With obesity at epidemic levels in the United States, more and more people are turning to weight loss pills in hopes of losing those extra pounds. With the New Year approaching, you can bet that these weight loss pills will be flying off of shelves. But do they actually work?
Weight loss pills do work, but not to the degree most people think. Back in the early 1990’s when ephedra was first introduced, it was touted as a miracle weight loss supplement and to some, including myself it was. When you combined ephedra with caffeine and aspirin, this “stack” burned fat like butter on a hot stove.
Unfortunately the side effects far out-weighed its fat burning power. There were a few cases where ephedra was blamed for people dying from heart attacks. The heart pounding stimulating affect was difficult for people to handle and ephedra is no longer available.
Is there anything else that works?
Yes, but ephedra set the bar very high and there really isn’t anything new (save for possibly one) that matches its fat burning power.
Green tea and Hoodia are currently two of the most popular weight loss supplements in stores today. There have been mixed reviews on both, but Green tea has more scientific studies to back its claims. Never the less, they both fall far short of the fat burning power of ephedra.
There is however a natural compound that shows great promise in preventing fructose from converting to fat.
What’s all the fuss about fructose?
Fructose may be the biggest cause of obesity in the United States today. Here’s a quote from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:
“evidence that a marked increase in the use of HFCS, and therefore in total fructose consumption, preceded the obesity epidemic and may be an important contributor to this epidemic in the United States.”
For the past thirty years fructose has virtually replaced cane sugar as the sweetener of choice for most manufacturers because of its low cost to produce. During this period there has been a 300% increase in the use of high fructose corn syrup and a 40% drop in the use of cane sugar.
What is this promising natural compound?
This all natural compound is derived from the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis and Heartwood of Acacia. There more common names are Chinese skullcap and “Black catechu”.
What does this compound do?
This natural compound works by substantially decreasing two key obesity markers TNFa and IL-6 circulating in the blood stream. These two cytokines are expressed in high levels in the chronically obese. These compounds have been shown to significantly decrease both of these obesity markers by inhibiting fat conversion from fructose pathways and down-regulating PPAR gene expression (fat accumulation) and up-regulating PPARa (fat breakdown) protein. To a lesser extent there is also a moderate down-regulation of lipoprotein lipase (which breaks down fat) on the gene level.
An independent double blind clinical study was conducted by scientist at JSS Medical Research, Inc., in Montreal, Canada. Subjects ranged in age from 40-75, typically the age group that has the most difficult time losing weight. Participants were not given any advice on diet or physical activity.
The results were quite impressive. Subjects taking the natural compound lost an average of 7 percent of their bodyweight, while those not taking the natural compound did not lose any weight at all.
Their results would likely have been much better if they combined an exercise program along with a sensible diet.
Although these compounds show a lot of promise (especially if you are addicted to sweets) and may very well hold the key to the obesity epidemic, it should not replace a healthy diet and sensible exercise program.
Tags: diet, Exercise, family, fitness, health, Nutrition, weight loss