With the beginning of the month of Ramadan, accounts of people spread on social media sites promoting the “Ramadan Box” for body sculpting, which is weight loss products of unknown origin and without medical supervision or a nutritionist. Other months of the year on the basis of breakfast on these products without eating any other meals in order to download water in the body to clean it of toxins and fluids, which specialists in nutrition, medicine and information technology warned that those products that are being promoted are of unknown origin.
They said that these products may lead to adverse results and affect their users with loss of fluids and salts, a decrease in pressure, and may kill the user, pointing out that weight loss does not require any products or pills, and they warned against relying on social media accounts that impersonate doctors and nutritionists and promote unauthorized products. state licensed may be dangerous.
In detail, “Emirates Today” monitored, with the beginning of the month of Ramadan, accounts on social media promoting products called “Ramadan Box for Slimming” that contain pills and drinks for weight loss as part of a food program that delays breakfast and requires eating the products after the call to prayer in order to facilitate the process of fluid removal from the body. Provided that grains and products are eaten with specific meals, and those pages promote that the “Ramadan box” loses weight in Ramadan many times more than in normal days, as it loses more than three kilograms per day, which carries health risks for consumers of these products.
Family medicine consultant, Dr. Adel Saeed Sajwani, said that slimming, diet and weight loss programs are administered exclusively by family, internal medicine, obesity and nutritionists, and not by doctors who are not specialists in the field of nutrition or by people who are not specialized in nutrition, and pointed out that weight loss is a delicate process. subject to the body.
He added that weight loss must take place under approved medical supervision, and that international medical societies indicate that the monthly healthy weight loss should not exceed four to five kilograms, meaning that any diet that reduces weight more than five kilograms per month leads to collateral damage, so it must be reviewed. Doctors and nutritionists in this field.
He pointed out that what is being promoted on social media sites in terms of weight loss and nutritional programs by non-specialists is not recommended because it has many side effects and contains unlicensed products that lead to heart and kidney problems and irregular heartbeats.
And he added that some people may feel weight loss if they use these products, but at the same time expose themselves to long-term health risks. He mentioned that some websites promote harsh nutritional programs to lose weight without using any products, which may lead to significant damage to the body, because rapid weight loss leads to atrophy of muscle masses and muscle atrophy, which leads to joint pain, osteoporosis and a deficiency of calcium, minerals and vitamin D, and it also leads to problems. In urination, severe diarrhea, mineral imbalances such as sodium, potassium, and irregular heart rate, as rapid weight loss without medical supervision leads to health problems, depression, stress, and anxiety.
Infectious disease and immunology specialist, Dr. Jihad Saadeh, warned against the body losing salts and fluids and a decrease in pressure leading to fainting or death in the event of eating products whose mechanism of action we do not know and are promoted in Ramadan and others, and he continued that losing weight in Ramadan does not need a “box.” Ramadan »and no food supplements, but it needs moderation in eating and sweets, because they contain high calories.
He explained that eating more calories than required for the body will lead to weight gain and obesity, especially eating sweets in Ramadan, and that losing weight should not be a major goal in Ramadan, but it is a sustainable goal throughout the year through a change in the nutritional lifestyle, which leads to a gradual weight loss, but eating Weight loss products that will lead to rapid weight loss with double weight gain later, in addition to health risks and weight stability.
The technical expert, Ahmed Al Zarouni, said that most of the accounts that promote weight loss products, especially on “Instagram” and “Tik Tok”, impersonate the name “nutrition specialist”, and they are unfortunately documented accounts that sell and promote unlicensed products that are not sold in pharmacies, and those who promote them have not practiced medicine. Nor are they specialists in nutrition, and he pointed out that their goal in promoting these products is to profit financially from products that are sold at many times their price.
He explained that when buying slimming products, it must be ensured that the websites and accounts that promote them on social media are accredited in the state and have official branches, so that the consumer is not exposed to fraud and health damage.
• Experts: When purchasing weight loss products, you must ensure that the websites and accounts are accredited in the country.
Remove the product
A well-known online store for selling slimming, body and skin care products removed the “Box Fitness and Sculpting” product from its website, after confirming that the product was not licensed or approved by the competent authorities, and published on its website a message stating that “the product was removed from its site because it was not It is evaluated by any medical institution or by any manufacturer or by the supplier, and that the results of using the product may differ from one person to another, and that the product that was offered for sale was a trademark of the manufacturer, and that the site carried out distribution activity for it before it deleted it later » .