Does Your Calorie Tracker Help You Lose Weight?

The picture above is from my phone. It is part of the Samsung Health App. It tells me how many steps I walked, how many miles I walked and how many calories I burned. Right now, I am not looking to lose weight. But, does this app or any calorie tracker really work?

The step counter and calorie tracker industry has become a major cash cow, as millions of Americans use the apps and wearable devices every day in an attempt to knock off excess weight. But a new study reveals people who don’t use them actually lose less weight than those who do.

The revelation is among 10 medical myths debunked by the New England Journal of Medicine. Another shocker is keeping your home free of dust mites, mice and cockroaches doesn’t do a thing in protecting against asthma attacks. Plus, if you take fish oil to reduce your risk of heart disease, you’re wasting your time and money; a study of 12,500 patients found it didn’t work for a single one of them.

The study also revealed testosterone doesn’t help men retain their memory, much like Ginkgo biloba doesn’t protect against memory loss or dementia. And if you’ve heard that feeding peanuts to children under three will cause them to develop peanut allergies,you heard wrong; it’s just an old wive’s tale.

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