Excess weight is a 21st century scourge. It is found in men and women, in children and in the elderly. The moment a person realizes the fact that he is overweight, he starts looking for ways to lose weight.
Some go on diets and get rid of them, others starve to death and exhaust the body with exercise, others turn to specialists and lose weight under the supervision of a doctor. There is a fourth group of people - they believe in the effectiveness of diet pills, bracelets, earrings and belts. The sellers and manufacturers of these products promise weight loss without effort or restrictions.
We will examine the effectiveness and structure of weight loss belts - is it worth the money, what is the working mechanism and is it able to help in the process of losing weight, lifting the belly?
Is a slimming belt effective?
There are people who believe that the miracle belt will melt their fat deposits or squeeze the fat out of the cells and remove it along with the sweat. This speaks of ignorance and neglect of chemistry and anatomy lessons in school.
Careful! It does not matter if you use heat or massage - the fat can not be melted, much less evaporated by sweat. Fat is burned as a result of oxidation - there is no other way.
To open your eyes to the absurdity of such promises, consider the fat burning process:
- Fat deposits burn in the mitochondria of muscle cells - a kind of small cellular energy stations. Fat enters the mitochondria in the absence of another source of energy - when you have not eaten carbohydrates for a long time, and the energy supply to the liver - glycogen, is depleted. To get it, the body is forced to process strategic fat deposits.
As a result of oxidation, fat in the mitochondria is converted into energy for muscle. But oxidation occurs only in the presence of oxygen, like a burning flame. Therefore, while losing weight, it is important to move a lot - muscles will need energy and will breathe fresh air - oxidation and fat burning will occur.
Reference! It is not fat cells that burn muscle - after adolescence, their number remains with one person for life. Fatty acids are released from these cells and sent to the muscle mitochondria, where they are burned.
Of course, just using such a belt will not burn fat. But still, let's examine what they are and what the manufacturers promise. At least to compare the real fat burning process with the promises from the monitors.
A few words about the types and principles of work
Slimming belts are divided into 3 types - vibrating, with sauna and neoprene effect. There are also stimulants, they have integrated sensors. Electrodetectors transmit a micro-discharge of current to the muscles, and this stimulates their contraction. Myostimulants are used more to pump muscles, they relate to our topic only indirectly, so we will not stop here.
Vibrating. The effectiveness of the belt is explained by the effect of vibration massage on fat cells. Apparently, this stimulation causes the cells to release fat and remove it in sweat.
From a scientific point of view, this is not true, but from a medical point of view there is a danger here:
- Active vibration leads to muscle contraction, even in the deepest ones. Because of this, there is an increased filling of the small muscles with blood, and this is already edema. Artificial edema is dangerous for a diseased spine. May promote chronic disease. And if you did not know about them before, they can appear quite harsh and critical.
Based on the lipolysis process, it is clear that there can be no weight loss.
Reference! Lipolysis is the breakdown of fat into fatty acids that are oxidized in muscle.
The effect of the sauna. The belt has heating elements. Works with batteries or electricity. The manufacturer promises to speed up fat burning by raising body temperature. But in fact, other than removing the fluid, he will not be able to do anything.
Often such models are equipped with a vibration mechanism and promise a dual effect. In this case, an increase in temperature is added to the risk of vibration. And this threatens spinal diseases.
Neoprene. The neoprene belt promises to heat the fat and thus help burn it. Some people honestly believe that fat can melt when exposed to heat.
Important! A belt with a heating effect can only remove excess fluid due to sweating. This fluid will be recovered within 24 hours after the procedure, as happens after going to the bath or sauna.
In which cases such a belt is a real assistant
A neoprene slimming belt can be really helpful for lumbar spine diseases. It fits snugly against the body and thus adjusts the stationary position of the lower back. Can be used to warm the lower back when needed.
As much as we would like to believe in a miracle - vibrations and heat belts bring no benefit to health and figure.
Important! It is widely believed that a tight belt will help tone the abdominal muscles. In fact, holding it regularly can make the situation worse. The muscular corset will no longer perform the function of supporting the internal organs because the belt took over.
When this belt is useless
Important! If you are over 12 pounds (12 pounds) overweight, become leaner under the supervision of a registered dietitian. With independent weight loss, thousands of men and women die in the world.
It is useless to put on any of the belts and think that the fat will burn on its own. They have not yet invented such a device or tablet. And if you wear such a device, play sports, eat properly and lose weight, then you can continue to lose weight without seat belts - you will still succeed.