I’m not a regular consumer of diet products, and because of the tainted history of a lot of weight loss foods and supplements, I was quite apprehensive to try Nutra-Trim Gum. The gum contains three ingredients touted to increase metabolism and help control cravings: green tea, L-Carnitine, and Chromium. The makers are quick to point out that “Nutra-Trim is the only chewing gum to provide the active ingredient Chromium Picolinate.” They also say that, barring sensitivity to its ingredients, a person could chew multiple packs of Nutra-Trim at one time (that’s quite a wad!) and not suffer adverse effects. Marketing excitement aside, before that stuff made it into my mouth, I checked out Wikipedia for some insight. In fairness, if I researched all the finely printed ingredients on most of the processed food I eat, I’d probably come up with some eyebrow-raising results. Here’s a synopsis of what I found about the active ingredients in Nutra-Trim:

Chromium: I don’t know how similar humans are to hamsters, but apparently chromium picolinate complex causes chromosome damage in hamster cells. In humans, chromium picolinate is used as an aid in weight loss. L-Carnitine: L-Carnitine and supplements listing L-Carnitine are banned from sale in Canada. It’s a “quaternary ammonium compound synthesized from the amino acids lysine and methionine and is responsible for the transport of fatty acids from the cytosol into the mitochondria.” As for Green Tea, the article seems to basically say that experts argue over its health benefits, but there aren’t any real downsides to consuming it. After considering the above information, I thought about all the boxed dinners and fast food with unknown ingredients I’ve consumed over the years, and decided to put aside worry and chew some Nutra-Trim. The packs contain twelve pieces of gum each and cost more than a dollar per pack. I chewed two pieces at once, as directed, but didn’t do it the recommended three times per day.

It’s pellet-style gum, and the shell isn’t quite as hard as some pellet gum, but not soft like stick gum. The berry flavor emits a lovely smell, but not such a lovely taste. It’s oddly bitter, and lost almost all berry taste quickly. Chewing was a little rough, and I could only blow small, easily popped bubbles (although obviously the purpose of Nutra-Trim has nothing to do with competing with Bubblicious). The bitter taste almost disappeared after a few minutes, leaving a sort of berry-like atmosphere in my sinuses (no kidding). My roommate commented that my breath “really smelled like Red Bull.” The spearmint pellets were better. The strong mint taste made my eyes water a little, and the weird bitterness wasn’t as strong. It left my breath smelling fresh (yes, I asked) for a decent amount of time, and I definitely recommend it over the berry gum. However, both flavors were sub-par compared to sugarless gums like Dentyne and Extra, which, granted, don’t make weight management claims.

Being a little paranoid, I kept waiting for some sort of strong feeling to overtake me—extreme energy, heart pains, definitely something dramatic, but nothing happened. Furniture Store In Frenchtown NjI can’t comment on the effectiveness of the gum in terms of weight management because I didn’t chew more than necessary for a basic review, but I suspect that a daily dose of veggies and a long walk will do more for my health than six pieces of gum.Clawfoot Tub Foot Pads If you’re a consumer of diet products, I suppose Nutra-Trim Gum isn’t the worst tasting thing in the world. Tub Repair BoiseI’ll leave it to others to see if it helps with weight loss. candy, sweets, review, reviews, gum, weight loss, weight management, supplements, green tea, tea, weight

Brian Snyder / Reuters The Rise of the American 'Others' An increasing number of respondents are checking “Some Other Race” on U.S. Census forms, forcing officials to rethink current racial categories. Something unusual has been taking­­­­­­ place with the United States Census: A minor category that has existed for more than 100 years is elbowing its way forward. “Some Other Race,” a category that first entered the form as simply “Other” in 1910, was the third-largest category after “White” and “Black” in 2010, alarming officials, who are concerned that if nothing is done ahead of the 2020 census, this non-categorizable category of people could become the second-largest racial group in the United States. Among those officials is Roberto Ramirez, the assistant division chief of the Census Bureau’s special population statistics branch. Ramirez is familiar with the complexities of filling out the census form: He checks “White” and “Some Other Race” to reflect his Hispanic ethnicity.

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