SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 6 — Everyone's talking about an upcoming clothing line called Thin Ice that claims to promote diet-free weight loss by boosting the metabolism.
Founders raised US$220,000 (RM856,350) in just eight days of crowdfunding, blasting through their original goal of collecting US$15,000.
The star of the product line is a pair of shoe insoles equipped with cooling chips they claim are able to chill specific regions of the body upon contact with the foot.
This creates what the team calls a “metabolic hack” that helps burn up to an extra 500 and 1,000 calories per day, tricking the body into burning energy to keep warm.
Founders say the cold sensation is mild and goes away seconds after stepping into the insoles — a feeling they compare to wading into a pool — and the temperature of all Thin Ice garments is adjustable via smartphone.
The science behind their unique technology is brown fat, which has made headlines in recent years for its heat-generating capabilities.
Prevalent in lean people, brown fat's ability to generate heat burns energy, whereas its white counterpart simply stores energy.
Brown fat is often referred to as “good fat” while the white stuff is deemed “bad fat.”
A handful of studies, including one that founders cite on their IndieGoGo campaign page, have concluded that cold temperatures activate brown fat, create more brown fat, and turn white fat brown, upping the body's metabolic rate.
Thin Ice founder Adam Paulin says his method promotes weight loss while you eat what you want without the need for exercise.
It's a weight-loss method that's invisible to those around you, for the insoles can be slipped into shoes, and the chill factor is purported to not cause discomfort.
To keep the calories burning while you're sleeping or lounging around without shoes, Thin Ice offers a vest made of similar graphite-based fabric that's packed with cooling chips.
The vest weighs approximately two pounds and comes in men's and women's sizes ranging from S to XXL+ and the shoe insoles are available in women's sizes ranging between four and 12 and in men's sizes between six and 15 according to the IndieGoGo campaign page.
The chips are the same kind used in other technologies that require cooling.
Called Peltier Chips, they are powered by a rechargeable battery that offers between six to eight hours of cooling the vest and between four and eight hours of cooling the insoles.
The International Thin Ice System is available for preorder for US$145 plus shipping fees with delivery expected in December of this year. — AFP-Relaxnews
