Healthy Dieting

Promoters of weight-loss gimmicks have learned one thing in recent times: to sell the most of an unproven product you need to do it quickly. And to sell lots of product quickly, you needs lots of distributors with a multi-level marketing format.

The latest players in the market have a slightly different version of an old standby. Chitosan is a fibre supplement made from the shells of molluscs. It’s sold in tablet form as a meal supplement, with the claim that it ‘attracts’ fats in the digestive tract and prevents them from being absorbed.

In the first place, there is no convincing evidence that this happens, nor that it can happen with supplement tablets such as prescribed. Secondly, if it does prevent absorption of fats, it would prevent absorption of good fats (omega- three, omega-six and linoleic acid) as well as bad fats, and fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin E and beta carotene.

Beta carotene and some other products of the fat-soluble vitamin A are thought to be vital anti-cancer agents and malabsorption of any or all of these substances could be potentially dangerous.

Other similarities of the Chitosan story to standard weight-loss marketing gimmicks are:

* Claims of extensive scientific research supporting the product. On closer inspection, this mostly comes from obscure foreign language journals. The English language publications do not directly research the product or the supplements advocated.

Proposals for a ‘new’, ‘magic’, ‘amazing’ discovery. The product, a form of fibre, is a variation on a theme. It just happens that it can’t be easily grown in your backyard or bought at the corner store in the form of mollusc shells.

False claims based on minimal research information: the fact that one rat study has shown a decrease in cholesterol with Chitosan does not indicate that it reduces fat in the diet. Many other mono- and poly-unsaturated oils reduce cholesterol, but this only happens after they are absorbed into the bloodstream.

Aggressive marketing by unknowledgeable distributors: as a multi-level style marketing operation the product can be sold by anyone greedy enough to want a share of the action, without any knowledge of the potential dangers of the product.

The implication that there is no need to otherwise control food intake: any supplement taken in the absence of a balanced eating plan poses potential health risks, independent of any possible long-term risks from the supplement itself.

Chitosan is not the first, nor will it be the last, weight control gimmick of its kind. The nature of its promotion, however, makes it categorisable in this section under the ugly category.

Body wraps—you might as well wrap the therapist in your $100 notes

They claim that it’s been used for centuries: wrapping of the body in bandages and using ’secret’ oils which increase the metabolism and ‘instantly’ decrease fat. The fact that this is neither physiologically feasible nor possible doesn’t seem to matter. Centres selling the treatment appear to be doing a roaring trade. So, what can be wrong with it?

Wrapping causes sweating; sweat, being water, is heavy. After any length of time in a wrap, sweating, plus compression of the body cells, will give the impression of a loss of body weight and size. Naturally this is temporary. If the treatment does happen to work over the longer term it is simply because of the low-energy diet and exercise program prescribed with it.

If the ‘magic’ oil in the treatment worked as it is reputed to, it could only do so by penetrating the skin and causing a change in the body’s metabolism. If this actually happened, the treatment would have to be scheduled under the prescribed drugs act. Either way, the so-called proof is non-existent. There is no respected scientific verification of this treatment. Anyone believing it should be wrapped up for life.

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