ARD "health check": So dangerous are diet pills
67 percent of men and 53 percent of women in Germany are overweight. One in four is even obese, so very overweight. A social problem, because obesity can lead to serious health problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or joint problems. To lose pounds, all sorts of attempts. The ARD "health check" has examined the different weight loss methods.
Russian roulette with diet pills
Diet pills promise miraculous weight loss in record time. The problem with this is that the preparations do more harm than good. Reporter Caro Matzko bought nine different preparations for a total of 500 euros. Only seven of them arrived at the tester, five of which contained dangerous substances. The testers of the Central Laboratory of German Pharmacists found out that the tablets contained active substances such as fluoxetine, epehdrin or phenolphthalein. And they do not lead to weight loss success, but to hypertension, insomnia, palpitations, nausea or rash.
The conclusion of the expert Mona Tawab: "Basically, it is always Russian roulette, if you order these drugs." You never know what's in the pills. Therefore: better off!
Diets in the test: Which is the best?
In addition to the diet pills, the ARD reporters put three popular diets to the test: the Stone Age diet, food combining and the "5: 2" diet. Three women tried to live off their diets for six weeks. The result: All three had after the time a few kilos less on the scales, but most of the body fat lost the food sample volunteer with four percent. The body fat percentage of the stone age diet tester remained unchanged, the "5: 2" tester minimized the body fat percentage by 1.2 percent. This means that the food tasting subject has lost the healthiest.
Nutrition expert Monika Bischof is nonetheless convinced: "Actually, we do not need these diets at all - if we move sensibly and eat sensible meals with vegetables, then everything else is superfluous and we're much happier!"
Losing weight with radical methods
In the radical test, the ARD reporters accompanied two obese people on their way to the desired weight. Maike Ditsche weighed 134 pounds when she decided to surgically remove about 90 percent of her stomach. The result: within a year, Maike lost 50 kilograms. Nevertheless, doctors warn before the procedure: "The operation is the Ultima Ratio, if nothing else helps." Not infrequently it would come after surgery to gallstones and stomach fractures.
Martin Kandlbinder weighed 125 kilograms when he started with his weight loss program. The goal: to permanently and healthily with the help of a diet change and a sports program. After six months, first successes showed. 13 kilos had the chef decreased so far? and also improves his overall fitness. With a healthy lifestyle, success can also be achieved, albeit at a slower pace.
