.

When beauty turns ugly is my favorite thing on youtube !thank you for making these even tho they discuss not so nice topics its so important to break down taboos and get information out there! :)

I bought diet pills off the internet when I was 16, now at 30 I’m incredibly thankful that they weren’t dangerous. I spent most of my life trying to be stick thin and really messed up my stomach and my mental health in the process. I got diagnosed with adhd a few months ago and finally having those answers and the medication to help me finally have some dopamine is what finally fixed my years of emotional eating. I am now suddenly able to eat intuitively 😊

I have IBS, i dont need any flat tummy tea😂😂

As someone who has struggled my entire life with self worth and body image, who has never felt attractive a day in my life, all these things make me so angry. Thanks for talking about it, but also….introducing parasites?! It shows you how nuts marketing can be.

😂😂 Tapeworm..love your reaction. People were going to dentists and having their jaws wired shut. When I was working long hours I used to down Sudafed( can’t buy that OTC anymore) and drink a ton of coffee with fake sugar. Not a great idea..BTW. I’m surprised I didn’t glow in the dark. I was skinny..however..I was before too.. I just didn’t have a lunch break. People around me thought it was a diet thing and started doing it. It was eventually a grumpy workplace. 😂😂I am, seriously delighted that different sizes and shapes are being shown and praised for their obvious beauty. If we all looked exactly the same how boring. ❤️❤️

James your description of the tapeworm thing is killing!

LOVE the hair! I need more when beauty turns ugly, I’ve binged them all already!

I had a cardiac arrest earlier this year (completely out of the blue) and the only reason I'm still alive is that I was resuscitated in the ambulance . After weeks in Intensive Care I'm living a much more considered life and am so grateful to have the opportunity to do so. So in my opinion there is NO WAY that I would take anything like these. Not only a waste of money but liable to damage your health in a multitude of ways but the potential to kill you. The sooner we start embracing ourselves "as we are" the better society we will have. Thanks for this video 💕

✌🏻As an ED counseling dietitian, thank you so so much for highlighting this issue. Weight is NOT the health indicator we've been told it is. It's largley an outcome of our underlying health habits, just like cardiovascular or diabetes risk. Correlation is NOT causation, and it feels like a lot pf otherwise smart ppl choose to forget thia when it comes to weight. Is it nothing? No, there are of course some metabolic effects. But I'd much rather folks be alive in a larger body, than small and in a box in the ground. Im old enough to remember fen-phen and how 💀 many lives it took or otherwise ruined. "Small at all costs" is not the mindset of a person legitimately valuing their health, it's disordered, and often deadly. ED is the most lethal mental illness there is. Again, thank you so much James!!

You touched on something quite interesting in this video: *"Drinking too much water can kill you."* Yes, that is true! By consuming too much water you dilute the blood and change the electrolyte concentration in your nerves, causing the nervous system to go bananas. With so many companies selling water bottles and water flavorings, water intake trackers, and influencers going on and on about how healthy it is to drink water, there has to be some lawsuits where someone got ill from drinking too much water. Maybe a future episode of When Beauty Turns Ugly?

My diet isn't great, I'm working on improving that and getting more active. Big credit to my dog! She gets me walking every day! I hadn't noticed any changes until i was told I have lost a bit, but my legs did get bigger first as I started to build muscle in them It's definitely been tempting to try something, but I know while some "work" it's definitely not a long term solution

I developed an eating disorder as a young teen. It was super easy to get my hands on weight loss meds as a 12 year old from places like Walmart or target. I would over take the suggested amount thinking more meant more effective. I struggled for years. I still do to an extent. Psych meds made me gain weight and I’ve never gotten back to my “normal” body weight or appearance. I actually still love lemonade, but now I don’t put cayenne pepper in it to boost my metabolism

I recovered from ana. seeing people do this makes me super sad because I know how it feels.

seeing you lose it over the tape worm was iconic AF oh my goodness it's 4:15 am and I'm crying laughing into the pillow hoping I don't wake the bear next to me! 😂

I'm not sure how it works in the UK, but in Australia the TGA (therapeutic goods administration, our regulatory body) classes things as either AUST-R (registered) or AUST-L (listed). Registered goods have to be proven effective in clinical trials. Listed goods fall under the category "ehhh, it's probably not going to hurt you, but don't go making medical claims". Most supplements are Listed, and there's been a few incidences here recently of supplements not containing the ingredients described, even from big reputable companies. So be careful, and don't expect too much :)

LMAO!! Robert giving Seinfeld the low flow shower ep. Yes 🙌 I need that Chuckle. Monday is being Mondayish today

I've been struggling on and off with various eating disorders for about a decade. I've never tried weight loss teas or any kind of supplement but seeing adverts for those products at a time I was struggling definitely made me want to restrict my food intake even more. Thankfully, I'm doing better now, but the temptation to try those products is still there. I think that, at the very least, there should be more strict regulations. I'd be very happy to see them banned, though.

When I was a teen, there were some weight loss tablets in Australia that were banned (but could still get if you knew people) I can’t remember the name, they were so intense that if we were going clubbing we would take them and party all night. My poor heart 😔

A coworker told me she had a horrible reaction to flat tummy tea, like was sweating and trembling and actually thought she was having a heart attack