Sensa: Sprinkle and lose weight, Really? « Health Now, Wealth Forever

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By Felicia, on April 19th, 2013

Have you seen the commercial for Sensa?  People dancing around holding ice cream and fries and sprinkling the magic weight loss cure on their food. Wow, I thought to myself, is this all it takes?  Sprinkle the magic crystals on food and calories, additives, preservatives and fat don’t count any more?  These questions begged for a bit of research.

“Sensa sprinkles are food flakes made from maltodextrin, tricalcium phosphate, silica, and flavors. You sprinkle them on food as you would salt or sugar, and they enhance scent while adding either a mildly salty or sweet taste.” (1) 

Interesting that this weight loss “miracle” is made up of highly processed ingredients.

“ Maltodextrin can be enzymatically derived from any starch. In the US, this starch is usually corn; in Europe, it is commonly wheat. While wheat-derived maltodextrin may cause concern for individuals suffering from gluten intolerance, maltodextrin is such a highly processed ingredient that the majority of the protein is removed, rendering it effectively gluten-free. If wheat is used to make maltodextrin, it will appear on the label. Even so, the maltodextrin itself will be gluten-free.” (2)

“Tricalcium phosphate is used in powdered spices as an anticaking agent. Possible side effects in humans are nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, constipation, dry mouth, increased thirst and increased urination.”(3)

Silica: “Inhaling finely divided crystalline silica dust in very small quantities (OSHA allows 0.1 mg/m3) over time can lead to silicosis, bronchitis, or cancer, as the dust becomes lodged in the lungs and continuously irritates them, reducing lung capacities.” (4)

Flavors: Who knows?

It is mind boggling that this is on the market, being advertised as a weight loss miracle. What is even more mind boggling is that people believe it will work with no side effects.  “They state that Sensa is ‘clinically proven’ to work – this is not entirely true. In fact, Dr. Hirsch maintains that there was a ‘study’ reviewed by peers of The Endocrine Society supporting the claim that test subjects lost 30lbs+ using Sensa, yet The Endocrine Society says they never reviewed such a study, also mentioned that they were “surprised and troubled by the promotional nature of his presentation” on ABC news in 2008.” (5)

This is just another dangerous fad diet ploy.  I encourage you to do your research when looking into weight loss.  The fad diets seem easy but could cause some very serious side effects.  I hope this particular fad goes into the garbage soon.

Sources and resources:

(1) http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/truth-about-sensa

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltodextrin

(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricalcium_phosphate

(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silica

(5) http://www.reinventingaging.org/diet/sensa/sensa/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sensa/AN02050

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensa_(diet)