It is possible to lose weight while relaxing in the comfort of your own home?  People who sell a home device say it can do that and more, but can these extreme health promises be proven?

Computer information technician Marie Broussard says the chi machine has helped her lose weight, going from a size 4-6 to 0-2.

Retired public school teacher Joffrion Mitts attributes weight loss and a more toned body to the same machine. “Certainly I firmed up.  Other people firmed up.  I can tell you that after five months of using it, my breasts firmed up too,” Mitts said.

They're talking about the chi machine, invented  45 years ago by a Japanese doctor, to simulate fish movement.  Chinese philosophy believes chi is life energy circulating in all things and that a balance of the negative and positive in the body is essential for good health. 

They say the chi machine, backed by Japanese research, puts their body in balance, leading to weight loss and better health overall.

“My cholesterol slowly started going down and my good cholesterol is going up, so then I started feeling better,” Broussard said. Mitts says the machine, which retails for $480, improved her circulation as well. “I was born with poor circulation in my lower legs and feet,” she said.  “Every day of my life I had achy legs, purplish toes and cold, tired feet.  Now I have normal circulation in my legs.”

While they make no medical claims when it comes to the chi machine, the two women we talked to believe that testimonials from users, not scientific evidence, can show that the machine can also help with diabetes, depression, fibromyalgia, asthma, arthritis, back and headache pain, high blood pressure, swollen legs and even allergies. 

Some doctors are very skeptical.

“I don't know that we can attribute the action of the chi machine to any specific medical outcome,” said Dr. Henri Roca, an LSU Health Sciences Center family-integrative medcine expert who is knowledgeable in both modern western medicine and traditional eastern medicine.  He believes the chi machine is more like meditation. “I've actually been on a chi machine and they are very relaxing,” he said.  “They help you identify the places in your body that are more tense and tight.”

“I'd say if people really want to sort of relax and be energized, that would be the reason to make this investment, not because of any  hope of specific weight loss,” Roca added.

Weight loss experts agree, pointing to scientific evidence that shows that shaking machines can help burn more calories, only if you are contracting your muscles against them.  But that happens when you are trying to stay balanced or stabilized while standing on a vibrating platform, not while muscles are relaxed.

“Maybe you could take that money and take a tai chi class, which the research shows doesn't really improve fitness,” said Melinda Sothern, the director of health promotion for LSU Health Sciences Center.

“To my knowledge there are no studies showing it causes weight loss,” she said, “but there are studies showing tai chi improves mood and attitude, and in turn that will make you want to do more and be more active.”

East Jefferson General Hospital fitness expert Mackie Shilstone agrees.

“I don't think that it's the big bang for the buck that you can get  by just getting out, getting a little bit of guidance and using your own motivation and get out there and just doing something. Shilstone says there is science emerging where whole body vibration is being studied to rehab people who cannot exercise after an injury.

That's why Joffrion Mitts and Marie Broussard believe in the chi machine, saying that many people don't and won't exercise, and the machine takes no effort.  So they now each sell the machine to marathon runners and couch potatoes alike, from 16 months to 97 years of age.

“I go eight minutes in the morning and six minutes at night,” Mitts said.  “My mother is 84 years old and she goes 12 minutes twice a day.”

Both women say getting the stress chemicals out of your body leads to a body, mind and lifestyle more prone to weight loss and health.