We’ve all read the miraculous claims of losing tens of kilos in ten days by eating next-to-nothing and taking bizarre pills and potions.

While the scales may drop for a while, your health and well-being may suffer, and then the kilos usually come back with a vengeance, post-diet.

We don’t want anyone putting their health at risk, so we have developed some guidelines around diet plans that are listed on Trade Me.

Diet plans should avoid any of the following elements:

providing testimonials that are ‘outlier’ cases or those that are not documented nor verifiable
promoting unrealistic or unsafe rapid weight loss, such as ‘lose 15kg in four weeks’ or ‘lose 4kg in three days’
using images of models who may be considered as having an unnatural height to weight ratio
suggesting that people consume a diet that is not nutritionally balanced or one that is lower than 800 calories per day
unduly glamorising the product or portraying unrealistic outcomes
making claims like ‘eat as much as you like’.

The above is not an exclusive list of things to bear in mind. Trade Me is unable to offer legal advice regarding compliance with any code or law.

As such, sellers should conduct their own research to ensure that their product is compliant.

For more information, check out the Advertising Standards Authority as a starting point.

Sellers should also check out our policy on supplements and other health remedies, as such products cannot make claims about weight loss.

It may sound boring, but for many people weight loss comes down to small changes in their lifestyle - undertaking a radical diet is perhaps the worst thing you can do.

If you are looking for a dieting plan on Trade Me, be very circumspect, consider the above list, and avoid plans which exhibit any of those behaviours mentioned.

If you’re concerned about a listing please alert our Site Policing Team to it. Simply click the ‘Community Watch’ button at the bottom of the listing.

Check out our guidelines on listing supplements

Guide to selling 'diet plans' on Trade Me