Some of the Craziest Things I’ve Heard

Last week I encouraged you to hold a new thought, and I suggested several for you to consider.  Sadly, there are plenty of not-so-great approaches to wellness out there that you’ll want to avoid. For fun, I’d like to share a few of my favorites with you:

·       Ever try to seal a wound using Krazy Glue?  Well, please don’t try!  There are special skin adhesives that medical personnel may use, such as Dermabond, but Krazy Glue is not the same thing.  It can cause inflammation and infection.*

·       Have you considered delaying beginning an exercise program until you really need it to lose weight, sort of holding onto a trump card?  I had a client who tried this approach.  I don’t follow this reasoning, because everyone needs to exercise to be healthy, and even more so if they’d like to lose weight.

·       Then there was the public speaker who announced that he’d stopping exercising four years ago, just because, as if being sedentary was a personal choice he’d made, like adopting veganism.  What’s up with that?

·       I hope you haven’t purchased a whole body vibration machine to fight osteoporosis.  It’s hard to believe these are back in style, but I’ve seen them advertised around town for a while now, with the pitch that they help reduce bone loss.  (I remember as a kid watching Wilma Flintstone on one of these machines!)  Last year the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reviewed all the research on this issue and reported that there is no evidence to support these claims.*

·       Finally, I’m all for calorie-burning activities, but chewing gum is not an effective one for weight loss.  Gum chewing only burns only 11 calories per hour.  (There are 26 calories in a Hershey’s Kiss.)  However, if it keeps you away from the Hershey’s Kiss, I’m all for it.  Just make it sugarless gum.*

* Source: Berkeley Wellness Letter February 2012)