Weight Loss Belly Wraps: The Claims vs The Truth
Those searching for the shortest, easiest and quickest way to get slim have no doubt come across ads for a device known as the Belly Burner or a similar one called the Waist Trimmer Belt.
These devices are simple wraps that cover the midriff section to target the belly fat that has built up by eating a bad diet coupled with little or no exercise.
But the claims made by the makers of these devices are perhaps not quite as close to the truth as their hyped TV and magazine ads would have you believe.
Neoprene Band
Invented by the celebrity trainer, Bobby Waldron, the Belly Burner is a neoprene band that you literally wrap around your midsection and it then causes that area of the body to heat up.
The claim is that the higher temperature causes a faster rate of fat burning in the area along with a reduction in water retained in the area. Waldron claims that the Belly Burner,
"increases your thermal core temperature… accelerating the fat-burning energy needed to trim down those love handles."
The catch is that you have to also exercise and eat a healthy diet while wearing the bad to maximize its potential to help you to lose weight. The truth is that the band does indeed heat up the area wrapped beneath it, but all this does is cause more sweating and therefore a reduction in water weight.
The diet and exercise will do the fat burning leading to a reduction in body mass, as it would in any case. In fact, because the band causes water loss, that in itself slows the body's metabolism down, making it harder to lose the fat that the exercise and diet are targeting.
Is it a Scam?
According to Pete McCall, an exercise physiologist and personal trainer from San Diego and a spokesman for the American Council on Exercise, a neoprene wrap placed around the belly will, just like the old fashioned rubber suit designed to do the same thing, definitely make people sweat, which reduces the body's water content which is one way of knowing how to lose water weight.
How intense the workout is could mean they could sweat quite a lot.
However, McCall says that there is a really big difference between losing water through sweating and losing body fat. He believes that a device such as the Belly Burner or neoprene wrap actually makes it more difficult for the body to burn fat and also tone abdominal muscles.
Wearing a wrap like this around the belly makes the abdominal muscles relax so they don't tone as much or burn as many calories as they would if they were left uncovered.
The Verdict?
Save your money and get started on one of the better diets and invest it in buying a good stepper or a skipping rope. You'll lose more weight and get fitter, faster as long as you stick to a healthy, natural diet and stay away from processed foods, junk food etc and stop drinking soda.
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Posted on Sun, 29 Aug 2010 in News | 1 Comments
1 thoughts on "Weight Loss Belly Wraps: The Claims vs The Truth"
Contact says:
Hey - quality article. Ahh, our old friends the lovehandles! For me I've figured out that the best solution to kill those nagging handles is to simply lower my whole body fat percentage to less than 8 percent. I'm a fan of the Paleolithic regimen. It's natural and how Mother Nature intended for us to eat. Check it out when you have a chance. Anyhow, nice site.