Local News

Body wraps: does 'It Works!' work?

By Nadira Kharmai GVL Staff Writer
12/2/2009

In preparation for the holiday shopping season, the Lanthorn will test and review several as-seen-on TV products to see if they are really too good to be true. Look for weekly installments of the "try it before you buy it" series.

We have all seen or heard of dieting products promising to "melt away fat" without even exercising. Advertisements boast results using pictures and testimonials from "real people" that seem too good to be true. Most people scoff at get-thin-quick products, but there are some who wonder if it truly gives miracle results.

Wonder no more. I put the Ultimate Body Applicator wrap to the test.

"It shrinks all the toxins and the fat, then it flushes out," said Carol Purcey, independent It Works! distributor. Purcey measured me before applying the wrap on my stomach.

Despite remarking I was already skinny, Purcey still claimed the ingredients in the wrap would "detoxify, tighten, tone and firm" my midsection within 45 minutes. While waiting, I learned about It Works! history.

The product originated in Mexico 25 years ago as a cream. In 2000, Grand Rapids executives bought the cream and transformed it into a body wrap.

Today, Purcey said the wrap is used and backed by celebrities such as Paula Abdul and Mario Lopez.

As we chatted, I felt a cooling sensation and an uncomfortable feeling lurching in my stomach.

"Your body is going through detox right now," Purcey said.

I drank 32 ounces of water to "help release toxins", and 45 minutes later, Purcey and I checked on the wrap to see the results.

"You must be bloated because you drank so much water," Purcey said as she wrote down the half-inch gain to my tummy. "But, you did lose an inch on your hips." I did not see matching results, but I took her word for it.

Grand Valley State University health experts dissected this diet fad and explained why nothing works better for weight loss than eating healthy and exercising.

"I have a hard time believing it works," said Heather Peddie, a movement science visiting professor. "A wrap is not going to physiologically influence energy expenditure, which is the process that results in weight loss."

When I told her my supposed results and how the wrap did not define my abs as promised, Peddie explained even healthy bodies remain imperfect.

"Even someone who has low stress in their life and has body fat in a healthy range will still have cellulite and that's normal," she said.

Basically, the only thing I burned wearing the wrap was time.

According to a newsletter published by the National Council Against Health Fraud, the latest trend in dieting is using body wraps. Their advice on not using wraps can be seen across the Internet and in health magazines, but that has not stopped celebrities or average folk from bragging about their miraculous results.

"Even Hollywood stars have used it," Purcey said.

The Ultimate Body Wrap Applicator was given to Emmy and Oscar Award nominees "just in time for some last-minute slimming results before the awards show," an It Works! brochure stated.

What about a "real" person, you ask?

"I have changed nothing about my horrible diet since beginning he Ultimate Body Applicators," said Doug from Witcuta, Kan., in an It Works! testimonial. "I am going to concentrate on body sculpting now using the It Works! products."

His testimony, however, goes against what Purcey said you must do to see results (aside from using more of the product), which is "eat healthy and exercise regularly." Eat healthy and exercise regularly? I think Peddie mentioned something about that.

If you would like to try a body wrap, they are for sale for $25 for one wrap or $89 for four applicators.

Contact Carol Purcey at (616) 340-1461 for more information. Otherwise, Peddie advised to keep burning calories the safe and old-fashioned way by healthy dieting and effective exercise.

nkharmai@lanthorn.com

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