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mojatu.com | Nottingham connected Ten health gimmicks you are to avoid No matter how many times we are told otherwise, many of us are obsession with get-healthy-quick schemes. Too bad most of these fads aren’t worth their weight in salt – or your hard-earned dollars. We’ve put together a list of some of the worst budget-sucking health trends that still persist today. You will not get Michelle Obama’s biceps by relying on these health gimmicks “All-natural” foods: Before buying any food that is touted as being “all natural,” take a look at the ingredient list before you check out. Keep in mind that butter and salt are indeed natural ingredients. So stocking up on natural foods may not achieve anything other than increasing your grocery bill. Adding healthy components to unhealthy foods is not very sensible. Depending on many cups of tea and coffee with 1 gram of fibre (more for more sweeteners) be taken suspiciously. Consuming whole grains, fruits and vegetables – even small amounts a day will be better for you than 100s of artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners: Artificial (read fake) sugar is becoming more popular. The recent hype is – read carefully – sweetener with extra fibre! By paying more for more fake ingredients is annoying. Bottled Water: The obsession with bottled water is one of the dumbest ways we spend your hard earned pounds. This is not just because plastic is bad for the environment but because over 50% of bottled is bottled tap water! Yes, just same as the one running from your kitchen tap, packaged and sold to you for £1. If you are worried about impurities your best bet is to buy a low- cost water filter for your home and office. Coconut water: Pick up your own young green coconuts on the cheap from an Asian produce market, crack it open and pop in a straw. Do not waste your money. Some coconut water is also loaded with added sugar, which will do nothing to help your waistline. Detox diets: Now here is the big joke that makes every nutritionist’s blood boil. Suggesting that one can purge body toxins by consuming different variations of liquid diets such as cabbage soup is dubious and unfounded. Bodies naturally detoxify themselves through our lungs, skin and kidneys. There for those who did not know sweating, breathing and other body functions are natural detoxifiers. Diet drinks: American Diabetes Association has found that those who go for diet fizzy drinks gained more weight than they lost. Furthermore, those diet sodas that claim to be zero-calorie are terrible alternatives to plain water. They are linked to many killer diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and not to mention the terrible damage they do to your teeth. These are dangerous for your health and wallet! Gluten-free Diets: Gluten-free diet does not necessarily mean a low-carb diet. Gluten-free diets as a weight loss scheme is a myth based on low-carb craze sparked by the Atkin’s diet. If you do not have any medical reason for following a gluten-free diet, such as need to reduce Autism, it is probably of no benefit whatsoever. Eating gluten- free breads, pastas, cereals, and baked goods as well as vegetables, fruits, beans, and legumes will not reduce the amount of carbohydrates in your diet. Losing weight occurs when you cut back on packaged and processed foods which have gluten. By reducing consumption of processed foods, you will not only cut down on your weight but you will also cut on the cash you spend on fortune on specialized products. Illegal Hormone Injections: People really will do anything to shed pounds, even if it means injecting themselves with hormones made from someone’s placenta. HCG (a protein made in the placenta and passed through pregnant woman’s’ urine) is not a weight-loss product. Do not be duped! Shake Weight: Jerking a five- pounder only got our max heart rate up to 114 is insignificant compared to a standard weightlifting session let alone back-to-back sets of push-ups. There is no way you will get Michelle Obama’s biceps by relying on the infamous shake weight fad. Weight Loss Wardrobes: Forget the fuss of those toning shoes and clothing designed to help shed kilos faster. Reebok’s already paid $25 million to consumers for over-marketing its line of toning shoes’ weight loss power. Just walk to work or get off a stop earlier or after. This has scientific backing to help shed some weight. 13