The message came loud and clear through the television on one of those rare summer nights I wasn't in search of baseball.

"Feel like sneezing? Try this product with green tea added ... Hungry, but don't want to be? Use this, with green tea and hoodia ... Want to give your floors that like-new look? Try green tea-flavored Mopso ..."

Green tea? What in the name of Oprah is this stuff?

And hoodia? Is that like a hoodie for women, designed by those seeing collegiate softball players wearing visors instead of caps like baseball players?

Interesting stuff, this green tea is, when one does a little Googling (beyond the Wikipedia entry that's always first, even).

Research provides enough science to pique one's interest in the product, but also provides plenty of reasons to wonder if this is yet another shortcut to health, much like oat bran was in the 1980s, anything labeled low cholesterol (not knowing if it were good or bad cholesterol) in the 1990s, or patent medicines were in the 1880s.

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center's Web site, population-based studies indicate green tea can help prevent atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, liver disease and weight loss, while also protecting against cancer.

Some scientific studies contradict population-based studies, however. Further research shows green tea conflicts with several medicines commonly prescribed and/or recommended by doctors for what ails you, such as antibiotics, aspirin, beta-blockers, ephedrine, blood-thinners ... even oral contraceptives ... as well as drugs recommended for chemotherapy.

I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one in this newspaper, but I'm sure a little bit with your Chinese food is safe.

And hoodia? Turns out this is being marketed as an appetite suppressant, despite the lack of scientific evidence that it does suppress one's desires for food, or approval by a regulatory board, such as the Food and Drug Administration.

It's probably worth noting here as well that the best-known celebrity endorser of a hoodia-based product was Anna Nicole Smith with "TrimSpa, baby!" That company currently offers you the chance to talk with a TrimSpa user live, just by pressing the right button on your TV remote.

So, it appears pop-science promising results for the weight-challenged are worth about as much as a "get out of jail free" card issued to Paris Hilton by the Los Angeles County sheriff.

(Come to think of it, these products may not be best for your floors, either.)

The real answer seems to be the tried-and-true one: diet, exercise, proper nutrition and support.

As one who struggles on and off in the weight game, I agree it does stink ... but getting out for a walk around the block definitely beats watching the Giants nowadays.

Richard de Give is The Sentinel's copy editor. Reach him at 582-0471 ext. 3048 or at rdegive@hanfordsentinel.com.

(June 23, 2007)