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Why you should take Michael McIntyre's weight loss 'secret' with a pinch of Epsom salt

Michael McIntyre credits Epsom salts for his weight loss - The Telegraph
Michael McIntyre credits Epsom salts for his weight loss - The Telegraph

Another day, another questionable celebrity weight loss strategy. This time it was comedian Michael McIntrye’s turn to raise eyebrows, after the 44-year-old named Epsom salts – a form of magnesium sulphate – as his secret to shedding pounds. He claims the salts helped him lose 14lbs in just six days while he was at Austria’s Mayr clinic in 2017, where he was “starved” on a diet of soup and crackers.

“You drink the Epsom salts first thing and then, within 20 minutes, the whole of the clinic – which is full of wealthy fat people – are all rushing to the lavatory,” McIntrye told Jessie Ware’s Table Manners podcast. He was at the retreat with his comedian friend Paul Tonkinson, who lost nearly 20lbs. But Tonkinson then “nearly died” after an incident on a woodland hike, McIntrye said. “I had enough. I lost a stone – we were only there six days. I was so emotional, depressed and confused, and Paul was skeletal.”

The Mayr’s week-long programme, which costs €1,550 (£1,416) excluding accommodation, promises to help guests reach their “natural body weight” by removing toxins and “cleansing” their digestive system through abdominal work, massage, alkaline detox baths, urine analysis, lymph drainage, and a “hay flower detox wrap”.

Epsom salts, named after the town in Surrey where it is thought to have bubbled up from an underground spring in the 17th Century, look and feel much like table salt but possess an entirely different mineral composition. Most people soak themselves in the salt in a warm bath, which soothes muscles after a work-out, and helps to treat fibromyalgia (severe muscle pain); it can also help with insomnia. The sulphate can also be taken orally to treat constipation. Victoria Beckham, Gwyneth Paltrow and Elle Macpherson all credit Epsom salts as a beauty staple to reduce bloating and promote glowing skin.

In recent years, a handful of studies have suggested that magnesium – the central ingredient in the salt – might help you to lose weight too. A peer-reviewed review study published in the Nutrition journal in 2016 found that those who took regular magnesium supplements enjoyed a lower risk of metabolic syndrome, a consequence of obesity. Another study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition the same year suggested that daily magnesium supplements could treat “arterial stiffness”, reducing the risk of heart disease.

The theory, says Dr Trudi Deakin, author of Eat Fat, a Step by Step Guide to Low Carb Living, is that by reducing insulin levels in the blood, magnesium encourages the body instead to use its fat store as an energy supply, helping to burn off fat.

So might McIntrye have been onto something? Not quite, say doctors, who think the evidence is still far too flimsy to assign magnesium or Epsom salts any serious weight-shedding power. Dr Deakin says magnesium can help “in a small way”, but only in conjunction with other major changes to diet and exercise. “I don’t think it’s a miracle on its own. But for people who are overweight or obese, if we can drive down the insulin levels, then it will allow people to start burning fat as an energy source.”

And you don’t have to buy Epsom salts to get magnesium into your diet, she adds – you can also get it in nuts, beans, yoghurts, and tofu.

Nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert cautions against using Epsom salts for weight loss - Christopher Pledger/The Telegraph
Nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert cautions against using Epsom salts for weight loss - Christopher Pledger/The Telegraph

Nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert, from London's Harley Street Clinic, says the salts are “not recommended” for those looking to shed pounds because the evidence is “inconclusive”, and cautions against “pseudoscientific claims”. She adds: “Epsom salts may, however, be suggested for sport-related injuries or tired muscles.”

Epsom salts are a laxative and so will help you lose some weight in the short-term by expelling water and fluids, which make up half of your body weight. Dr Deakin thinks this might well explain McIntyre’s seemingly impressive six-day transformation.

That might make an impressive difference on the weighing scales over a few days, says Dr Deakin, but is not a long-term strategy, because the pounds will return “as soon as you start eating or drinking normally. When people want to lose weight, they want to lose fat from their fat stores. They don't want to lose water or muscle.”

She adds: “The top tips for losing weight are to completely omit ultra-processed foods, stop snacking and only eat when hungry, just eat real food, and keep moving – get up and move every 40 minutes.”