I remember seeing a commercial for Sensa , the “original sprinkle diet” and thinking : this has to be a joke right ? It looked so fake and bazaar . Sprinkle this magical diet powder on your food and lose weight ? That sounds completely stupid and illogical . How could eating food make you lose weight ? After seeing the wacky commercial again I decided to do some research and find out if its really true.
So what is it exactly? From my understanding Sensa is crystallized substance like salt . It contains maltodextrin , tricalcium phosphate, silica and flavoring.How it works is that the person who is using the product sprinkles it on their meal as if it was salt or pepper. Sensa claims to start the process of “sensory-specific satiety” This process claims to enhance the scents of the food that you are eating , from this your brain decides that it has had enough of what you are eating making you feel full, faster and eating less. The interesting part about the popular “Sensa diet” is that there is no regiment associated with the “diet”. My next question is are there side effects ? How much is too much? and Does it really work?
Some common side effects of Sensa are :
– upset stomach
– diarrhea
– vomiting
– allergic reactions
– difficulty breathing
– dizziness
– hives
Some other reported more serious reactions are:
– rectal bleeding
– intestinal blockage
– severe kidney pains
Although like most diets results vary because all people are different and have different reactions. Different diet supplements work better than other for other people. My question still stands with does Sensa really work?
Sensa creator Alan Hirsch, M.D says Sensa is proven to work because it proved effective in a six-month study that was conducted. Over the six months participants who used Sensa in their meals have shown that after the six month span they on average lost 15% of their body weight.
I believe that though this statement above maybe true , I am not sold in the fact that Sensa is going to work for everyone. Especially that the trial is conducted by the same person who developed the diet makes me wonder how bias the study is .
In conclusion from my research , I believe that for some people Sensa can be a helpful aid on the road towards weight loss. But the study doesn’t say weather those who lost 15% of their body weight were also pairing that with healthy foods and exercise. It is very important to realize that losing weight is made from a lot of different components not just “magical powder” . If you really want to lose weight , eat healthy foods and exercise regularly. Thats the best and most effective diet plan one could do. Other weightless aids should be looked as , as an aid, not a solution.
I’ve seen the Sensa ad as well and have wondered what exactly what it does as well as does it even work. My mom is a nutritionist so I trust her judgement in if what diets work and which ones don’t and when I asked her about it she says it does the same thing as eating slowly and chewing your food a lot. When you eat your food slowly you get hungry faster so you eat less since it is actually processed instead of when you eat your food fast. So basically Sensa is a waste of money and you can easily get the same results you would if you just slow down and eat your food. The diet pills also don’t work and are just a waste of money and with proper diet and exercise are the only ways to really gain proper results.
Kudos to you for actually questioning this crazy thing instead of “buying into the bullshit.” AND way to pick up on the fact that the developer of the product had much to do with the study. File drawer problem…..most likely, I think yes. Isn’t it amazing how many side effects a supplement like this can have? You’d think someone who was interested in losing weight would forfeit the side effects and do something a more natural way like spend some time at the gym or eating clean.
If you google: Sensa Stories … you’ll find that the “magical sprinkles” has a pretty bizarre cult like following. But, I’m skeptical. A lot of the success stories were uploaded BY Sensa. I think it’s just a good marketing scheme to be honest.
Are there any similar products?
Here’s a list of a bunch of reasons sensa won’t work — Check it out! http://www.fearlessfatloss.com/diet-reviews/the-sprinkle-diet-5-reasons-it-wont-work/
Doctors have always said that the proper way to lose weight is with diet and exercise, not sprinkling chemicals on your food and living your life as you have been to get to the unhealthy weight. Also, usually diets such as this don’t promote lasting weight loss, just quickly dropping pounds you will gain right back if you don’t keep using it forever.
Cara, nice job with your blog. I have seen Sensa commercials multiple times and have always wondered how it works. Thanks to your research, I now know! However, I would’ve liked if you provided more details of the experiment-such as: the number of participants, their gender and age. That way your conclusion could be more concrete and convincing. Otherwise, I never would’ve expected that was how Sensa worked! I always figured it to be something in the particles you sprinkle onto your meal that make you lose weight-not the sensation of feeling “full” produced by the heightened tastes. I agree with your statement that there are better ways to be healthy. Exercise, eating healthy and taking care of your body is a far more reliable diet plan than just sprinkling Sensa onto your fattening foods. I did further research to also see if there are any “good” diet plans out there. US News reported these diets as the “best”…
-DASH Diet
-TLC Diet
-Mayo Clinic Diet
To read more visit the website below and maybe you’ll find other interesting diet plans!
http://health.usnews.com/best-diet/best-overall-diets
Cara, I found your blog to be very insightful. When I think of dieting and trying to lose weight, my sense of smell is usually the last thing that I would think would help my body. Usually when I smell something, I’m thinking of smelling something delicious, in which case I want to eat more. However, in this case it’s saying that smell helps someone stop eating. Scents such as cocoa, strawberry, raspberry and banana make people think that their full. Dr. Alan Hirch explains, “By smelling the smells, their brain perceives: ‘I’ve smelled it, therefore I’ve eaten it, therefore I better stop eating it. I’ve overeaten.'” It all happens because of the olfactory nerve. Medical Dictionary states that “a person with a normal sense of smell is able to distinguish 10,000 odors. The sense of smell stimulates salivary glands.” As a result, the certain scents alter the sense of taste. Such a weird concept, but hey if it works, might as well try it.
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Smelling+Disorders
I agree, I think the only true way to lose weight HEALTHY is to exercise and eat healthier meals. Even though Sensa allows a person to continue to eat their favorite junk food and lose weight, I think that it will only work for so long and that it will only get you down to a certain weight. Therefore that person will have to end up doing something else to get rid of the excessive weight. I’m curious to know if it helps drop cholesterol and blood pressure too because if your still eating junk food then Sensa seems like it would only destroy the fat and not everything else that is consumed from the junk food. I would also be curious to know the ingredients in Sensa before taking it and with the common side effects I think that a will be making themselves more miserable in the end. My Dad also knows a person who tried Sensa and it did not work for them so I am a little skeptical on the product but it could have just been chance.