Diet patches

Is this the dream answer? Diet patches have been marketed in the past as a simple way for you to lose weight as you go about your daily business. But as we all know, you don't get somethign for nothing and you don't lose weight by just slapping a patch on your arm. So are the ingredients that diet patches provide safe and do they actually promote weight loss - or is this a new placebo?

There are a complete range of diet patches on the market, but most contain four main ingredients:

Guarana :
A stimulant which is mildy thermogenic (mild fat burning properties)

Chromium :
Helps to regulate insulin function and therefore balance blood sugar level

Garcinia Cambogia (HCA)
May help prevent conversion of carbohydrates into fat (by inhibiting action of the enzyme citrate lyase). Not wholely proven to provide any benefits, there have been some results according to the Journal of the American Medical Association

Fucus Vesiculosus (bladderwrack / brown seaweed)
Can help to return low levels of iodine in thyroid gland (if you have low levels) thus hepling to burn fat. However, this ingredient is only of value where there is a low level of thyroid hormone, and you are not overweight for other more common reasons.

So those are the key ingredients and, unfortunately, there's nothing revolutionary about them. They all have subtle effects at best and will not lead to much in the way of weight loss without accompanying changes to diet and lifestyle. Ingredients like HCA and bladderwrack don't have much going for them in the way of proven results.

Our opinion:

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Unless you feel that it is worth giving a try to boost your other activites, give them a miss! We have provided some links for you to read more from the makers themselves.