Inside a small tanning salon, there's a machine.... a strange-looking pod, and it's re-shaping Nina Labbe's body. She's even lost five pounds with seven days of 20-minute sessions in high heat -- up to 180 degrees -- and lots of sweating inside the Slim-Capsule.
"My husband says I look good," Nina told Action News.
"Nina, as well as many members, have had awesome results," Dawn Hamilton, Salon Business Development Director, told Action News.
Sybaritics makes the pods. A company spokesman tells us right now, there 35,000 machines worldwide. He says there have been nearly 4 million sessions in the pods, resulting in $50 million in revenue. While the company does not claim the Slim Capsule possesses any health benefits, it does claim it increases your core temperature, and that every degree it goes up, your metabolism is increased by 6-percent.
"I don't understand how that would happen, and for sure, I didn't see any scientific reports demonstrating this," John Pilcher, M.D., a bariatric surgeon at New Dimensions Weight Loss, told Action News.
Dr. Pilcher believes people who use the machine sweat out pounds of water weight that will eventually come back.
"I've battled with being overweight my whole life," Stephanie Covarrubia, told Action News.
Stephanie is about to get gastric bypass because of that struggle. She says she's tried just about everything to lose weight.
"They're all successful in the beginning," Stephanie said.
She believes the Slim Capsule is a gimmick.
"I would say, 'You haven't tried it,'" Nina told Action News. "You're going to have people who don't believe in a product even when it does work."
Now, it's up to you to decide if the Slim Capsule is great for your waistline or a waste of time.
A spa membership is needed to use the Slim Capsule at Planet Beach Spas. Nina pays $79 a month. Spa managers tell us they do
regulate how much a client uses the machine and will turn people away who have certain health issues. Dr. Pilcher says he's
concerned people might over-use the Slim Capsule, but he says it probably wouldn't hurt to try it.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Joe Caruso
Caruso Media
www.caruso-media.com
(847) 331-0247
