Here
are five examples of diet trends you’ve probably read about, but might not have
realized that the science behind them is a tad iffy at present, whether it’s a
lack of any research or lack of research that can be applied to you.
Although
some of them might have health benefits, the jury is still out on whether they
should be considered a viable weight-loss tool.
1. Activated Charcoal
Your wellness-trend obsessed pal
might be Instagramming the heck out of bottles of inky-black lemonade or chia ice cream made with activated charcoal, but you may want
to think twice before jumping on the charcoal bandwagon.
It’s
touted as a way to “detox” your body, but the research supporting any health
benefits — much less weight-loss
benefits — of activated charcoal is scant.
Activated
charcoal’s rep as a detox aid likely stems from its longtime use in emergency
rooms as a way to treat people who have ingested poisons or overdosed on drugs.
It works in the digestive tract by preventing the poison or drugs from being
absorbed — but it can also prevent healthful micronutrients from being absorbed
as well.
The few
decades-old studies of activated charcoal — one published in 1989, for example,
with fewer than 20 participants who
all suffered from high cholesterol — concluded that activated charcoal may
lower levels of LDL, or bad cholesterol, but other studies found that it
interferes with medications by flushing them out of your body, dampening their
effectiveness.
“The
body, mainly the liver, does a very good job of filtering toxins on its own,
and therefore does not need the help of activated charcoal, unless you are
possibly poisoned,” Hayim says.
It’s
probably safe to drink, but because it can bind to vitamins C, B6 and biotin,
she adds, it won’t do much for you, except make food less nutritious. In
addition, there are no studies to support its use as a weight-loss aid, Haynes
says.
2. Apple Cider Vinegar
Drinking diluted apple cider vinegar to help knock
out a cold is a longtime folk remedy, but more recently, you might have read
anecdotal accounts of people who swear by drinking straight apple cider vinegar
(ACV) every day to help them lose
weight.
As with
many weight-loss fads, there’s a tenuous link between this claim and published
research: A 2009 Japanese study of 155 obese subjects concluded that consuming
vinegar helped them lose weight and
reduced their body-fat percentage. The researchers noted a reduction in fasting
glucose, which is the measure of blood sugar, or blood glucose, after fasting
for at least eight hours. The less starch that’s digested, the lower the blood
sugar is impacted, which is associated with less risk of diabetes and heart disease,
Hayim says.
“This
would only really be helpful for those who fall into the pre-diabetes or
diabetic category,” Haynes points out. “For healthy individuals, this may not
be a benefit, as blood sugar that’s too low is also unhealthy.”
What’s
more, although ACV showed some benefit to study participants, the results
weren’t exactly spectacular: Participants only lost between two and four pounds
over a period of three months.
Another
important thing to note: There’s nothing special in ACV that’s linked to this
slight weight loss. This effect on blood sugar is thought to be due to an
enzyme that inhibits the digestion of starch. But “modest weight loss has been
found in those that consume vinegar, but the key here is that the factor that
causes weight loss is the enzyme inhibitor acetate, which is found in all vinegars,”
says Hayim.
Drinking
it plain on the reg, rather than adding it to recipes, also carries a risk of
tooth erosion and burning your mouth or esophagus (even ACV tablets), she adds, and drinking
too much of it can even be poisonous.
3. Bone Broth
Bone broth is just animal stock, made
by simmering whatever bones, animal parts and vegetables. Bone broth
enthusiasts say it’s filled with vitamins and minerals that can boost the
immune system, soothe your gut, reduce inflammation, and even make your hair
more shiny.
A major
problem with existing research about the benefits of drinking bone broth,
however, is that there isn’t any. Drinking bone broth won’t hurt you, many
nutritionists say, but there aren’t any studies to support the claims that it’s
an immune system-boosting tonic.
One
reason it would be difficult to study is that there’s no one recipe for bone broth. But a bigger
problem is the science supposedly behind it: Health claims mostly hinge on the
assumption that collagen from the bones provides health benefits.
But the
body doesn’t absorb collagen when you drink it, Hayim says. “When it comes to
collagen, many people have it wrong. We don’t absorb collagen whole, so the
idea that it can be broken down and go to the places we want doesn’t really
make sense,” she explains. Once collagen is broken down, the body sees it as a
protein (or amino acids) and will use them where it sees fit.
“Bone
broth may not have the promising effects we want of it, but it won’t cause any
harm and may still be used for healing, or even recovery from sports due to its
sodium and hydration content,” Hayim adds.
Another
plus, if you’re reluctant to give up a bone broth habit, is that it’s low in
calories and high in protein, Haynes says, so it can help keep you feeling full
with minimal calories.
“There’s
a study that shows that breakfast
containing gelatin (cooked collagen) was approximately 40 percent
more satiating than breakfast that included other proteins such as whey and soy,
and resulted in a 20 percent reduction in subsequent energy intake which could
lead to weight loss,” Haynes says. “However, this study doesn’t specifically
use bone broth.”
4. Coconut Oil
The theory: Coconut oil contains medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs)
that help you burn calories by increasing energy expenditure (the total number
of calories you burn in a day) when compared to long-chain fatty acids found in
olive oil, meat, fish, and avocado.
Coconut
oil enthusiasts point to studies of MCTs as proof of the oil’s weight-loss
potential, but they’re not actually one and the same; coconut oil contains MCTs
but also other types of fat (mostly saturated) as well, Haynes says.
“MCTs are metabolized differently from
long-chain triglycerides and thus can be rapidly oxidized for energy versus
stored as fat,” Haynes says. “However, studies that tout this weight-loss benefit use MCT oil
and not coconut oil, so we don’t know if we’d see the same results using
coconut oil.”
Although
there is some
research, mostly on rats and
specifically obese women,
suggesting that MCTs could increase energy expenditure, with the data available
so far, it’s a risky avenue if your goal is weight loss.
“No one
food is a magic food for weight loss,” Haynes says. “Coconut oil has about 120
calories per tablespoon. Because it’s so calorically dense, it’s easy to
overconsume.”
The
takeaway? Try replacing coconut oil for other types of oil in cooking if you’d like, but
use it just as sparingly as you would any other oil rather than thinking of it
as a weight-loss weapon.
5. Turmeric
It seems like tumeric is everywhere
you look these days: This golden
spice contains curcumin, an ingredient with good evidence to support its
role as an anti-inflammatory in the body. But thinking it might spur weight
loss is too big a leap to make, Hayim says.
“I
think the word ‘healthy’ confuses people, as it’s often interchanged with ‘good
for weight loss,'” she says. “Many of the foods we talk about that are trendy,
such as acai berry and avocado for example, may have nutritious properties, but
do not necessarily lend themselves to weight loss.”
Much of
the existing studies of curcumin’s effect on weight looked at its effects on symptoms related to obesity. So
although it might have an effect on insulin resistance, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will help
whisk away those last five pounds on the average person.
“There’s
a lot of research on curcumin’s role in reducing inflammation,” Haynes says. “And being overweight or
obese is often considered a low-grade inflammatory disease, but this link isn’t
direct. Curcumin could potentially help, through these diverse
anti-inflammatory mechanisms, but more research is needed.”
The Bottom Line
As with any shiny, new product that
you may be tempted to try out, caveat emptor — buyer beware — and even more so
when it comes to something that may affect your health.
But you
don’t need a bunch of letters after your name or an advanced scientific
background to be a smart consumer. Just remember to do some research, keep your
expectations in check, and use your innate common sense to decide if you really need to
try the latest weight-loss trend.
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