Losing weight is no easy feat.
It requires steadfast determination along with a calorie deficit diet and regular exercise.
But even then, some people struggle to shed the extra pounds clinging onto their bodies. They continue to restrict their calorie intake and squeeze in vigorous training sessions every day, but still don’t see a noticeable change in their weight or appearance.
For such unfortunate souls, alternative over-the-counter weight loss products seem like the answer to all their weight loss woes from the heavens above. But sadly, most quick weight loss fixes are nothing but products backed by groundless claims.
One such product is the magical magnetic slimming patches that claim to melt your fat away just by adhering to your skin.
Although magnetic slimming patches have no scientific backing, they have established quite a fan following. More and more people are gravitating towards the magnetic slimming patches that supposedly help you lose weight.
All you need to do is slap them on your skin and let them do their weight- shedding magic.
Now, wouldn’t that be amazing? Got belly fat?
No problem just stick on some pads, and it’ll melt away.
If losing fat were that easy, 39% of the adult population in the world wouldn’t be obese. According to a 2017 study conducted by the Imperial College of London and WHO, the number of overweight children and adolescents worldwide has increased tenfold in the past four decades.
And if the same trend continues then by 2022, more kids will be obese than moderately or severely underweight. These alarming stats clearly indicate that obesity is a global health crisis that is much too complicated to be solved by using skin patches.
However, people seem to have faith in the power of magnetic slimming patches and continue to use them in hopes of getting lean. So what’s the truth behind the miraculous slimming patches?
Are they safe and do they work? Let’s find out.
What exactly are magnetic slimming patches?
Magnetic slimming patches work pretty much like weight loss supplements, but instead of taking the weight-reducing compounds orally, you let them enter your body through the skin.
Magnetic slimming patches are a type of skin patches that transfer chemical constituents into the body through the skin cells.
Skin patches, also known as transdermal patches, are not a new invention. They have been around for a while; however, they were primarily used to help with birth control, smoke cessation, and pain management.
While transdermal patches have been effective in treating pain, their efficacy as a get-thin-quick product is still questionable.
The makers of magnetic slimming patches claim that their life-changing product promotes weight loss by boosting metabolism or preventing the body from absorbing carbohydrates as fat.
And if the manufacturers of weight loss patches are to be believed, then the magical trimming down product also doesn’t have any side effects.
Even though magnetic slimming patches seem harmless as per the claims of manufacturers, there isn’t a single patch that’s been approved by the MHRA or FDA.
In fact, most over the counter weight loss aids are not backed by any health authorities around the world.
Only one weight loss pill by the name of Orlistat is the only sanctioned aid to weight loss in the UK and USA. It is used to treat obesity; however, its effectiveness is also not a lot compelling.
When it comes to magnetic slimming patches, there are a lot of risk factors that one needs to consider before hoarding the product. Since healthcare authorities do not approve weight loss transdermal patches, their production is not regulated by field experts.
Most companies that make such products have no medical expertise; therefore, they might be using harmful chemicals in their patches, which may cause allergic reactions in users.
Moreover, a lot of substances and compounds that are believed to aid weight loss may not be as beneficial as they are made to be; in fact, some of them may even be harmful. Therefore, even if a weight loss pad claims to have ingredients that stimulate fat burning, it may do more harm than good to your body.
Weight loss pills and patches work on the same principle, so you can use either of those aids if you wish to. Neither of the two is more effective.
Most importantly, weight loss patches have no scientific backing, so there is no reliable evidence for us to believe that transdermal weight loss aids would work.
Although there is an evident lack of proof that supports the claims made by the makers of weight loss patches, people still buy these products online and use them religiously.
So, what is the supposed science that is behind the weight-reducing abilities of magnetic slimming patches? Let’s go through it in detail.
How do Magnetic Slimming Patches Work?
The manufactures of weight-reducing patches claim that their products release constituents into the skin that speed up cellular oxidation leading to increased calorie expenditure.
Simply put, when you paste a magnetic slimming patch on your skin daily, the weight-burning ingredients enter your body and speed up your cellular respiration.
Cellular respiration is the process of breaking down of macronutrients such as carbohydrates and fats. When there is more cellular respiration in your body, it produces more useable energy by processing the nutrients instead of storing them as fat.
As a result, your body burns more calories, creating a negative energy balance that leads to weight loss.
A Quick Recap
- You slap on a weight loss patch over the larger parts of your body
- Fat-burning compounds are released into your body that enter the bloodstream
- The released compounds increase the rate of cellular respiration in your body
- The increased cellular respiration leads to excess calorie consumption by the body and minimal nutrient storage as fat
- Excessive calorie consumption creates an energy deficit in the body that kickstarts the weight loss process.
The mechanism that is supposedly at play behind the weight shedding capabilities of magnetic slimming patches is known as bio-magnetism.
Some advocates of bio-magnetic weight loss also assert that you reap the benefits of the said mechanism even when you are fast asleep.
So, you don’t even have to actively do anything to get lean, a weight loss patch daily and you will be well on your way to a petite body.
Drawing Parallels: Slimming patches vs weight loss pills/injections
Even though over the counter weight loss aids are mostly a scam, they continue to exist on the market.
Whether as slimming patches or weight loss pills and injections, you can find a wide variety of aids to weight loss in the UK and USA. Knowing which one of these purported weight-loss schemes is the most effective is not possible because neither of them has any substantial scientific backing.
Also, all of them work on either of the following principles
- Increased satiety
- Decreased absorption
- Increased fat oxidation (cellular respiration)
So, if one of them works then all of them should work. Weight loss aids claim to promote fat burning because they are formulated using some specific ingredients that are believed to help in weight loss. Some of those ingredients include:
- Fucus vesiculosus
- 5-HTP
- guarana
- yerba mate
- zinc pyruvate
- flaxseed oil
- lecithin
- L-carnitine
- zinc citrate
- acai berry
- green tea extract
- white kidney bean extract
- guarana extract
Whether you get a dose of any of the compounds mentioned above via a patch or injection, you will most likely get similar results.
Since all the weight loss aids are commercially produced, there is hardly any medical research that goes into their production. Therefore, you never know how effective the ratio of ingredients is and what quality components are used.
The only weight loss aid that’s reliable is Orlistat, which has been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency).
But even with Orlistat, a person is instructed to make dietary changes and increase their physical activity to lose weight consistently and more effectively. Furthermore, people who take the said medicine are also given multivitamins containing beta-carotene and vitamins A, D, E, and K, so that they don’t develop a vitamin deficiency.
Since Orlistat alters a patient’s digestive system, it can, therefore, create a deficiency of vital micronutrients in the body. Hence, it has to be taken along with other nutritional supplements to prevent complications.
The Final Verdict
Losing weight is a steady process, and there are NO shortcuts to it.
No matter how vehemently a company claims to have created a product that will melt away all the fat from your body, the chances are, there is little to no truth to its promises.
Unless a leading healthcare facility makes a significant breakthrough in weight loss research and comes up with an effective weight loss aid, there is no other way for you to lose weight than following a limited calorie diet with regular exercise.
Whether it’s a weight loss patch, injection, or pill, no over the counter weight loss aids can work a miracle.
