Slimming pills without losing weight

Stiftung Warentest: Slimming products usually do not help you lose weight

01/30/2014

The slimming business is thriving. Not least because of the often tedious diets. There is the handle to the weight loss products, which promise a quick weight loss, according to advertising, only too tempting. But they hardly help and even a permanent effect can not be determined.

In its February issue, Stiftung Warentest took a closer look at 20 common over-the-counter slimming products. She concludes that exercise and a change in eating habits, on a lot of fruits, vegetables and wholemeal, is more effective and also healthier. On top of that, even the wallet is spared. Accordingly, it is stated that "all saturation capsules, fat burners, fat and carbohydrate blockers are poorly suited in the test." Stiftung Warentest also criticized that there are no independent studies on the long-term effects. With 15 remedies not even a noticeable weight loss effect could be proven. The tested funds were all in a price range between 99 cents and four euros per daily dose. According to the manufacturers, different methods should lead to weight loss. Some allegedly slow down the appetite, while others are said to speed up the burning of fat or bind ingested dietary fats.

Five remedies showed slight weight loss
After all, a short-term weight loss was proven with five remedies, according to Stiftung Warentest. These agents either contained the fat blocker „formoline“ or „glucomannans“, a starch-like substance that is also used as a food additive (E 425), taking into account certain concentrations. This fiber derived from the kojak root helps slightly in weight loss, as confirmed by the European Food Safety Authority. But at the same time, if you do not change your eating habits to a calorie-reduced diet, this effect does not have a lasting effect.

Formolines, which are present in crustacean tanks and beans, increase the saturation effect and the fat binding, but also help only slightly to reduce the weight duration.

According to the test report, these substances can also cause allergic reactions. Other remedies, as they swell in the stomach to provide satiety, can cause constipation. On the positive side, no risky substances were detected, as was the case in previous tests.

Scientists have historically found substances such as dinitrophenol, or DNP for short, that can trigger life-threatening reactions such as shortness of breath, low blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia, rapid overheating of the body and multiple organ failure.

In general, most of the appetite suppressants in the brain have shown severe side effects in the past, as Hans-Georg Joost, scientific director of the German Institute for Human Nutrition (DIfE), reported. Some became addicted, others triggered cardiovascular disease. In addition, all means have one thing in common: after stopping the preparations, the weight shot up again.

Those who want to permanently reduce their weight should prefer to change their diet and do regular exercise. From a medical perspective, people with a body mass index of 30 should do something about their overweight, Stiftung Warentest explains. Risk factors such as arteriosclerosis and its consequences such as heart attack and stroke can be reduced more effectively (fr)