- With Mayo Clinic nutritionist
Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
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Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
As a specialty editor for the nutrition and healthy eating guide, Katherine Zeratsky helps you sort through the facts and figures, the fads and the hype to learn more about nutrition and diet.
A Marinette, Wis., native, Katherine is certified in dietetics by the state of Minnesota and the American Dietetic Association. She has been with Mayo Clinic since 1999.
She is active in nutrition-related curriculum and course development in wellness nutrition at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and nutrition education related to weight management and practical applications of nutrition-related lifestyle changes.
Other areas of interest include food and nutrition for all life stages, active lifestyles and the culinary arts.
She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, served a dietetic internship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and worked as a registered dietitian and health risk counselor at ThedaCare of Appleton, Wis., before joining the Mayo Clinic staff.
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Question
Do weight-loss products like Sensa work?
How do weight-loss products such as Sensa, SlimScents and Aroma Patch work? Do they really lead to weight loss?
Answer
from Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
These scent-based weight-loss products deliver aromas that are supposed to reduce your appetite. Sensa is sprinkled on your food. SlimScents is sprayed in your nose before meals. The Aroma Patch is worn on your hand, wrist or chest.
Alan Hirsch, M.D., who developed Sensa, says proof of its effectiveness comes from a six-month study he conducted in which participants lost an average of 15 percent of their body weight. The makers of Aroma Patch and SlimScents point to another study by Dr. Hirsh to bolster their claims. That study, which was reported in a medical journal, showed that volunteers who used an aroma inhaler lost an average of 2 percent of their body weight over six months. Neither one of these studies looked at whether participants were able to maintain the weight loss.
So can these weight-loss products lead to significant, sustainable weight loss? The jury is still out on that question. Even the makers of these weight-loss products acknowledge that losing weight comes down to diet and exercise. It makes more sense, then, to skip the scents and focus on what's proven to work — reducing the calories you consume and increasing the calories you burn through exercise.
Next questionBitter orange weight-loss supplements: Do they work?
- Sensa home page. http://www.try.trysensa.com. Accessed Jan. 25, 2010.
- Hirsh AR, et al. Weight reduction through inhalation of odorants. Journal of Neurological and Orthopaedic Medicine and Surgery. 1995;16:28.
- Aroma Patch home page. http://www.aromapatch.org/index.htm. Accessed Jan. 25, 2010.
- SlimScents home page. http://www.slimscents.com/index.php. Accessed Jan. 25, 2010.
- Gupta S. Fill up on flavor. Time. 2008;172:54.
- Zeratsky KA (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Jan. 26, 2010.
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