Slimming Bracelets: Therapeutic Effects of Minerals and Gemstones or Another Myth of Painless Weight Loss?

The excitement over weight loss bracelets is clear: put a stylish embellishment on your arm or leg and those extra pounds will just melt away. Isn’t that the dream of anyone struggling with excess weight? But time passes and those numbers on the scales keep glaring back, unchanged. Some people continue to wear the bauble out of habit, others cast it into the far corner in disgust. Is this just another unfounded promise or is it all about the wrong use of this wonder-device?

## Weight Loss Mechanism

The effect of a bracelet depends on the components it was made from. But the mechanism of action is the same for most. Manufacturers choose bioactive materials to manufacture them from, capable of influencing processes occurring in the body.

The kind of impact that minerals and rocks have on a person is studied by lithotherapy – and developers of such decorations base their wares on this data. But we should state right away that it is considered an alternative medicine method and is not officially recognized. This means that every individual must decide for themselves whether to believe in its principles and hypotheses or not. Although this science is quite ancient: people have long believed that everything created by nature can benefit mankind – including rocks.

So how does each of these bracelets work?

First, they are made from bioactive materials (tourmaline, magnets, ebonite, hematite, jade, etc.) which, according to lithotherapy, can influence biochemical processes within the body:

Speed up metabolism
Improve blood circulation and lymph flow – the amount of oxygen, which burns fat, increases and excess fluid is actively removed from the body
Increase activity of internal organs – improving digestion and hepatic and renal function is imperative for losing weight
Elevate mood, give strength and vitality, allowing you to expend maximum energy (calories) during the day
Normalize sleep – production of leptin (satiety hormone) increases and secretion of ghrelin (hunger hormone) decreases

Both directly and indirectly, but all of this influences weight loss.

Second, the development of such devices is based on the teachings of Chinese medicine about certain points on the human body, through which the functioning of internal organs, processes in the organism, and even mood can be influenced.

For example, on the wrists, where acupuncture bracelets are usually worn, there is the Inner Frontier (Nei Guan) point with the code designation Pc6. Stimulating it relieves stress and tension, reduces appetite, and normalizes digestion. It is believed that it helps eliminate the chief ally of excess weight – the hormone cortisol, significantly decreasing its level.

Lithotherapy together with acupuncture – these are two pillars explaining the weight loss effect of bracelets. On the one hand, ancient methods, reaching us through the millennia, inspire confidence. On the other hand, they still have not been recognized by official medicine, and this always carries the risk that they will turn out to be ineffective.

Whether or not they help you lose weight can be determined only one way – buy and test on yourself. Such bracelets are relatively inexpensive (except for decorations with precious metals), they will do no harm in the absence of contraindications, so you can form your own opinion.

## Types

### **With magnets**

One of the most popular weight loss wristbands – magnetic. It creates a static field, producing insignificant electric current which:

Increases lipolysis, initiating the process of fat burning
Increases the amount of hemoglobin (= oxygen) in the blood
Acts on the lymphatic vessels, which help the body actively get rid of toxins and waste
Eliminates edema
Improves blood circulation
Normalizes the state of nerve fibers, decreasing production of cortisol

In addition, the electric currents produced by biomagnetic wristbands stimulate the Pc6 weight loss point on the wrist, allowing control over appetite and mood.

Read more about the principle of magnetic weight loss on this page.

### **Tourmaline**

Tourmaline is a mineral mined primarily in Sri Lanka and Madagascar. Possessing piezoelectric properties, it is a source of negative ions which:

Actively saturate cells with oxygen
Bind and remove free radicals from the body
Are antioxidants

And bracelet manufacturers have taken advantage of this. Tourmaline is also used to manufacture wellness mattresses, pillows, clothing, and other contact devices advertised for treating the musculoskeletal system. However, official medicine is skeptical about these properties of the mineral.

### **Hematite**

You can buy a stylish red hematite bracelet. It is made from the widely distributed iron ore Fe2O3. Earlier it was attributed with magical properties: it was believed that it gave strength and bravery, was a source of optimism and potency for men.

In modern lithotherapy, the properties of hematite have been defined more precisely:

Improves blood circulation
Normalizes blood pressure
Relieves stress
Assists with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, and liver
Regulates the hormonal system

Against the backdrop of nutritional restrictions and physical activity, hematite, due to its medicinal properties, can assist in weight loss, but… official medicine calls such advertising claims nothing more than quackery.

### **Acupuncture**

Chinese manufacturers have gone further than all the others. They have created electronic bracelets which influence the Pc6 point not with biomagnetic waves but with electric charge. Terminals are built into them and when the button is pressed during an attack of hunger, a current is produced. The stimulation is tolerable but tangible. It is believed that this is exactly what forces you to control your appetite and not eat anything extra.

Electronic acupuncture bracelets have several disadvantages:

Until you press the button, they do not work.
During hunger attacks, many people forget to press it.
They have many contraindications.

### **Bian**

Bian is a mineral, a kind of black jade. It is mined only in China. It is considered medicinal because:

It is a source of ultrasonic waves in a range beneficial for the organism – with a frequency of 20,000 Hz
It raises temperature slightly, increasing perspiration