From the real skinny on water weight to the
truth about your thyroid, here's what you need to know about all those crazy
weight-loss claims. Drink coffee and get skinny. Wear magnetic jewelry and slim
down. No doubt you’ve seen these and other intriguing weight-loss claims. Are
they true? Before you invest time and money testing them, find out what the
experts have to say.
Fiber
Claim: Eat fiber snacks and flatten
your belly in 24 hours. Fiber acts like a sponge in the stomach, soaking up
liquids and whisking them out of the body to smooth your tummy.
Truth:
Eating enough fiber helps prevent constipation and reduces your risk of heart
disease and other illnesses. "It can also help you lose weight in the long run,
but it won't reduce your waistline in a day," says Susan B. Roberts, Ph.D.,
professor of nutrition at Tufts University. "You may even look bigger because
fiber can bloat you."
Magnetic Earrings Claim: Wearing magnetic earrings
reduces hunger and food cravings. These earrings act on an acupressure point in
the earlobe to dull taste and increase production of hormones that regulate
cravings. You can lose 10 percent of your weight in nine weeks.
Truth: "There is no evidence of a biological
basis for magnetic earrings affecting weight loss," says Richard Cleland,
assistant director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Advertising
Practices. “In ten years working in this area, I have not seen a study that
suggested an efficacy. A few years ago jewelry was reviewed in a scientific
workshop examining weight-loss claims. The experts could find no feasible reason
to believe it works.”
Chromium Level
Claim: Increasing your chromium
level can help you slim down. Chromium deficiency impairs the body' ability to
digest carbohydrates and regulate blood-sugar levels. This can lead to weight
gain, fatigue and other health problems. Ingesting more chromium revs
metabolism, helping you burn fat.
Truth: Insulin helps regulate appetite,
blood-sugar levels and fat production. Taking chromium, a common element found
in many foods, may help improve insulin function in people with diabetes and
glucose intolerance. "There is conflicting evidence,"says Robert Saper, M.D.,
M.P.H., director of Integrative Medicine at Boston University School of
Medicine. "But there are no convincing findings that taking chromium leads to
weight loss," says Dr. Saper, co-author of a 2004 review of research on various
diet supplements.
Diet Soft Drinks
Claim: Drinking more diet soft
drinks helps you lose weight. People who start drinking more diet r-sweetened
ones. By replacing one with the other, they cut calories and shed pounds.
Truth: A review of data from Harvard
University's Nurses' Health Study II found that women who increased consumption
of diet soda over a four-year span gained less weight than those how much they
drank, but they still gained. A review of data from the San Antonio Heart Study
found that while drinking either diet or regular soft drinks correlated with
weight gain, people who drank diet sodas were significantly more likely to gain.
There are many possible reasons, says Sharon Fowler, M.P.H., who co-authored the
review. It could be that diet-soda drinkers who gained weight had started
gaining before the study began, switched to diet drinks to try to lose, but kept
gaining for other reasons. Some people also drink diet sodas and then indulge in
other ways. There's some evidence, though, that diet drinks may increase
cravings and food intake. "We can neither confirm nor rule out that the diet
drinks were actually causing people to gain," says Fowler, a faculty associate
in clinical epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center. "If
they were, though, drinking as little as one diet drink a day may put a person
at increased risk."
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