Last minute diet? Beware of the miraculous promises of slimming teas and supplements

Last minute also for diets? Mah! We should eat an idea as suggested by the brilliant Gaber, but in the absence of this fantastic food, we need a solution to lose weight, possibly miraculous. Someone sees a good solution in the “liquid diet”, rich in herbal teas, tea and slimming drinks. Therefore, when time is running out and the lost line needs to be recovered quickly, all means may seem valid. So green light to weird last-minute diets, fasting or some products from the colorful world of herbs and supplements but, perhaps even better, it would take fat “disintegrators”.

Is there anything valid for this? Do they really make you lose weight? Are they safe to consume? What possible harmful effects could it cause in the short and medium term? There are hardly any scientific studies showing a direct effect between slimming teas and weight loss. Most of these preparations promise to speed up the metabolism thanks to the content of herbs aimed at the purpose. Certainly there is the increase in diuresis due to the increased intake of about one liter of liquids per day, with a discounted but not lasting slimming effect. Often, during the treatment, it is “recommended” to consume low-calorie solid foods, vegetables, salads in general.

On a typical day, breakfast will be eaten: a herbal tea, a bitter coffee and a yogurt with nuts. Snack, herbal tea with draining herbs and a few almonds. For lunch vegetables such as fennel, artichokes, cauliflower, cooked cucumbers and reduced to velvety. Herbal tea snack. Protein dinner with meat or fish and vegetables, the last herbal tea of ​​the day is a relaxing one for sleeping. In short, a sort of hyperproteic or hypoglucidic. Under these conditions, the loss of weight or rather of liquids is inevitable, but it is an ephemeral loss. Furthermore, the herbs added to the slimming drinks have not been subjected to scientific studies, capable of demonstrating the absence of harmful side effects. Remember that in nature not all herbs, although natural, can prove to be healthy.

The issue of security is important. What possible harmful effects could they cause in the short and medium term? The harmful effects of using slimming herbal teas depend on the various added ingredients and can happen to suffer: stomach pain, diarrhea, weakness of the intestinal muscles leading to a sluggish intestine and electrolyte imbalances that can lead to other serious complications. Slimming herbal teas that contain diuretic herbs can also cause side effects or complications. If they are used without restrictions, in uncontrolled quantities, they can cause dehydration, muscle cramps and problems with loss of electrolytes, especially sodium and potassium.

The American FDA (Food and Drug Administration) also issues warnings versus the use of most food supplements, including weight loss teas and herbal teas, mainly due to a lack of reliable studies and evidence of their safety or efficacy. Therefore, instead of relying on slimming drinks that have no lasting benefits, weight loss can be safely achieved with a number of different methods over time: a regular training program, especially with weight training which is the safest way to ensure fat burning. A healthy diet is essential with simple Mediterranean foods rich in fiber, proteins and extra virgin olive oil. Good behavioral hygiene is also important, i.e. regular rest and sleep that reduce stress hormones that can influence weight gain.

In conclusion, the herbal teas are certainly usable, they have a mild purifying and draining effect such as those based on pilosella, dandelion, birch, mallow, passion flower, elder, artichoke. Other plants, on the other hand, affect the nervous modulation of the sense of hunger such as rhodiola and griffonia simplicifolia but we must be careful, their effects are not tested at all.