We have received enquiries from two people in the last month inquiring about the Mind Band. Both said that they had read about it and that it offered weight loss that was comparable to weight loss surgery. After we picked ourselves up off the floor we did some more detailed research and found that there was a company claiming that Hypno band weight loss was comparable to weight loss surgery. There is simply no evidence to support that. We discussed it with our own Psychologist, Dr Claire Parkes. Dr Parkes confirmed that there are no publications to support this conclusion.

Her own review of the available data revealed a study published in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis in September 2017 by Allen et al.

This study reported that:

Virtual gastric band hypnotherapy for weight loss gave no more weight loss than hypnotherapy for relaxation and self-directed diet. ‘There was no evidence of differential weight loss over time’. Only 2 people in the virtual gastric band hypnotherapy group lost more than 5% of their starting weight over a 6 month period.

The hypnotherapy results, when measured over time, are no better than the weight loss results achieved with diet and exercise alone.Weight loss surgery, however, does achieve very substantial weight loss for patients. Most studies into gastric sleeve and gastric bypass show weight loss of over 25% of starting weight, and just a little less for a gastric band.Most gastric band patients will lose more than 5% of their starting weight within 4 weeks of surgery.    

These ‘Hypno bands’ are being marketed as an effective alternative to surgery and it simply isn’t true. The evidence says that you will be no better off spending £1500 on a Hypno band than you will be following a good diet.If you want the facts about a gastric band and the weight loss you can expect, you can read more here.