This purported ‘Zee News’ article about Capsiplex weight loss product invention by an Indian student is fake - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 27, 2022
A post sharing a link of the purported article published by the ‘Zee News’ website claims that an Indian student from Mumbai has discovered a new innovative weight loss supplement that could reduce body weight up to 13kgs/week without using chemicals, being starved or performing exercises. This post claims that Sunitha Joshi, a Mumbai-based student, was honoured at the European Congress of Endocrinology for inventing a new weight loss product Capsiplex. According to the article, the product accelerates metabolism, restores the endocrine system and reduces the fat inside the body at a fast rate. Also, the article states that Capsiplex can be availed only in India by participating in a lucky draw till 26 October 2022. At the end of the article, the purported Zee News article provided a digital lottery rotating system and asks users to rotate the lottery draw to avail discounts on the products. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: ‘Zee News’ article reporting the invention of Capsiplex weight loss product by an Indian student.
Fact: The purported ‘Zee News’ article shared in the post is a fake one. Capsiplex is a slimming pill that contains an ingredient called capsaicin, a naturally occurring compound found in chilli peppers (capsicums). Capsiplex claims to increase metabolism to burn calories 12 times faster than normal. The US-based Capsiplex company manufactured this product after carrying out trials at the University of Oklahoma in the US. The Capsiplex product is available on many e-commerce websites in India and they do not sell this product through a lucky draw. According to an NCBI research study, using capsinoid products (6mg/week) for 12 weeks showed a decrease of 0.92kg body weight. Capsiplex was not invented by any Indian student named Sunitha Joshi. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched to check whether the ‘Zee News’ website had published any such article, we could not find any such news on the official website and YouTube channels of ‘Zee News’. All the pictures shared in the article are reference pictures taken from ‘Zee News’, ‘Shuttershock’ and other websites.
When we searched to find whether any Indian student named Sunitha Joshi was honoured at the European Congress of Endocrinology for inventing a new formula for weight loss, we could not find any news reports confirming this information on the internet. A few websites while advertising and reviewing a bio-capsule product named ‘Motto Ketu’, described that the weight loss supplement was manufactured by Mumbai student Sunita Joshi. But on the official website of Akravi, the manufacturing company of ‘Motto Ketu’, it is nowhere mentioned that Sunita Joshi is the innovator of this bio-capsule. A Hyderabad-based Ayurvedic Doctor Sunitha Joshi recommended water therapy for quick weight loss.
What is Capsiplex?
Capsiplex is a slimming pill that contains an ingredient called capsaicin, a naturally occurring compound found in chilli peppers (capsicums) that gives them their heat. The capsaicinoids present in Capsiplex induces thermogenesis that helps to burn more calories in the body, during a short period. The US-based Capsiplex company manufactured this product after carrying out trials at the University of Oklahoma in the US. Several news websites published articles reporting the trials and launch of the Capsiplex weight loss supplement in 2009 and 2010. They can be seen here, here and here.
According to these news reports, Capsiplex claims to increase metabolism to burn calories 12 times faster than normal. A few research articles published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) have also stated that the consumption of foods containing capsaicin was associated with a lower prevalence of obesity. But the research studies indicated that the treatment of overweight or obese subjects with 6 mg/day capsinoid for 12 weeks lead to a decrease of 0.92 kgs in body weight. As per the manufacturer’s statement, reported by a few websites, a person using Capsiplex could expect to lose weight to a maximum of 4lb (1.814kg) in the first week followed by the 1-2lb (0.45 to 0.9kgs) a week after that.  A Capsiplex consumer in the review section stated that he had lost 16 kgs in three and a half month time frame after using the weight loss supplement.
The Capsiplex product is available on many e-commerce websites in India like Amazon, Jio Mart and others.  However, Capsiplex product  is not sold online through a lucky draw system,. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the purported Zee News article shared in the post is a fake one.
To sum it up, this purported ‘Zee News’ article reporting the Capsiplex product invention by Sunitha Joshi is a fake one.