There are over a hundred ways to lose weight. Some are naturally effective, some are risky to even try, some are funny and weird and some are bizarre enough that you don’t even believe that people are actually using them for weight loss. This article provides the five best weird ways to lose weight of the last decade.
1. Pricking Your Way to Weight Loss
Chinese believe that diseases are caused by an imbalance of the Yin and Yang. Because of this, Chinese doctors at Aimin Acupuncture Weight Loss Hospital (in Tianjin, China) have been treating their obese patients by pricking certain points in the body with a special needle. This procedure is called Acupuncture and it has been practiced since the ancient days.
According to Shi Lidong, the director of the hospital, Obesity is caused by an imbalance of the digestive zone and this can be corrected by hitting the correct pressure points. Moreover, by targeting certain points, metabolism can be increased and appetite can be limited, thus speeding up the weight loss process. This method has also become popular in the Western world as well but there is no real evidence that can produce good results. Acupuncture can be used to cure other health conditions but not obesity.
2. Nicotine for weight loss
It is a known fact that smoking can suppress appetite, thus a lot of women (and men) use weight loss as an excuse for smoking. This appetite-suppressing effect is caused by nicotine. People who use nicotine patch aim to attain the appetite-suppressing effect of nicotine minus the negative effects of smoking. However, it is still unadvisable to use nicotine patches frequently because nicotine is an addictive substance. Since there are so many other natural ways to lose weight you should stay away from substances that can do more harm than good.
3. The Toothpaste diet
Before you start licking that toothpaste tube, let me tell you that the toothpaste diet does not involve any toothpaste ingestion. This diet simply aims to curb food cravings by brushing the teeth frequently. The diet works because the mint flavor left on your teeth after you brush overwhelms the food taste thus reducing your appetite. Furthermore, the fresh feeling of clean teeth prevents people from eating until they are actually hungry. This diet or should I say habit, would not only benefit your body by losing weight but your teeth as well.
4. The Insect Diet
This diet is said to originate in Asia but has started to become popular in the US and the UK. This diet relies on the fact that insects are a good source of protein. Protein helps build and repair muscles and since muscles burn more calories than fat and speed up metabolism, the eater will lose weight.
Personally, if I see this on my dinner plate, I would gross out, vomit and probably not eat for days. If that happens I would definitely shed off some pounds. Well, this diet works after all, in a different way at least!
5. The Parasitic Worm Diet
This diet is said to have started in the 1930s where a merchant had promoted ingesting tapeworm eggs to lose weight. This is definitely a dangerous way to lose weight, and not to mention disgusting, because these worms grow in an uncontrollable speed and lodge on your intestines and possibly invade other organs.
The theory behind this really weird way to lose weight in that the adult worms will eat up the fat and other nutrients thus you lose weight. When you achieve your target weight, you will then take a drug to kill the worms. However, the problem is, the worms could have caused enough organ damage already before you decide to get rid of them. I am sure that not a lot of people were convinced to try this but in any case there are so many other ways to lose weight then growing worms inside your body.
As you can see people are very creative when it comes to losing weight. Marketing companies and ‘scientists’ take advantage of people’s desire to learn how to lose weight and they create anything that comes to their mind. In reality you do not need those weird ways to lose weight, in fact you do not need anything else than desire, commitment, a couple of hours to exercise and a balanced diet to follow. Before you try any of the weight loss products think twice if they worth the effort and money and above all if they are natural and safe.
