Month: October 2018

Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Electrical Muscle Stimulators

Years ago I had a friend that was selling Electrical Muscle Stimulators for your abs or any other muscle group you wanted to use it on.

The way that is worked was that you could put it across your stomach and it would send electric pulses through your muscles and help you lose or get a six pack or make you huge.

The claims were not very well proven then and are still somewhat suspect. I do not think you are going to see a Mr Olympia from electocuting himself but anyway I ran into an FDA question and answer about these Electronic Muscle Stimulators that I wanted to pass on:

Consumer Info – Electrical Muscle Stimulators

Q. Why does FDA regulate electrical muscle stimulators?
A. Electrical muscle stimulators are considered devices under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Under this law and the agency’s regulations, the FDA is responsible for regulating the sale of all electrical muscle stimulators in the United States.

Therefore, firms must comply with appropriate FDA premarket regulatory requirements before they can legally sell their stimulators. Most electrical muscle stimulators (EMS devices) that have been reviewed by FDA are intended for use in physical therapy and rehabilitation under the direction of a health care professional.

If a company wants to sell EMS devices directly to consumers, the company needs to show FDA it can be used safely and effectively in that setting.

Electrical Muscle StimulatorsQ. These electrical muscle stimulators are advertised not only to tone, firm, and strengthen abdominal muscles, but also to provide loss, girth reduction, and “rock hard” abs. Do they really work?
A. While an EMS device may be able to temporarily strengthen, tone or firm a muscle, no EMS devices have been cleared at this time for loss, girth reduction, or for obtaining “rock hard” abs.

Q. Is FDA concerned about the unregulated marketing of these devices?
A. Yes. FDA has received reports of shocks, burns, bruising, skin irritation, and pain associated with the use of some of these devices. There have been a few recent reports of interference with implanted devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators.

Some injuries required hospital treatment. It is very important that these devices be properly designed, manufactured, and labeled with clear and complete instructions for use and that anyone using them follows the instructions carefully. FDA is also concerned because many of these devices have cables and leads.

If those cables and leads do not comply with electrical safety standards, there is the possibility of electrocution by users and other household members. FDA is currently investigating firms that are illegally marketing EMS devices.

Q. What does FDA regulation accomplish?
A. Firms that market EMS devices are required to comply with appropriate FDA premarket regulatory requirements before they may legally sell their devices.

Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

More on Hoodia

It takes about 5 years before hoodia’s pale purple flowers appear and the cactus can be harvested. Although there are 20 types of hoodia, only the hoodia gordonii variety is believed to contain the natural appetite suppressant.

Although hoodia was only marketed recently, the San Bushmen of the Kalahari desert have been eating it for a very long time. The Bushmen, who live off the land, would cut off part of the hoodia stem and eat it to ward off hunger and thirst during nomadic hunting trips. They also used hoodia for severe abdominal cramps, haemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes.

In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist studying the San Bushmen noted that they used hoodia to suppress appetite. But it wasn’t until 1963 when scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa’s national laboratory, began studying hoodia. Initial results were promising — lab animals lost after taking hoodia.

Eventually pharmaceutical giant Pfizer got together with Phytopharm and started to research how to make a drug out of the Hoodia plant. Pfizer recently returned the rights to hoodia to Phytopharm, who is now working with Unilever.
Why would Phizer stop? Phizer claims they stopped trying to get Hoodia to work because it is a very tough product to synthysize and they just had to give up.

How does hoodia work?

There isn’t much published research on hoodia. Researchers at Brown University in Rhode Island recently found that the steroidal glycosides in hoodia affects nerve cells in the hypothalamus that monitor blood glucose. Simply put, the brain is tricked into thinking there is enough energy (blood sugar) and doesn’t need to eat, so it shuts down the hunger mechanism.

What you need to know about hoodia

Hoodia appears to suppress appetite

Much of the buzz about hoodia started after 60 minutes correspondent Leslie Stahl and crew traveled to Africa to try hoodia. They hired a local Bushman to go with them into the desert and track down some hoodia. Stahl ate it, describing it as “cucumbery in texture, but not bad.” She lost the desire to eat or drink the entire day. She also didn’t experience any immediate side effects, such as indigestion or heart palpitations. Stahl concluded, “I’d have to say it did work.”

In animal studies, hoodia is believed to reduce caloric intake by 30 to 50 percent. There is one human study showing a reduced intake of about 1000 calories per day. However, I haven’t been able to find either study to actually read for myself and am going on secondhand reports.

Hoodia is expensive

There has always been a demand for quick-fix, no-pain loss pills. After the ban on the herb ephedra, the market was particularly ripe for the next new loss solution, preferably one that didn’t have the same stimulating side effects as ephedra. The demand for hoodia is great, but the supply isn’t. Until very recently, hoodia gordonii was only found in the wild in South Africa. Hoodia is difficult to grow. It requires 4-5 years to mature and temperatures in the range of 122F. The supply is scarce, which keeps costs high.
One of the important issues to look at is that many Hoodia products fake the amount of Hoodia in them and in fact contain almost none. Be usre to watch who you are buying your Hoodia from!

The correct dose of hoodia is individual

Supplement companies put a standard recommended dose on the bottle, but people often need far less or more than that amount. Some people who’ve used hoodia say they need at least 1,200 milligrams per day to notice a difference. But it depends on a person’s , diet, lifestyle, and metabolism.

How long does hoodia takes to work?

The consensus is that hoodia can take up to 1 to 2 weeks to kick in, however, many people notice the appetite suppressing effects within 1/2 hour of taking a dose of hoodia.

How to take hoodia

An hour before meals

With a glass of water. Ensure adequate water intake, because hoodia will also shut off your thirst mechanism.
Side efffects of hoodia are still unknown
I’m not aware of any published reports of side effects after short-term use of hoodia.

There are no published long-term studies on the safety of hoodia. Just because it has been used for thousands of years doesn’t mean it is safe. The San Bushmen are a tribe of hunter-gatherers. They do not take pills for blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, depression, and other diseases, like we do.

Hoodia simply hasn’t reached a wide enough market yet or undergone safety testing to know what the side effects, drug interactions, and safety concerns are, if any.

People with diabetes should be particularly cautious. Because hoodia tricks the brain into thinking that it has enough blood sugar, it’s possible that a person’s blood sugar could drop dangerously low while taking hoodia. With the regular hunger mechanism turned off, the normal warning signs may be suppressed — until it’s too late.

There are no studies evaluating the use hoodia during pregnancy, lactation, in children, and by people with chronic conditions such as heart, kidney, or liver disease.

So there you have it. I hope that I never have to revisit the Hoodia subject in this much depth as I really am tired of the hype. Any news that I do see though I will pass on though. It appears that there is not nearly enough research done and the governments of some aftrican countries are not about to lose this great cash crop so you will likely have to be very careful when examining health claims of Hoodia.

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Comments

  2. Honey O. says

    January 25, 2012 at 7:57 pm

    Been wondering if there’s a connection between hoodia and irvingia. I heard that some prefers the latter. I even read on this report: http://products.mercola.com/biothin/ that hoodia in unsafe. So, has anyone tried irvingia? Coz I’ve been trying to lose through exercise but it’s not giving me any positive result. ?

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Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Chitosan research

Is Chitosan a good fat blocker?

Chitosan is a natural nutritional fiber which is made from the shell of shrimps. Chitosan has unique properties which makes it the effective fat blocker. Chitosan can bind dietary fat and cholesterol. By binding with cholesterol, Chitosan can reduce the re-absorption of cholesterol into our bodies therefore stopping fat from being stored in our bodies.
Numerous claims have emerged noting chitosan as one of the most successful fat burners. Chitosan is said to be capable of absorbing fat and preventing it from getting into your body. But, how effective is Chitosan at blocking fat?

It is important to note that whether chitosan is safe or effective as diet aid remains controversial even up to these days. There have been a lot of claims regarding the benefits of chitosan. Many people have said that chitosan does work, but these claims are contradicted by few studies. Some thorough clinical studies on humans have shown that chitosan does not work, making the question about Chitosans effectiveness very debatable.

Chitosan claims as a fat blocker

So which Chitosan research that support and contradict these claims? Firstly, one of the most commonly cited Chitosan research by the makers and distributors of chitosan-based products is the 1994 ARS Medicina Report. In this study, it was found out that test subjects lost 8% of body fat and reduced cholesterol by 32% in four weeks. Secondly, there are various Chitosan research which revealed that the substance lowers plasma cholesterol and triglycerides and improved the HDL cholesterol level.

Assessing at these pieces of evidence, one might be adequately persuaded that chitosans claims are indeed true. However, when taking the designs of the Chitosan research into consideration, the evidence appears in a much different light. The 1994 ARS Medicina Report and others that support it appear to be slackly designed. Experts have noted that only uncontrolled and anecdotal evidence seem to be the only available evidence in research that ha been carried out so far.

In addition, most of the cholesterol lowering evidences reported in other resources is obtained in another noteworthy fashion. Most of the Chitosan research were carried out on mice, canines and guinea pigs.

Not much Chitosan Research done yet

Unfortunately, only one well-designed study on chitosan, involving humans as subject, has been published. That study was conducted in 1999 by the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showing that chitosan supplement were no better than a placebo in reducing body . 34 over subjects were actually involved in this study. They were assigned to either a treatment group which received 4 capsules of chitosan twice daily for 28 days, or to a placebo group which received a placebo under the same regimen. After days of treatment, the results revealed no significant difference between two groups on any of the body mass index, serum cholesterol, triglycerides, Vitamins A, D, E or beta-carotene levels. Based on these results, loss experts concluded that chitosan does not work.

Although further Chitosan research were conducted, they all have shown that chitosan did not block fat. Also of concern is a finding during some of the Chitosan research is the finding that that chitosan block out some vitamins and minerals.

The results of there various Chitosan research cast doubt on the effectiveness of Chitosan as a fat blocker. There is still a lack of well-designed and hard evidences that could support the effectiveness of chitosan.