Playing the weight loss "shell game"

My experiences with food journaling have provided evidence that there is a kind of weight loss "shell game" going on in the US food supply.

Per wikipedia:

The shell game (also known as thimblerig, three shells and a pea, the old army game) is a public gambling game that challenges players to follow the movement of a marker hidden under one of several covers (shells). In practice, the game is almost always run as a confidence trick that uses sleight of hand to transfer the marker between covers. In confidence trick slang, this swindle is referred to as a short-con because it is quick and easy to pull off.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_game

In this case, the markers are molecules that contribute to weight loss/maintenance, which appear to be being put in and out of different foods, and even in or out of the same foods but in different packaging (especially seasonal treats) or with different dates on them.

Since I lack access to a powerful, truthful AI engine that will help me identify these molecules myself, I am left playing the weight loss "shell game" along with everyone else. (I was reluctantly amused to notice after one Thanksgiving that some of these molecules appeared to have been in the canned, name-brand cranberry sauce.)

Right now, I'm trying out mixtures of cocoa, taurine (plain), isoleucine (plain), and grape seed extract (plain, but sprayed and processed in ways that I can't possibly find out). Taurine especially seems promising.

[Update: August 16, 2026: I think an older ("best by 3/21") bottle of Swanson fucoidan extract might have helpful weight loss molecules. I had a little in the morning a few days ago, and the following day achieved a one-pound drop down off a weight plateau. I'll keep you posted. With all these GLP-1 drugs coming out now, I know that no one needs my updates except to show that food and supplement companies have been "hiding the ball" for some time. Which, come to think of it, is pretty big news after all.]

[Update 8/20/2026: Two more unexplained pounds lower with a tiny bit of Swanson fucoidan extract in the mornings this past week. Sigh. This looks like it could be proof that there has been intentional withholding of important health-related information from the public and research communities.

How many people in the supplement industry have been sneaking hidden weight loss molecules into some of their products? And for how long? Have pharmaceutical and food companies been doing it, too?

When I think of all the people suffering from weight-related problems, it makes me sad that the suffering was and continues to be so unnecessary. Swanson and other such companies should not be allowed to get away with hiding what they have been doing. Information about chemicals in the products that they sell to the public must be fully disclosed.

I wonder what law enforcement/firefighters will think of having been expected to protect the owners and and property of companies that have been profiting off of allowing society's guardians and their families to be burdened by excessive weight and related chronic illnesses?]