You Asked: Will Drinking Lemon Water Help Me Lose Weight?

This article originally appeared on Time.com. 

Lemon infused water is a popular drink for weight loss, thanks to celebrity sippers like Gwyneth Paltrow and Miranda Kerr. Proponents claim that it flushes toxins from the system, reduces appetite and tweaks the body’s digestive processes in ways that block fat absorption.

Trouble is, it doesn’t work like that. In fact, lemon water leaves out the most effective part of the fruit.

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The drink’s hype seems to stem from a 2008 Japanese study that linked lemon’s polyphenols—micronutrients with antioxidant properties—to less weight gain and improved fat metabolism in mice who were fed a high-fat diet. It’s possible, the study team said, that lemon polyphenols may stimulate the liver to produce enzymes that help block the absorption of dietary fats.

This kind of research is like rocket fuel for those looking to market a new “miracle” food. But there are a lot of problems with such optimism. The research was in mice, not people, and there have been no rigorous studies showing that sipping lemon water can promote weight loss in humans, says Dana Hunnes, a senior dietitian at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center.

Another problem is that lemon water uses the juice, not the rind. Mice in the study were eating a diet loaded with lemon rind, the site of most of the polyphenols in lemons. While many committed lemon-water fans may be zesting some rind into their water, it’s likely nowhere near the amount the mice in the study were consuming. (Even if you were committed to loading your diet with lemon, some research suggests that the acid in a lemon-heavy diet could seriously corrode your teeth.)

RELATED: Why You Should Start Your Day With Lemon Water

Of course, lemon is healthy in moderation. It’s a good source of vitamin C, and some studies have linked low vitamin-C status to obesity. But that’s a large leap from saying that ingesting more vitamin C can prevent or reverse weight gain, she says.

Pectin, a kind of fiber found in lemons, has also been linked to some weight loss benefits. “Pectin can lower LDL or bad cholesterol and has some anti-inflammatory benefits,” says Bahram Arjmandi, a professor of nutrition at Florida State University and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Food and Nutritional Disorders. “It can also prevent fat absorption and moderate insulin response.” But most pectin comes from the flesh or pith of a fruit, not its juice. You’re better off eating an apple. “You’d have to eat a whole lot of lemon to see these benefits,” he says. “It’s hard for me to imagine that being practical.”

You get it by now: swigging a glass or two of lemon water will not provide much benefit. “Lemon water is not a miracle weight-loss food,” says Elizabeth Dejulius, a registered dietitian nutritionist with Cleveland Clinic.

But miracle-talk aside, lemon water could indirectly help people lose weight. For one thing, thirst is often mistaken for hunger, Dejulius says. Because many people find plain water boring or difficult to drink in large quantities, adding lemon to water may lead some people to drink more of it and stay better hydrated, thus reducing thirst-triggered food cravings. “Dehydration can also slow metabolism, which in the long-term can lead to weight gain,” she says.

Someone who swaps soda or another sugary drink for lemon water will be much better off, Hunnes says, as long as you don’t sweeten it with added sugar.

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Not all experts are ready to close the case on lemon water and weight loss, however. Hunnes says she found a little research linking the way lemon stimulates taste buds to appetite suppression. But there’s not strong evidence yet to support that finding, she says. The power of the placebo effect could also play a role. “If your mind believes strongly that drinking lemon water does something, like suppresses appetite, maybe it will,” Arjmandi says. “This kind of placebo effect is always a possibility.”

Bottom line: If you like drinking lemon water, sip away—especially if it’s helping you skip less-healthy drinks. But if you’re looking for evidence-backed ways to lose weight, look elsewhere on your plate.

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Dramatically Slimmed Down Mama June Tries On a Wedding Dress

This article originally appeared on People.com. 

Though she’s not the one walking down the aisle this time, Mama June Shannon knows she’d make a beautiful bride.

In an exclusive clip from Friday’s new episode of Mama June: From Not to Hot, Mama June is coerced by her daughters Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, 11, and Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon, 17, to try on a wedding gown while at a bridal store.

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The group is gathered at the shop so Alana can try on a flower girl dress for her father Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson’s wedding, and Mama June is fearful his fiancée, Jennifer Lamb, might arrive while she’s playing a blushing bride.

“The girls want me to try on a wedding dress because I haven’t been in a dress since I started losing weight,” explains Mama June, “but I’m kind of apprehensive, I mean we’re supposed to be here for Alana not me.”

Despite her reluctance, Shannon’s daughters coerce her to embrace her impressive weight loss and they pick out a stunning, size 12 gown.

“I mean I’m not getting married any time soon, but I’m kind of curious how I’m gonna look in the wedding dress,” Mama June admits.

After slipping into the gown, Shannon poses in the mirror and rakes in the compliments from her family. She quips, “I may not wanna be getting married, but d—, I look mighty hot in a wedding dress.”

There’s no denying it, Mama June’s look has drastically changed since her wedding day!

Mama June: From Not to Hot airs Fridays (10 p.m. ET) on WEtv.

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The Habit You Must Drop if You Want to Lose Weight

This article originally appeared on Time.com. 

Restaurants are the number-one place to sabotage your diet, according to new research that will surprise no one who’s ever tried to lose weight while eating out.

The year-long study, which was presented at a recent meeting of the American Heart Association, offers insight into tempting foods and the behaviors they trigger. By using a smartphone app, researchers followed 150 overweight people who were trying to stick to a weight-loss plan throughout their daily lives. The people in the study, most of whom were women, checked in up to five times a day and reported where they were, who they were with and whether they had strayed from their eating plan (or were tempted to do so.)

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The dieters were also asked to log in anytime they ate (or considered eating) foods or portion sizes they knew were inconsistent with their plan.

Some clear patterns emerged from this deluge of data. People reported the most temptations when they were in a restaurant or bar, or when they were in the presence of other people eating. They noted fewer desires to overeat at home or work, and even fewer when they were in their car or in other people’s homes.

People had about a 60% chance of succumbing to those temptations at restaurants and when they were around others who were eating. Their odds of lapsing at work or in the car were lower, about 40% and 30%, respectively.

RELATED: The 10 Most Addictive Foods and How to Stop Eating Them

“You might think that everybody knows they’re at higher risk when they go into a restaurant, but people go out into these toxic environments and they forget,” says lead author Lora Burke, professor of nursing at the University of Pittsburgh.

People may also see eating out as an excuse to take a break from their diet, she adds. “We remind people that it’s not a diet they can go on and off; it’s a lifestyle,” she says. “It’s okay if they want to go out Friday night and eat wings, but then they need to cut back on Thursday and Saturday.”

Eating at home was a safer bet, though not a foolproof one. People reported fewer food temptations in their homes and those of their friends than they did in restaurants. But when those temptations appeared, people gave in nearly 65% of the time. Even when they were completely alone, people were still likely to lapse about half the time.

Burke says there aren’t yet any commercially available smartphone apps that collect and analyze this type of data for the general public. But such a tool could be valuable for helping people learn and adapt to their diet-related weaknesses, she adds.

RELATED: These Are the Fruits and Vegetables You Should Always Buy Organic

“We can go to an individual and say, ‘These are the high-risk situations you’re vulnerable to, so you need to keep your guard up and practice strategies for sticking with your plan,’” she says. “We could even intervene by sending a message right back to them when they need it, reminding them of why they may need to work really hard.”

Measuring diet in the moment may also provide researchers with data that’s more detailed and accurate. “When we ask people to recall what they ate and how they felt, there are a lot of biases and problems remembering,” says Burke. “This way, we can be there as people are going through weight-loss challenges and find out exactly what they’re feeling, and when.”

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Gabourey Sidibe Opens Up About Weight-Loss Surgery for the First Time: ‘I Love My Body Now’

This article originally appeared on People.com. 

Gabourey Sidibe is living a new life.

Last year, the Empire star underwent weight-loss surgery, and she’s opening up about the experience — and her battle with depression, anxiety and bulimia — for the first time in her new memoir, This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare, excerpted exclusively in the latest issue of PEOPLE.

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“I just didn’t want to worry,” Sidibe, 33, tells PEOPLE of her decision to get laproscopic bariatric surgery after she and her older brother Ahmed, 34, were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. “I truly didn’t want to worry about all the effects that go along with diabetes. I genuinely [would] worry all the time about losing my toes.”

The star — who rose to fame playing the titular role in Precious in 2009 — tried for more than a decade to lose weight naturally before opting for the procedure. And in May of 2016, she secretly went under the knife.

“My surgeon said they’d cut my stomach in half. This would limit my hunger and capacity to eat. My brain chemistry would change and I’d want to eat healthier. I’ll take it! My lifelong relationship with food had to change,” she writes in her wise, witty and unapologetic memoir, out in May.

“The surgery wasn’t the easy way out,” she says. “I wasn’t cheating by getting it done. I wouldn’t have been able to lose as much as I’ve lost without it.”

Since the procedure, Sidibe has changed her eating habits — working with a nutritionist — and upped her fitness regimen, working out with a trainer, swimming and riding a tricycle around the Empire set.

• For more on Gabourey Sidibe and an exclusive excerpt of her book This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.

The star’s decision to undergo surgery wasn’t one she took lightly. Since she was 6 years old, the New York City native has struggled with her appearance. And after her parents — a subway singer (mom Alice) and taxi driver (dad, Ibnou) — split, she battled depression, anxiety and bulimia, which she eventually overcame through therapy.

“It has taken me years to realize that what I was born with is all beautiful,” she writes in her book. “I did not get this surgery to be beautiful. I did it so I can walk around comfortably in heels. I want to do a cartwheel. I want not to be in pain every time I walk up a flight of stairs.”

Ten months after her procedure, Sidibe continues to lose weight.

“I have a goal right now, and I’m almost there,” she says. “And then once I’ve got it, I’ll set another. But my starting weight and my goal weight, they’re personal. If too many people are involved, I’ll shut down.”

Even before she decided to get the surgery, Sidibe had some hesitations.

RELATED: ‘I Swallowed a Balloon For Weight Loss and Lost 40 Lbs.’

“I know I’m beautiful in my current face and my current body. What I don’t know about is the next body,” she writes her in This Is Just My Face. “I admit it, I hope to God I don’t get skinny. If I could lose enough to just be a little chubby, I’ll be over the moon! Will I still be beautiful then? S—. Probably. My beauty doesn’t come from a mirror. It never will.”

Indeed, the American Horror Story alum has come to appreciate her appearance, no matter her dress size.

“There’s nothing ugly about me. Anyone trying to convince me that I am — and it’s usually me — is wasting her time,” she says. “I was in a war with my body for a long time. If I’d started treating it better sooner, I wouldn’t have spent so many years hating myself. But I love my body now.

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6 Ways to Stop Weekend Weight Gain

Come Friday, do you loosen up a little too much? Many of us put on pounds during the weekend, data shows. Here’s how to detox your days off for a healthier recharge.

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What's the Best Exercise to Lose Weight: Cardio or Lifting Weights?

For decades, conventional wisdom (and Jane Fonda) said cardio was the best exercise for weight loss. Then strength training muscled its way into the spotlight as the must-do move for revving your metabolism and losing weight in your sleep, prompting many exercise enthusiasts to join #TeamNoCardio. So a few years ago, Duke University researchers took to the lab and conducted the largest study of its kind to compare the two and get an answer once and for all.

After 8 months of tracking 119 overweight and previously sedentary volunteers while they performed resistance training, aerobic exercise, or a combination of the two, the clear winner was…aerobic exercise. By a lot. The cardio group lost about 4 pounds while their resistance training peers gained two. Yes, the weight gain was attributed to added lean mass. However, that muscle mass didn’t lead to any meaningful fat loss over the course of the study. In fact, the aerobics only group shed more than 3 ½ pounds of fat while the lifters didn’t lose a single pound despite the fact that they actually exercised 47 more minutes each week than the cardio group. Not surprisingly, the cardio-plus-resistance group improved their body composition best—losing the most fat while adding some lean mass. But they also spent twice as much time in the gym.

Related: 3 Cardio Exercises You Can Do Anywhere
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It’s simple math, says study co-author Cris Slentz, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Duke University. “Minute per minute, cardio burns more calories, so it works best for reducing fat mass and body mass.” That’s not to say that you shouldn’t lift weights, especially as you get older and start losing muscle mass, he notes. “Resistance training is important for maintaining lean body mass, strength and function, and being functionally fit is important for daily living no matter what your size."

For the biggest fitness gain/weight loss bang for your exercise buck, combine the two, doing your strength training first and finishing off with your cardio. An American Council on Exercise study on exercise sequencing found that your heart rate is higher—by about 12 beats per minute—during your cardio bout when you’ve lifted weights beforehand. That means more calories burned.

It’s also important to remember one essential fact about exercise and weight loss, says Slentz. “Exercise by itself will not lead to big weight loss. What and how much you eat has a far greater impact on how much weight you lose,” he says. That’s because it’s far easier to take in less energy (calories) than it is to burn significant amounts and it’s very easy to cancel out the few hundred calories you’ve burned working out with just one snack.

RELATED: 10 Superfoods for Weight Loss

Where exercise appears to matter most is for preventing weight gain, or for keeping off pounds once you’ve lost weight, says Slentz. “Exercise seems to work best for body weight control,” he says. The National Weight Control Registry, which since 1994 has tracked more than 10,000 people who shed an average of 66 pounds and kept it off for at least five years, would agree. Ninety percent of successful weight loss maintainers exercise for about an hour a day and their activity of choice is cardio, simply walking. 

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‘I Swallowed a Balloon For Weight Loss and Lost 40 Lbs.’

This article originally appeared on Time.com. 

Dana Goossens, 29, lives in Illinois and participated in a recent clinical trial for a weight loss device called the Obalon Balloon System. Here’s her story:

Like many Americans, I’ve tried all sorts of ways to lose weight. That’s been disheartening, especially since I’ve always been an active person. I tried everything from diet pills to eating only 500 calories a day and getting hormone injections to Weight Watchers—but I was never successful at keeping off the weight over the long term. I was tired of yo-yo diets and medications that made me feel bad.

My mother, who is a registered nurse, would remind me not to be vain, but she knew how much my weight was bringing me down. She forwarded me an article about a new device called the Obalon Balloon System, which consists of inflatable balloons that expand in your stomach to help you lose weight. It sounded strange, but I was curious.

I sent emails to the doctors involved in the clinical trial and I was able to secure one of the last spots. I was nervous about explaining my decision to my friends and family. My boyfriend told me if it would make me happy to give it a try, then I should do it.

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The procedure was surprisingly simple. During the first session, I swallowed a small capsule that was tied to a tiny micro-catheter. The doctor then inflated the balloon once it was in my stomach—it gets to be about the size of an orange—and removed the catheter. The whole process took about 10 minutes. In the beginning, I could tell there was an object inside of me. At night it was a bit more uncomfortable as I could feel the balloon move a bit and squeak, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Eventually, my body got used to the feeling and I didn’t think about it during the day.

After one month, I went back to the doctor and swallowed the second balloon capsule, and two months after that, I swallowed the third and final balloon. Pretty soon after swallowing the second balloon, I started noticing the real weight loss. I was also seeing a nutritionist regularly, and I started doing cardio fitness about four times a week for 45 minutes. I learned how to listen to my body and understand when I’m hungry or full.

By the end of the six months, I lost close to 40 pounds and weighed 138 pounds. My friends and family were really impressed. What I liked about the balloon procedure was that I didn’t have to undergo surgery, and I could keep the procedure discreet.

I also developed lifestyle changes that helped me lose the weight at a steady pace, and I am hopeful this weight loss is more sustainable. By the time the trial ended, I felt confident I could maintain my healthy lifestyle even after getting the balloons removed. And I’ve even lost more weight since then.

The balloons have now been approved by the FDA, costs $6,000 to $9,000, and isn’t covered by insurance.

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