Corsets to Lose Weight: Should Women Do It?

The latest comeback fashion star with a twist is corsets to lose weight. The all-important Hollywood celebrities have hopped on the bandwagon to popularize this trend. Slender star Jessica Alba proudly claimed this 19th century contraption helped her shed weight after a couple of pregnancies and the flamboyant Kim Kardashian gave up her little secret on Instagram. The use of a girdle or corset was a lot more common in the olden days and when our great-great-grandmothers wore them regularly after giving birth to help with their form and aid in the healing process. It’s also a cross-cultural phenomenon, with Latin American women using a similar device.

Does wearing corsets to lose weight really work, or is it just the newest weight loss gimmick? Can your tummy be trained to be slimmer? The corset pulls in muscles that were extended during childbirth, giving you stability at the core. This reduces pressure on your gluteus muscles, pelvis and the joints and ligaments in your lower back. A woman’s body then is more easily able to realign itself to its pre-pregnancy form due to the lower tension in these parts.

Wearing a body compressing corset squeezes your stomach into a smaller size. This makes it more uncomfortable for women wearing one to overeat. There is no space for your stomach to expand as you eat so you feel fuller quickly. As you don’t feel comfortable eating, especially fatty foods or carbonated drinks, you end up consuming fewer calories. For many experts, this change in diet and reduction in your caloric consumption over a long period of time are the real reasons for weight loss.

Restricting your waist pushes the fat from your abdomen up and down your body, making you look slimmer. Although, the impact on your health is null because all the fat is still there. A tight-fitting corset will also make you sweat a lot around your waist, giving you the impression you are a lot lighter. When wearing a corset, your waist is constrained and your organs are displaced. Corsets push internal organs out of their natural positions. Because your stomach is constricted, your intestines are shoved down and your lungs and liver are pushed up.

Compressing corsets can reduce blood flow to your kidneys and intestines and although they prevent you from eating too much, it does not mean you are eating healthier. These are the reasons some experts believe the positive impact of wearing corsets to lose weight is outweighed by the negatives. These experts believe the best method for weight loss is the usual pairing of a healthy diet with moderate exercise.