Product Review: Sensa Weight Loss Supplement

Product Review: Sensa

Joe Cannon, MS

www.Joe-Cannon.com

Have you heard of the Sensa weight loss program? They claim it’s backed up by “25 years of study” and it was featured on the TV shopping channel, “Shop NBC” on October 25 2009.


I was intrigued by the claims made on Shop NBC and on the Sensa website (www.trysensa.com) especially the “25 years of study” so I decided to take a look at this product and see what I could discover.


What follows is my unbiased review of the Sensa weight loss supplement. My words are based on my own opinions which are grounded in what I know about the science and scientific method, rational thought and what I could decipher from the Sensa website.


What is Sensa?

The Sensa website indicates that the product is made from:


• Maltodextrin (Derived from Corn from the USA). This is a type of carbohydrate.

• Tricalcium Phosphate. This is just a form of calcium. Some previous research has noted a weight loss effect of calcium, however most of those studies used dairy calcium (milk etc.) and not a calcium supplement. Not all research shows calcium promotes weight loss.

• Silica. Probably used to give the Sensa crystals their hardness. To my knowledge they have no effect on weight loss and I was not able to find any research on this.

• Natural and Artificial Flavors. I have no idea what these specifically are and without that I can’t comment on any weight loss effect they may or may not have.

• Sensa also contains Soy and Milk ingredients. The website only says “ingredients” and does not list them specifically.

• Sensa is sodium- free, sugar-free, calorie free, gluten-free, and there are no stimulants, drugs or MSG.



How does it work?

According to the Shop NBC program and the Sensa website, Sensa is basically little sweet and salty tasting crystals called “Tastants” which, when sprinkled on food are absorbed through the receptors on the tongue and roof of the mouth and cause brain to release a chemical to “trick you into thinking your full. Put another way, by changing the smell and/or taste of food, the crystals get the brain to make you think you are full.


The research

The Sensa website says that Sensa is “clinically proven” to work. To back up this claim they mention a study that consisted of 1436 people (about 87% women and almost 13% men) and lasted 6 months. The average weight of the people in the study was 208 lbs. The average body mass index (BMI) of the participants was 30.5 lbs (a BMI of at least 30 indicates “obesity”).

At the end of the study, those who received Sensa lost an average of 30.5 lbs (about 15% of their body weight). The people not using Sensa lost only 2 pounds.


That’s quite a difference! A few things jump out at me when reviewing this study.


1. The pdf file for the study does not look like “published peer reviewed” study that typically is found in medical/science journals. In fact, the pdf file actually says “Abstract”. An abstract is a summary of a study and may not be peer reviewed.


As a rule, studies that are reviewed by other independent scientists before being published in a medical/science journal are viewed as better than a summary of a study that was not published. Abstracts however can be jumping off points for more intensive research.



2. The study of the 1436 people also does not mention how much Sensa the people used. Was it the same as what is being promoted to consumers now? It probably is but it’s not clear on the website.



3. The study did measure “body mass index” (BMI) which is a number that takes into consideration how tall you are and how much you weigh. Many doctors use BMI as an indicator of health problems (diabetes etc.) because in general, the higher the BMI, the greater the risk of health issues. The people in this study had a BMI of about 30 which classifies them as “obese”.



4. Unfortunately the researchers did not appear measure body fat which is also important.
The study does indicate that people lost an average of about 30 “pounds” but how much of that was fat?
How much of that was water?
How much of that was muscle?


I don’t know because it’s not listed. That’s too bad because most people want to lose fat, not just “pounds”.


The independent laboratory study

The Sensa website also lists another study conducted by an independent laboratory. This study also appears to not be a published, peer reviewed study. This study consisted of 83 people (78 completed the study) and also lasted 6 months. The results:

• The people using Sensa lost an average of about 27 pounds.
• Those not using Sensa lost about 0.3 pounds.

Impressive, but again, how much of that weight was fat?


In both of the studies presented on the Sensa website, very little information about how the research was conducted is given. Peer reviewed studies give much more information. This allows others to replicate the study and try to duplicate the findings. This is one of the checks and balances of science.


My Conclusions

On Shop NBC program about Sensa that aired on TV on 10/25/09,the hosts of the program they say “hunger is controlled in the brain – not the stomach”. Both are actually true. The brain does have a hunger control center but the stomach also plays a role in eating. For example, the stomach releases a hormone called ghrelin that plays a role in satiety. Our fat cells also release a hormone called leptin that impacts hunger. Other chemcals are also involved. Hunger and eating are very complex – more so than the Sensa website lets on.


There is research on Sensa and while it appears to be mostly in the form of abstracts, the fact that somebody went into a lab and tried to see if it actually worked is unique. I like that. Most products I see only back up their claims with research on the "ingredients" of the product and not the product itself.

As for the claim of 25 years of research, what I see is various studies that have been done over the years but nothing specifically on the Sensa weight loss product itself other than the two studies mentioned above. I could be wrong on this however.


On 11/7/09 I searched the national library of medicine for the word "Sensa" and no studies were returned. Granted, the peer review process does takes time (sometimes over a year!) so it’s possible that Sensa studies are currently being reviewed for publication.


Sensa is certainly safer than most of the “fat burners” often advertised to the public and I'm intrigued by the research mentioned on the website. But I am skeptical at this time. I'm skeptical mostly because of what I do not see in the studies:

1. Little information about how the research was conducted

And

2. The apparent lack of peer review of the studies (I may be wrong on this issue)


Still, if the results of the studies are replicated by others, their outcomes are very impressive.

Closing Thoughts

I am not an expert on the topic of smell, taste and their effect on weight loss. Because of that, I do not have any words of wisdom about whether Sensa works.

If you have tried Sensa, I really want to know what you think of the product.

Specifically I’d like to know:

1. Did it Sensa for you? Did you lose weight? How long did it take –and how much did you lose?

2. Could you cancel the product easily if it did not work for you?

3. Do you have any experiences about Sensa that you want to share with others?

Only by sharing ideas and publishing good research can we get a better idea of whether Sensa is something that's right for you.