With the help of magnets in the teeth, New Zealand scientists claim to have invented a means of weight loss.
It sounds crazy at first, but it’s true: According to New Zealand scientists, magnets in the teeth will help people lose weight in the future. Paul Brunten, the lead scientist behind the project, explained that those who wear the lock jaw have to limit themselves to a liquid diet. Because the jaw can only be opened two millimeters by the magnets on the molars. However, critics compared the construction on the Internet with a “medieval torture machine”.
Magnets as an “attractive” alternative to surgery
The researchers speak of a “world first” and assure that breathing and speaking will not be impaired by their device called “DentalSlim Diet Control”. The magnets are an “attractive alternative to surgical interventions”. In emergencies, such as panic attacks, there is a simple way to open the device quickly.
In the “British Dental Journal” the scientists stated that they provided seven women with the magnets over a period of two weeks. On average, a weight loss of 6.36 kilograms was observed without a test person having pulled the “emergency mechanism”. They found the lock jaw to be “bearable”.
“Repulsive and dehumanizing”
In online networks, however, the ethical basis of the experiments is called into question. The researchers were accused, among other things, of “fat shaming”. One reviewer called the tests “repulsive and dehumanizing”.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) one is considered overweight with a body mass index of at least 25, obese from a value of 30. That is, by dividing the weight by the height in meters squared. According to the Statista portal, more than 36 percent of Germans were overweight in 2017, with a BMI between 25 and 30. 15.2 percent even had a BMI between 30 and 40.
