Slimmer Belt Review - 11 Things You Need to Know

A slimmer belt is a fitness belt that is wrapped and worn around the torso. It is claimed that slimmer belts help you reduce weight in the midsection by reducing fat, but we are skeptical because we haven’t seen studies to prove their effectiveness. We’ve also heard that water weight may be drawn from other places in your body to replace the water weight lost around your waist – otherwise called redistribution.

While the concept of a slimming belt may seem interesting, they typically don’t come with research proving how they actually help you lose weight. We put our research team on this one, and they found some interesting information on how your body scientifically benefits from a slimming belt. Our findings follow.

What is Slimmer Belt?

A Slimmer Belt is a wearable fitness belt that goes around the torso. The goal of any Slimmer Belt is to help you lose weight, by focusing on reducing fat around the midsection.

It also promotes sweating during workouts which can help with weight loss through the expulsion of water weight – at least temporarily.

There are even other slimming belts that vibrate or use magnets. We won’t look at those in too much detail within the body of this review, but we will briefly touch on them at the end, however.

Regarding price, these belts can vary. The Valeo Slimmer Belt with zippers ranges from$29.93 to $46.70 when shopping through Amazon distributors.

The Everlast Slimmer Belt can be found through Dick’s Sporting Goods for a price of $19.99. Utrax has a six zipper adjustable weight loss version for $12.99 via Amazon. Be wary that having such a wide price range may also mean that the quality of the product may vary widely as well.

We did a recent review of one version of the Slimmer belt with zippers and you can read about it here.

Slimmer Belt Competitors

The History of the Slimming Belt

There’s little information about the exact development and growth path for this product. What we do know is that it has spread widely across the fitness industry with many manufacturers jockeying to offer similar products with minor variations.

One could make an argument that this product could trace its legacy back to the lady’s corset which first became popular in the 16th century Europe. The purpose back then was similar in that it was meant to help women keep an “ideal” figure. But this review is not necessarily a history lesson.

We also have noted that some types of belts have even become fashionable, such as the waist shapers worn by celebrities in recent years. One article on Huffington Post took a look at where they have come from and what they have done to the fashion industry.

Scroll below for one of the best products we’ve seen over the last year.

Slimmer Belt Claims

So the claims by these belt manufacturers are fairly similar as we mentioned. We will highlight some of them here.

One belt manufactured by Valeo claims that it “provides back support while slimming and trimming appearance; Belt warms the waist helping you shed excess water weight.”

Everlast claims their belt will do the following: “Retains warmth and body heat to shed water weight; Snug fit promotes a more slimmed-down silhouette.”

For the article on waist shapers that we mentioned previously, it also highlighted a common claim by all products: “waist shapers will help you lose fat and inches from your waist, metabolize fat, release toxins, compress your core, and reduce food intake throughout the day.”

Slimmer Belt Materials

Well, the main material that comprises a Slimmer Belt is neoprene – a synthetic rubber. This material has several advantages in that it is durable, stretchable, and retains heat quite well even in water. This is probably why it is such a common (and important) material in scuba wetsuits.

Does Slimmer Belt Work?

Well, from the perspective of consumer reviews, the feedback is wildly mixed.

For example, on Amazon, the Valeo Slimmer Belt has a current rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars with ratings pretty evenly spread from 1 to 5 stars.

Reviews have mentioned that they were “comfortable” to that the “zipper broken after 1st use.”

Another Slimmer Belt with zippers had similar reviews on Amazon with a current rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars.

Reviews ranged widely from “love these belt slimmers” to “not ideal for what I was looking for.”

Well, we looked around for some studies and professional reviews and found the following:

Scientists found that subjects who wore neoprene suits did exhibit elevations in both skin temperature and intramuscular temperature. Their temperatures remained high even 30 minutes after they stopped exercising.

However, the scientists concluded that this did not promote weight loss through compression of fat cells. They felt that the use of neoprene might potentially prevent sports injuries by keeping muscles warm during athletes’ periods of inactivity, as stated on Livestrong.

Another article noted that the belt could help lose water weight.

However, Chron.com says that “excessive sweating can take pounds and inches off quickly, but only because you’re dehydrating yourself. As soon as you rehydrate — a critical part of fueling your body for more exercise — you’ll put the weight and inches right back on.”

Another study published by the Journal of Athletic Training concluded “Neoprene sleeves are effective in maintaining intramuscular temperature after 15 minutes of exercise and in increasing skin temperature during and after exercise. These results may be attributable to the insulating effects of the neoprene sleeve.”

Why is this important? There is some evidence that maintaining muscle heat after exercise can aid in recovery and healing of muscles.

Details on Slimmer Belt and Weight Loss

As for weight loss, a slimmer belt seems to have mixed reviews.

One study mentioned on Livestrong showed that “wearing neoprene belly wraps during moderate physical activity. Though limited to only three subjects, Bowman’s research did indicate that the use of neoprene increased calorie expenditure during exercise sessions by as much as 29 percent per minute.”

Potential Slimmer Belt Side Effects

The downside of using or wearing a slimmer belt is the possibility of side effects.

The Journal of Athletic Training raises concerns that neoprene prevents tissue from cooling because sweat cannot effectively evaporate from the skin, taking body heat with it.

The body needs to dissipate heat during workouts to get the most benefits from exercise.

Your body will still perspire in neoprene, but the sweat remains trapped beneath the synthetic rubber so your body cannot cool down.

“A slimmer belt will compress your fat cells. Even if you are just getting started on your weight loss journey, the slimmer belt can help you look smaller.”

“However, once you decompress, your cells will gradually revert to their normal size and shape,” explains Dr. Erica Brownfield on Livestrong, associate professor of medicine at Emory University.

Brownfield emphasizes that you are not losing fat cells by wrapping and that the dehydration process can be harmful to some individuals.

According to Livestrong, the other potential problem with using a slimmer belt is that “if you are out of shape and have weak core muscles, wrapping a slimmer belt around your midsection sucks in your stomach and straightens your back. The slimmer belt forces you to improve your posture since it is difficult to slouch while wearing one.

But wearing a compression belt can keep you from using your abdominal and postural muscles, and can contribute over time to greater muscle weakness and worsening posture.

“Wearing a snug wrap around your belly can keep your core muscles from engaging,” notes American Council on Exercise spokesperson Pete McCall on Chron.com.

“So not only are you not getting the promised weight loss when you work out with a sweat belt, but you’re also missing out on some of the potential benefits of your workouts.”

Any Slimmer Belt Lawsuits?

There do not appear to be any pending or past lawsuits against any the manufacturers or distributors of Slimmer Belt.

Slimmer Belt Alternatives

We are not convinced that the slimmer belt is the best tool for weight loss. The price points make it affordable as compared similar slimming belts, but the challenges of finding the right fit for your body type is one issue.

The other is the fact that losing water weight may be a temporary fix and may even be unhealthy to do so. Hydration is a critical component of one’s health.

Finally, the restrictiveness of the belt can be detrimental to maintaining muscle support to one’s mid-section if you wear the belt for long periods.

Finding alternatives to slimmer belts with zippers is fairly easy. There are a plethora of products that are variations of the basic concept and offer different methods that are alternatives to what the slimmer belt can do. For instance, we mentioned the sauna suit earlier.

We also found belts that are heated where you can plug them in to provide the same effect as the slimmer belt except one does not have to workout.

One should probably be somewhat wary of using a product that requires electricity to flow close to one’s body of course.

Also, Livestrong says that, other belt types contain magnets. What are magnets for? Well, “manufacturers claim these magnets ease pain and help to stimulate circulation. This increases weight loss.

As of 2014, there is no scientific evidence to support the use of slimming belts with magnets for weight loss.”

Also, the “American Cancer Society reports that the many magnetic devices, from pain relief to weight loss, do not accomplish what the manufacturers promise. There is no evidence supporting the claims of magnetic slimming belt proponents, although the belts may provide a placebo effect for true believers.

“Also, wearing a magnetic slimming belt may be detrimental to those who use pacemakers or insulin pumps; the magnets may interfere with the functioning of these life-saving devices.”

There is the old standby of plain old diet and exercise.

In a Livestrong.com article, it indicates that “the fastest, longest lasting, and least expensive way to trim inches from your midsection and improve your posture is through exercise and balanced nutrition. To lose unwanted fat, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends performing upwards of 250 minutes of rhythmic endurance exercise weekly.

“Walking, running, cycling and swimming are all good choices. To improve muscle tone and posture, perform resistance training for all your major muscle groups on two to three non-consecutive days weekly, and perform whole-body flexibility exercises at least once or twice per week.”

Another article concurs with this concept in that “as tempting as it might be to reach for “instant weight loss” gadgets like a sauna belt, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say you’re more likely to keep the weight off if you lose it steadily — at a rate of around 1 to 2 pounds a week.”

What Users Are Saying

“Good stuff! I like this one better than others. Zipper is key!”

“This product is for a big person. I am 29″ waist and had to use last zipper and it still fell down. Would be great if it was sized. Returning.”

“It’s okay!”

The Bottom Line on the Slimmer Belt

So, should you run out and buy the Slimmer Belt? Well, we like that this product is reasonably priced and it’s easy to find on distributor websites like Amazon. But, we have reservations because we do not like that it is not backed research or scientific studies. Also, we’re concerned about the poor product quality and lack of actual results.

If you want to enhance your workouts and improve overall physical fitness, we advise you to go with a product that is supported by clinical research, comes with excellent customer service and is backed by positive user testimonials.

Among the best products we’ve seen this year is one called Noom. The program is centered on real human coaching – not something you find with other weight-loss apps. You also get expert articles, customized meal plans, food and exercise tracking and more. Customers continue to tell us they see great results.

Also, the team behind Noom is so confident that you’ll love their product, that they’re offering customers a 14-day trial.