The Skinny on Breast Reduction Pills for Women
With just a few minutes of research, the “ah ha!” moment happened!
We’re talking about a breast reduction pill, primarily targeted at women, we’ve been hearing about lately. The product is available online and will be at or near the top in a Google search for “breast reduction pills for women.” It promises to “naturally reduce breast size with no pain, no surgery, and no complications!”
If you’re familiar with our practice, you may know that we perform hundreds of New York breast reduction surgeries for men and women each year. We write extensively about man boobs, or gynecomastia, and address all topics including alternatives to male breast reduction surgery. For years we’ve cautioned guys about a supplement, heavily hyped on the Internet, that doesn’t work. Come to find out it’s marketed by the same company pushing the breast reduction pills for women. “Ah ha!” indeed.
The Ingredients
The ingredients in both products seem to be identical. They include the familiar—caffeine, cacao and green tea extract—and those you may not have heard of such as chromium picolinate, guggul and sclareolide. The main goal with both products seems to be to help people lose weight.
We looked at Healthline to get a quick overview of some of these ingredients. Caffeine, says the well-known health information website, in the short term, “can boost the metabolic rate and increase fat burning, but after a while people become tolerant to the effects and it stops working.” Cacao, or cocoa products, may assist you in losing weight, but “more research is needed on this topic to determine exactly what type and how much cocoa is ideal.” The website also notes that green tea extract may help with weight loss by boosting calorie burn.
On the other hand, Healthline was doubtful about weight loss benefits of chromium picolinate and guggul. Here’s the summary of chromium picolinate:
Based on current evidence, chromium picolinate is not effective at producing meaningful weight loss in overweight or obese individuals. It appears to be even less effective in normal-weight individuals, even when combined with exercise.
About guggul, Healthline says, “Although it’s been used as a weight loss aid in Ayurvedic medicine, clinical research on its effectiveness has produced inconsistent results.”
We could find little credible information on sclareolide. Wikipedia says it can be derived from salvia and tobacco plants, and is used as a fragrance. The site notes it has been recently promoted as a weight loss supplement, “though there is no clinical evidence to support this effect.”
Weight Loss and Breast Reduction
It’s possible, then, that the breast reduction pills in question might help some people drop a few pounds. And some of the excess weight may indeed come from the breasts. But the assertion the manufacturer makes about the two products (in identical language, by the way), that they work “by targeting the fatty cells in the mammary glands,” is absurd. Weight loss in the body happens all over and is governed by genetics more than anything. All 53 doctors on RealSelf who answered a question about the women’s version of the product agree that breast reduction pills do not work. One of them commented, “If there were a way to reduce fat in a specific area the inventor would be on their way to Stockholm for the Nobel prize.” Amusing, and true!
A few of the patients who seek our New York breast reduction services have learned this lesson the hard way, having devoted hope and hard-earned money to these pills. The recommended starter package for both—a 5-month supply—costs $234.65.
Another Reason to Avoid the Pills
If you have the cash and think there’s no harm in trying these pills, you may or may not be right. Since they are classified as “nutritional supplements,” they are not monitored by the FDA. That’s right, there’s very little information you can learn from impartial sources about the products.
You can take a closer look at their key ingredients, however (although each formula contains something called a “proprietary blend” with no explanation). According to Web MD, long term chromium use can have ill effects for patients with certain conditions such as depression, and for those with liver or kidney disease. Guggul carries risks of side effects such as headaches, vomiting and diarrhea, the site says. Web MD also says guggul may act like estrogen in the body, which makes it counterintuitive to take for breast reduction.
When it comes to caffeine and cacao, Web MD details all the possible side effects of these stimulants you probably already know, including restlessness, insomnia, nausea, anxiety and more. Long term and high dosage use can worsen conditions such as anxiety, diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and several others.
We’ve heard from both women and men in New York that breast reduction surgery can seem like a scary prospect. But we agree with one of the other 53 RealSelf doctors, it’s “actually probably safer than taking pills which may have a mixture of untested ingredients in an unregulated mixture.” Not to mention the fact that the procedure earns a 98% “worth it” rating on RealSelf.
How to Get Real Information
If you have oversized breasts that bother you, we hope you have turned to board certified plastic surgeons for information, whether on sites like RealSelf and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery’s surgery.org, or in person in a consultation. We would be happy to work with you here in New York. Breast reduction surgery isn’t for everyone, to be sure, but you would come away from an appointment with us armed with clear, impartial, accurate information and be confident in the decisions you make. Call us at 212-570-6080.
