The Skinny
It seems like almost everyone is obsessed with losing weight and then staying of the thin side of life. No one is arguing against jettisoning extra pounds. Unwanted chub can generate all sorts health problems, but then again, so can unhealthy obsessions with losing weight. Perhaps even more worrisome is that individuals obsessively looking to lose weight can grasp on to popular but unproven natural weight loss programs that may be ineffective but potentially harmful. WellWell has identified seven that have yet to convince the dieticians, nutritionists and other professionals of their worth.
Simply put, there’s no evidence that tea-toxing can help trim pounds, according to dietician Sharon Palmer, R.D., author of Plant Powered For Life. Regular teas can be loaded with lots of good things, like disease-fighting compounds. Green tea even has metabolism-boosting EGCG. But detox teas may not be as beneficial. Senna, for example, is often found in nighttime teas and has a laxative effect, which means they shouldn’t be consumed for more than two weeks let among the 28 days most tea-toxing programs run.
Talk about hot. Celery juice was a celebrity fan favorite a few years back and it still popular. The problem is that celery when juiced loses a lot of it nutritional value. It also, obviously, tosses away celery’s fiber and solid components. All this can undermine any weight loss benefits. Not only are coumarins lost with juicing—and they help with digestion—a lot of celery’s Vitamin A goes by the wayside as well. Another challenge for anyone looking to lose weight through celery juice and eliminating fiber and roughage may ultimately wind up eating because they don’t feel as full.
There is no bigger buzz on natural weight loss front than when it comes to apple cider vinegar. Unfortunately for all of the other benefits that come with this vinegar, it is not a magic bullet for losing weight, at least according to a lot of recent research. Bottomline: include it in a dietary program, but apple cider vinegar by itself isn’t going to make much if any difference to a person’s waistline.
This is anything but a bloody good diet. This diet recommends people eat and avoid certain foods based on, what else, their blood type. The major problems with the diet is that it is hard to maintain and has no scientific research to support it works. A better option is the traditional one. Eat a balanced diet, avoided processed foods and exercise regularly.
Flushing The Colon With Coffee
This takes the concept of a Cup of Joe to a whole new and unproven level. The idea is to flush out a person’s colon with a solution that contains coffee, presumedly cold or room temperature coffee as a means to eliminate body waste and shedding pounds. But it’s probably not a great idea. The approach can lead to dehydration, infection, cramping, diarrhea, vomiting, and or physical damage to the colon.
What could be wrong about the water diet? Afterall, cold water in general effects a person’s metabolism and perhaps makes them burn more calories. The problem, according to some experts, is the number of extra calories burned is negligible. Instead, they advise people to drink water to hydrate and because it contains no calories. Don’t worry about drinking water to burn calories.
Garcinia cambogia is popular among people interested in losing weight because it is believed to block the body’s ability to make fat, while also suppressing appetite. There may be a sliver of truth to the extract’s ability to help lose weight, but both the research and results are thin. Researchers studying the impact of the extract aren’t entirely sure it works. On top of this,
the Food and Drug Administration considers it unsafe, warning that weight loss products that contain garcinia cambogia may cause liver disease.
Eyes Up
What weight loss programs do you think are light on results? Let us know at info@wellwellusa.com
