Scientists Explain Why Miracle Diets Don’t Really Work

Rebecca Lewis July 27, 2016

While fad diets can promise tremendous weight loss in just several weeks, experts say three-quarters of that are just body fluids - which can easily be regained. They add that the maximum fats an individual can burn is two pounds per month.

For the study, researchers tracked a group of cyclists to see how their fat levels changed during and after exercise. They found that even if the participants took a popular fat burning pill, the maximum amount of fat they could burn was 0.001lbs (0.7g) a minute, or 0.09lbs (42g) an hour - findings revealed.

It means that even with a supplement, an individual could not burn much more than 2.2lbs (one kilogram) a month.

The randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind experimental study involved 18 adults who were asked to do a physical activity (cycling) after consuming p-synephrine (a popular diet loss supplement which can be found in a wide variety of citrus fruits such as oranges, mandarins and grapefruits), and then after a placebo pill.

The researchers found that intake of p-synephrine had no effect on energy expenditure, heart rate or arterial pressure. It did produce a notable change in substrate utilization during exercise: ingesting p-synephrine before exercise increased the rate of fat oxidation. It also reduced carbohydrate oxidation at low and moderate intensity. It also increased individuals’ maximum capacity to burn fat, although it did not change the intensity at which this was attained.

This suggests that p-synephrine supplements could be useful to increase fat oxidation by 0.02lbs (7g) per hour of exercise. But even with that boost, it meant they were not burning more than 0.09lbs (42g) an hour.

Too good to be true

One this could be real when it comes to miracle diet: they are too good to be true. Fad diets that lead to more dramatic weight loss results are mainly related to body fluid loss, which will creep back over time, the researchers note.

’It’s less attention-catching than miracle diet slogans, but scientifically speaking, effective change would be at that rate,’ said Juan Del Coso, the study lead author and researcher from Camilo José Cela University in Madrid

Source of this article:

Miracle diets ’NEVER work’: Fad weight loss plans only result in loss of body fluid not fat, experts warn

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