Last Updated on 5 years by Sophie

Truth about fat burners

When searching for weight loss products you will come to know metabolism booster and marketing name for it is fat burner.

That is why when you eat more and exercise less (burn fat less) you will start putting on weight and if you do the opposite you will embark on losing weight.

Metabolism rate is the speed in which our body burn fat, the faster the better. However we can control our metabolism rate, take it up or bring it down. Exercise is the healthy way to jack up your metabolism rate and burn fat, walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes will result in 108 calories of fat being burned and with running you will burn more.

Most of vegetables and fruits can help in booting your metabolism rate and burn fat; you can take them fresh or in supplement form.

Fat burners or reducers are products designed to decrease appetite and increase metabolism which is the rate our body convert fat to energy. Some products claim it can also block body absorption of fat from food we eat.

Common ingredient used in these products include caffeine, L-carnitine, ginseng and ephedrine which has been banned by health authority because it’s not safe.

Fat burner or reducers are stimulants, which means they affect the central nerve system. Stimulants are dangerous in high doses, it can affect heart arrhythmias and cause other cardiovascular problems, it can also affect concentration and cause jitteriness.

If you drink coffee which is one of the stimulants, you will know its effect on you, you are alert and this will increase metabolic rate.

Coffee is the main ingredient in most energy drinks and fat burners. Herbalife Total Control which is marketed is metabolism booster contains coffee with other ingredient.

L-carnitine acts as fat transporter, when a cell in the body is burning fat carnitine (L-carnitine) supply fat to that cell.

That is why it has been used to increase performance and aid with weight loss however there is no scientific research backing these claims.

Carnitine is naturally produced by the body and there is no need to take more of it through supplement.

Ginseng is herbal remedy widely used in Korea and has been recently marketed as fat burner, ginseng helps diabetes patient as mentioned in 2006 study by university of Toronto however there is not conclusive evidence that ginseng increase metabolism and help with weight loss.

The question is can these stimulants help us lose weight?

It seems fat burners products work in reducing body weight if it’s taken with meal replacement but not alone.
Fat burners are not the one product solution for obesity, many people want to get rid of excess fat with just a pill however this is not possible, there is no quick fix for obesity.

Some of these products pull water out of your body and when you stand on the scale you notice your body weight is down because you lost water and not body fat.

Fat burners that contain diuretic ingredient and make you visit the toilet too much are forcing body releasing water to make you believe the product works.

When choosing you fat burner product make sure it does not contain banned stimulants and content of allowed stimulants are not high to avoid any side effects.

When you buy fat burner supplement make sure it is ephedra free.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prohibits the sale of dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids (ephedra) because such supplements present an unreasonable risk of illness or injury.

When you buy fat burner make sure it is for metabolic rate and not suppressing appetite.