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Tongue Patch Diet (also known as The Weight Reduction Patch, Chugay Patch and Miracle Patch) is a
fad diet A fad diet is a diet that becomes popular for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements. There is no single defini ...
that involves attaching a patch to the top of the tongue that makes eating painful in order to cause the person to avoid eating solid food. After being launched in 2009 by Nikolas Chugay, the diet was criticized by health experts and media outlets.


History

Tongue Patch Diet was developed by Chugay, a plastic surgeon in
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...
, in 2009. Chugay got the idea of the diet from a friend who was doing a similar procedure in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. Chugay introduced the tongue patch diet as an alternative to invasive weight loss methods such as
gastric bypass Gastric bypass surgery refers to a technique in which the stomach is divided into a small upper pouch and a much larger lower "remnant" pouch and then the small intestine is rearranged to connect to both. Surgeons have developed several differ ...
or Lapband surgery. In 2011, a similar procedure was introduced in
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
. However, the procedure gained more popularity in Venezuela as compared to the USA. As of 2014, Chugay is the only surgeon in the USA who offers this treatment and it has not been approved by
FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...
.


Procedure

In the Tongue Patch Diet, a patch is stitched to the tongue of the dieter to make the consumption of solid food painful. The patch is made of
Marlex Marlex is a trademarked name for crystalline polypropylene and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). These plastics were invented by J. Paul Hogan and Robert Banks, two research chemists at the Phillips Petroleum Company. Interest in the material i ...
, a polymer composed of
polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins and ...
and
high-density polyethylene High-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polyethylene high-density (PEHD) is a thermoplastic polymer produced from the monomer ethylene. It is sometimes called "alkathene" or "polythene" when used for HDPE pipes. With a high strength-to-density ratio, ...
. The procedure for stitching the patch to the tongue takes about ten minutes. Since consuming solid food is painful, the dieter has to resort to a restrictive 800-calorie liquid only diet developed by Chugay. The patch can be removed any time by snipping the sutures. However, it should be removed within a month or the tongue may start growing on the patch. Some patients have had the mesh in place up to 60 days without untoward effects. In the days subsequent to the procedure, the patient takes antibiotics for 3 days to minimize the risk of infection and washes with an antiseptic mouth wash to decrease the bacterial count. According to Chugay, the diet can help a patient in reducing 30 pounds in one month. Chugay and his son Paul Chugay published a study in the ''American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery'' that said 70 percent of their patients lost an average of 16 pounds and kept it off for eight months. After the patch has been applied, the 30-day regimen also includes 45 minutes of daily exercise, in addition to limiting caloric intake.


Risks

Patients may have a swollen tongue or difficulty speaking for the first 72 hours after the procedure. Chugay claims that the diet has no severe risks or side effects. Critics of the diet have labelled it as dangerous claiming that it could cause infection, swelling or nerve damage.


In mass media

After being launched, the diet has received considerable media attention, with health experts criticizing the diet. Many media outlets have also reviewed the diet negatively with
Good Magazine GOOD Worldwide Inc., is a United States-based company with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle that reports on businesses and non-profits. GOOD produces a website, a quarterly magazine, online videos, and events. Content covered include ...
writing that "in essence it's nothing more than a modern version of wiring one's jaw shut, forcing the "patient" to literally starve themselves."


See also

*
List of diets An individual's diet is the sum of food and drink that one habitually consumes. Dieting is the practice of attempting to achieve or maintain a certain weight through diet. People's dietary choices are often affected by a variety of factors, incl ...


References

{{Fad diets Diets Fad diets