Introduction
The weighing scale is probably the scariest piece of equipment in many households. According to the survey done by a Chennai based hospital in 2009, India will have maximum number of Obese people by 2020. It is no surprise then that the remedies for weight loss have sprouted everywhere.
While genetics, medical ailments and side-effects of certain drugs contribute to a point, the most common reasons for the large mass of population being overweight are bad food habits and lack of physical exercise. This would largely mean that healthy food habits and adequate exercise could correctively solve this problem. However, this is easier said than done. This is where weightloss suplements come into play.
History
Weightloss Suplements are products that contain substances like vitamins, minerals, botanicals, amino-acids in a measure that is required by the body to function adequately and is intended to supplement the usual intake of food.
While weight loss supplements have been unofficially been around for a long time as a part of home-remedies it was defined as “Dietary Supplement” in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) in the United States and is now governed under the FDA regulations. For people who are apprehensive about ingesting drugs and causing ill-effects to their health, it may help to know that FDA categorizes supplements as “Food” and not “Drug”.
Different methods that these supplements work are by enacting as
• Fat-binders
• Carb-blockers
• Calorie- burners
• Appetite Suppressants
• Metabolism boosters
There are many over the counter weightloss suplements readily available in the market, as well as many home remedies that claim to be time-tested. Weight loss supplements claims mostly revolve around healthy and quick with no physical exercise.
The effectiveness of such claims are highly debatable, while calling all weight loss supplements fake may be a bit drastic, it is important to accept that there are a lot of products that have tall claims which seem improbable to attain.
The key to a weight loss supplement being real is to check whether it treats the disease and not just the symptom. True weight loss supplements do not work wonders in short term.
Features
Damages done to a body over the years cannot be rectified in short term. The good news however, that with proper care the effects are also long-term.
It is also interesting to see that a recent research has claimed that weightloss suplements do not provide for more than a placebo effect during a structured weight loss regime. This opens to subject to further debate.
Tips and comments
A few tips to keep in mind while choosing weightloss suplements.
• Do check if the weightloss suplement treats the symptom like reducing appetite.
• Check for allergenic substances
• If it sounds too good to be true... It possibly is... tread with caution
• Weight loss supplements cannot cure dieses or pre-existing conditions like cholesterol etc. It can only maintain. Hence do not pick one that claims to cure.
• Look for claims like “organic” or “natural”. This does not mean better. Sometimes there is no difference in the chemical component and hence it is improbable for it to work better.
However, it is safe to say that if selected with care, Weight loss supplements can be used cohesively with adequate physical activity for long term effectiveness.
