Article 20: Slimming creams, fat-burning machines, and saunas are all a waste of money.

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Slimming cream for weight loss

Slimming creams do not burn fat.

There are all sorts of ways to lose weight.

Two years ago, someone approached me and asked me to help him sell a slimming cream, which was very profitable.

I said, "I don't even believe slimming cream can help me lose weight, so how can I help you sell it?" The person said, "Our product is certified."

I said, even if there's certification, I don't believe it.

For me, using slimming creams to lose weight is nothing short of paying an intelligence tax.

The idea that you can lose weight by simply applying lotion to your skin without controlling your diet or exercising only exists in your imagination.

It's important to know that the main ingredients in slimming creams are usually capsaicin, menthol, caffeine, etc., and these substances have no effect on weight loss when applied topically.

However, when capsaicin is applied to the skin, it causes a burning sensation, which is described by merchants as "fat burning".

It's actually false advertising, because you won't feel anything when fat is burning.

Moreover, the ingredients in slimming creams cannot target subcutaneous fat, let alone reduce visceral fat. At most, they can only help dehydrate the surface of the skin, and their effects are very limited.

Its only possible effect is to slightly reduce local swelling by stimulating the skin and improving microcirculation.

Of course, some people have more sensitive skin, and when stimulated, their skin may swell, resulting in the opposite of the desired effect.

A friend of mine has been working in the garment industry in Ningbo for many years. He asked me, "They've just released a new slimming underwear; do you want to get some stock to sell?"

I said, "What slimming underwear? What kind of 'high-tech' are you playing with?"

He said, "It's nothing, just some capsaicin on my clothes." I said, "Is that okay?"

He said, "Whether you sell it or not, someone will buy it." I said, "Let others sell it; I'm not doing this."

Actually, it's a very simple and straightforward truth: it's impossible to lose weight without putting in the effort.

It is precisely because there are too many people in this world who want to gain something for nothing that "IQ tax" and lies can flourish.

If you understand that weight loss is simply a matter of expending more energy than you consume, you'll know that slimming clothes and creams cannot help you lose weight.

A fan of mine once contacted me and told me about her painful experience of losing weight: she spent 40,000 yuan at a local weight loss store buying all kinds of weight loss packs, slimming creams, and slimming underwear, but she didn't lose any weight at all.

When her husband found out, they had a huge fight. She was so angry that she didn't eat for three days and lost 2 kilograms.

When you pin your hopes for weight loss on something unrealistic and unrealistic, you're more likely to fall into a trap set by others.

Less than 20% of people in the world actually succeed in losing weight. If you know nothing about weight loss theories, food calories, and nutritional balance, of course you won't succeed.

The best way to lose weight is to manage your diet scientifically, maintain regular sleep patterns, and exercise appropriately.

There's a saying that goes, "You can't earn money beyond your understanding." To paraphrase, "You can't lose weight beyond your understanding."

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Fat-burning machine helps you lose fat

The vibrations of a fat-burning machine can damage internal organs and bones.

I've seen advertisements for fat-burning machines on TV; I've also seen store clerks introducing fat-burning machines while shopping at the supermarket; and I've seen many beauty salon members using fat-burning machines when I was researching beauty salons.

The principle described by the merchant sounds very sophisticated. To summarize, the fat-burning machine uses a forward and reverse balanced rotation principle with low-frequency vibration. Through forward, backward, left, right, up, and down fat-burning movements, it causes fat to form an upward vortex in the body, constantly stimulating the lymph nodes, and then expelling the fat from the body by accelerating gastrointestinal motility.

At the same time, constantly shaking your fat can help burn fat, so you can easily lose weight by just ten minutes a day.

Laymen might find it amazing, as if losing fat with a fat-burning machine is as simple as using a spin dryer to dry clothes.

However, in reality, this is impossible.

First of all, many internal medicine and orthopedic experts have said that the vibration of fat-burning machines not only fails to remove fat, but also impacts and damages internal organs and bones.

Many people also experience muscle strains while using fat-burning machines.

Secondly, the swinging motion of a fat-burning machine cannot create a vortex. Otherwise, your blood would also form a vortex, impacting upwards and causing blood vessels to rupture.

Furthermore, the idea that fat is normally broken down and metabolized through lymph nodes and then excreted through intestinal peristalsis is far too simplistic.

Most people have very little fat in their feces. Only when certain pancreatic diseases (such as pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, autoimmune pancreatic diseases, etc.) occur, the secretion of lipase decreases, the body absorbs less fat, and fat is excreted in the feces.

Moreover, this process eliminates fat from food, not fat already present in the body.

Finally, some people will stubbornly argue, "Won't I burn fat by passively exercising in a vibrating machine?"

That's too naive. Even if you exercise actively for an hour, you won't burn many calories. How can you expect passive exercise to help you lose fat?

That's why I often say that you can't lose weight beyond what you know. If you want to lose weight, you have to learn some proper weight loss knowledge, otherwise you're easily scammed.

So, how exactly is fat broken down and metabolized?

Let me briefly introduce the process of fat metabolism.

First and foremost, the most important prerequisite is the existence of an energy deficit, which means your energy intake is less than your energy expenditure. This is the premise of all weight loss.

It's a very simple principle: fat is like your bank savings. If your daily income (energy intake) is roughly equal to the money you need to spend (energy expenditure), then you won't touch your bank savings.

Bank deposits will only be used when you are truly in need of money.

Secondly, fat is mobilized into free fatty acids through hydrolysis.

This process is based on an energy deficit. As long as there is an energy deficit, a large amount of fat will be mobilized, becoming free fatty acids, which enter the bloodstream and are ready to be consumed to provide energy.

However, this step is not actually the most crucial, because a considerable portion of free fatty acids in the human body are always present regardless of whether an energy deficit occurs.

It's like a reserve force or a demand deposit in a bank, always ready for you to use.

Finally, free fatty acids enter the mitochondria to burn for energy, producing water and carbon dioxide in the process, which are then expelled from the body, thus completing the breakdown of fat.

This step is also crucial, because if you want to lose weight, you need to improve the efficiency of this part.

The process of free fatty acids entering mitochondria can be divided into two categories: short-chain fatty acids can enter mitochondria freely without requiring many conditions; while medium- and long-chain fatty acids require certain transporters to enter mitochondria.

There are many types of transporters, one of which is L-carnitine, which can help the body accelerate the transport of medium- and long-chain fatty acids.

Therefore, many people used to take L-carnitine to help with weight loss, which was helpful, but not very effective.

Because the absorption rate of oral L-carnitine is very low, less than 10%-it's barely better than nothing.

I would also like to remind everyone to eat enough meat. Why? Because meat contains a relatively high amount of L-carnitine.

When I worked in the hospital ward, I helped people lose weight by injecting L-carnitine. It was much more efficient, with an absorption rate of over 90%, since it was injected directly into the bloodstream.

However, weight loss is a long-term process and cannot be achieved by injecting yourself every day.

Therefore, the most crucial first step in losing weight is to ensure a consistent energy deficit. You must avoid frequent snacking and always keep your energy intake below your energy expenditure.

There's not much room for improvement in the remaining two steps, and it's even less likely to be achieved through a fat-burning machine.

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Sauna for weight loss

The metabolic rate increase from sauna is very limited.

Many people cannot distinguish between losing weight and losing weight.

Most people focus on their weight when trying to lose weight.

Such a weight loss concept is too rudimentary, which determines that the method is inappropriate.

Sauna-based weight loss is one such method.

Undeniably, sauna is a good way to maintain health.

Regular sauna sessions can improve your blood circulation, and appropriate sweating is also beneficial to your health, allowing your body to relax.

Meanwhile, during the sauna process, a large amount of warm water vapor enters through the nasal cavity and mouth, which has a good repairing effect on the respiratory system, can reduce the occurrence of inflammation, and help secretions to be discharged.

Dutch scientists have found that regular Dutch baths can help reduce the incidence of respiratory illnesses in the elderly.

Dutch bath is a sauna, also known as a steam room.

Of course, there are some things to keep in mind when using a sauna: First, don't sweat too much, as excessive sweating can lead to a decrease in blood volume. Also, the high humidity in a sauna can affect oxygen supply to the brain, potentially causing fainting or even serious cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Second, be careful not to be taken advantage of. Saunas are good for your health, but that doesn't mean they can help you lose weight.

Many people say that the principle behind sauna weight loss is to eliminate edema, improve metabolism, and help the body detoxify.

Let's analyze it step by step.

First, sweating through a sauna does indeed help reduce edema.

However, eliminating edema is only temporary; the root cause of the edema remains unchanged.

Eliminating edema only reduces water retention; it has nothing to do with weight loss or fat reduction.

That's why I said at the beginning that you can't just look at the weight when it comes to losing weight.

Some people say that sweating in a sauna can remove dampness, but this is not actually the case.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that sweating a little bit through sauna can indeed help remove dampness. However, sauna sessions often involve profuse sweating, which not only fails to remove dampness but may also harm the body if done excessively.

Secondly, it is true that a person's body temperature rises during a sauna, and their metabolic rate also increases accordingly.

However, its function is actually very limited, and I can use a math problem to tell you why.

A woman's basal metabolic rate is approximately 1200 kcal per day, and 50 kcal per hour (1200 ÷ 24).

For every 1°C increase in body temperature, the basal metabolic rate increases by approximately 10%. In other words, after one hour of sauna, the basal metabolic rate increases by 50 kcal × 10% = 5 kcal.

You may not know the effect of 5 kcal.

Let me tell you, 50 grams of fat on your body contains about 400 kilocalories. That means if you sweat for 80 hours, your increased metabolism can burn 50 grams of fat.

Even if your body temperature increases by 3°C when you're in a sauna, that's only 50 kcal x 30% = 15 kcal, which still won't have much effect.

Third, sweating is sweating; don't keep talking about detoxification. Besides, detoxification is not the same as weight loss.

Do you really have that many toxins in your body? That's unlikely.

In summary, sauna is a good way to maintain health, especially for people who are afraid of the cold, have respiratory diseases, or smoke frequently. Sauna from time to time can indeed help their health.

However, don't do it too frequently or sweat too much. Steaming once or twice a week for 10 to 15 minutes each time is enough.

As for weight loss, it still depends on scientific diet management.