Weight loss is so coveted that people tend to throw their mind in the bin and follow even drastic weird sounding fads blindly. They don't stop to consider what these could actually do to their body, forget whether (or not) they ‘ll help shave any pounds off their body.
History is full of such suggestions: 18th-century physician Malcolm Flemyng asked his patients to eat soap. Yes!
Then there was a trend of eating tapeworms as it was believed that the parasites would attach to the stomach linings and consume some of the calories. Downright dangerous as the worms actually cause nauseating digestive problems and reproduce inside the body!
Then there were these: cabbage soup diet, baby food diet and something even more insane than these - eating cotton balls before meals, a fad many models followed before they realized how seriously damaging this was for their GI tract.
Crazy!
Trust me all these fads did nothing except make money for their promoters and marketers, besides crashing all hopes of weight loss of those who enthusiastically tried them.
But apparently even these are passé now, as some even more weird weight loss tricks are now being sold to people, with a promise of quick riddance from excess pounds.
Here’s a list of some rather extreme ones doing the rounds these days. Please steer clear.
The Calorad Assurance
This liquid protein and collagen based supplement promises to help you lose fat while gaining muscle. But this might actually lead to weight gain if had too much, and has the potential for causing serious protein malnutrition if relied upon totally, as some people apparently do. Please skip.
Activated Charcoal Diet
Charcoal isn’t really new – it's been around since long before the 19th century. But suddenly it has become a hot property in the weight loss and detox market.
The idea being propagated is that when activated, charcoal functions as a sponge, absorbing toxins and poisons that may be lining the digestive track.
Don’t fall for it as there is zilch scientific evidence to support the claim. No studies at all. Everything is hearsay. And that’s dangerous to depend on.
But what is even more scary is that activated charcoal is not a very specific absorber of substances.
That is, it cannot tell the difference between sucking up nutrients and toxins, so when ingested it will absorb anything in your gut, good (nutrients) and bad - and may even meddle with any medicines that you might be taking.
So please don’t be naive, stop slurping down charcoal in your lemonade just because someone told you it’ll make you slim.
Botox Cure
Botox, the known anti-wrinkle treatment is now also being advocated as a weight loss panacea, basis some animal studies that have shown that it helps to delay emptying of the stomach, and increases feeling of fullness.
But this is way too risky to even think of trying.
Bromelian Diet Pills
Bromelain is a mixture of protein-digesting and milk-clotting enzymes found in the juice and stem of the pineapple plant, and when had as part of the fruit it is super healthy.
No doubt!
But touting it as a miracle weight losing pill and suggesting eating six to eight bromelain capsules per day with a promise of dissolving excess fat from the body is complete bull.
Just a fraudulent, false, and misleading promise.
No it won’t deliver weight reduction and might just lead to side effects like vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and increased menstrual bleeding.
Chitosan Promise
The claim is that Chitosan (derived from chitin, a polysaccharide found in the outer skeleton of shellfish such as shrimp, lobster, and or crabs) capsules cause weight loss and lower blood cholesterol by binding fats in the stomach and preventing them from being digested and absorbed.
Don’t fall for it. It has not been proven at all. Besides the amount contained in the capsules is too small to have any effect.
One Day Diet Cleanse
This pill claims to absorb the oil from food and remove it from the body and ward off fat accumulation and toxins.
Well, the truth is that according to an FDA laboratory analysis this cleanse contains sibutramine, a banned substance that substantially increases blood pressure and may even interact with other medications leading to health complications. No go please!
Nutridip Intravenous
This intravenous (IV) nutrient therapy, made famous by Madonna and Cindy Crawford takes the cake in terms of smart gimmickry.
Many of these drips contain extreme amounts of nutrients, which are simply excreted in the urine. And the problem is that megadoses of certain vitamins might just lead to severe nausea, vomiting and other symptoms of vitamin toxicity instead of trimming your waist.
Time for the truth: There is no magic little pill or powder that causes weight loss. And the earlier we get this, the better for us.
There really is no escaping this equation: eat fewer calories + increase activity = weight loss. So get on with this.
(The writer is a nutritionist, weight management consultant and health writer based in Delhi. She is the author of Don't Diet! 50 Habits of Thin People (Jaico) and Ultimate Grandmother Hacks: 50 Kickass Traditional Habits for a Fitter You (Rupa).)
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