Fat burning supplements are advertised everywhere these days: on the internet, in magazines, and even on TV. The ads almost always feature a very skinny fitness model or bodybuilder and claim that these products, usually pills, are the secret to their perfect abs and very low levels of body fat. Some of these ads suggest that the only way to slim down like the “hot bodies” you see in the photo is by taking their “miracle pills” and that proper nutrition and exercise alone are not enough.
While I won’t discount the fact that there are ingredients in some fat “burning” products that might help a bit, I am very disgusted to see misleading advertising claims, as well as the misleading use of models who are often paid to endorse the product. even though they may have never used it (they’re just models!)
Many “fat burning” companies have been sued by the Federal Trade Commission for false advertising, false claims, and falsifying before and after photos.
The best you get is a slight thermogenic effect and possibly a slight appetite suppression. Some products may work through other mechanisms such as improving the thyroid, but if you’ll pardon the generalization, I consider the effects of all these “fat burning” products to be minutiae.
In one of my previous newsletters I said that in my opinion 97% of your results come from nutrition and training and maybe you get an additional 3% advantage from supplements. Just so you know those numbers aren’t something I pulled out of thin air, here’s an example:
I have peer-reviewed scientific data that EGCG, the active ingredient in green tea extract, if consumed in sufficient quantity, could increase thermogenesis/metabolic rate by an average of about 75 calories in 24 hours. Since ephedrine has been withdrawn from the market, green tea extract appears in many ephedra-free formulas these days. What is the typical caloric expenditure of an active man in 24 hours? Let’s say 2700 calories per day. 75/2700 = 2.7%.
That little extra doesn’t hurt, especially when delivered in a healthy package like green tea (instead of central nervous system stimulants), but it’s a minor thing in the big picture. Another way to put this in perspective is to make a list of what else would burn 75 calories (for a 150 pound person 🙂
* walking your dog for 15 minutes * walking for 5 minutes at a normal, casual pace three times a day * 30 minutes of ironing * bagging leaves and grass clippings for 14 minutes * rearranging furniture for 10 minutes * washing the car, 15 minutes * vacuuming for 15 minutes * 7.2 minutes of climbing stairs (could be spread throughout the day)
Of course, some people are probably wondering, “Why push yourself if you can pop a pill and your metabolism goes up while you sit and watch TV?”
This is what any good personal trainer will always tell you: no amount of caloric restriction or taking pills will give you FITNESS. It will never give you STRENGTH. It will never get you MUSCULAR. It will never give you FUNCTIONALITY. At best it will help you reduce your body mass.
And for your health? A body that does not move rots. Unlike a car that only has so many miles and wears out from overuse, people are the only “machines” on earth that break down from underuse.
On the one hand, I’m tempted to say that everything counts and that yes, 75 calories here and 75 calories there, it ALL adds up, just because. After exercising regularly and having all the fundamentals in place, details and little things matter.
I simply ask that you put the benefits of any fat burner in proper perspective and realize that (1) there is no “need” to take them and (2) the claims made in advertisements are often wrong or exaggerated.
My advice on fat burners:
1. NEVER buy a fat burner unless you get independent verification of the claims made for the product.
How do you know they really work? Will you take the advertisers’ word seriously? Are you going to take someone else’s testimony as fact? Get verified for yourself by going to the pub med database and looking up the main research.
2. Put it in perspective
With products that work, such as those that provide a small thermogenic effect, put that in perspective compared to how easily you could burn that many calories with even light exercise like walking or doing chores. Consider the additional fitness and strength benefits you’ll get from exercising rather than doing nothing and popping a pill.
3. See if there are any side effects or health warnings.
With all supplements and especially stronger prohormones or thermogenics like the ephedrine-caffeine stack (if you still have access to them), understand the risk-benefit ratio and make sure you are aware of the dangers and contraindications.
4. Read the label and see if the product contains enough active ingredient for it to work.
A classic scam is when a “fat burner” ad cites research that a certain ingredient increases metabolism, which could be true. What they may not tell you is that all of the research with positive results used a large dose of the ingredient, which might not come cheap. So the supplement company includes a “pinch” or “light dusting” of that ingredient just so they can tell it’s in the bottle, even if it’s just “label decoration.” So they have the audacity to invoke research studies in their ads when the amount of the ingredient in their product is nowhere near what was used in the research!
5. Beware of the proprietary mix scam.
Some companies don’t let you see how much ingredient is in the product formula, because it contains multiple ingredients and they say their formula is a “trade secret” aka “proprietary” so they list what is in the product but not how much. . Well, if you don’t know how much is in there, how are you supposed to know if it contains the proper dose? (answer: you don’t!)
6. Make sure there is research on humans, not just rodents.
In many cases, the advertisements cite studies in rats and mice as “proof” under the assumption that the product will produce the same results in humans. Animal research is an important part of the scientific method, as it is often used to help find areas of research where human studies should be done, or in the other direction, to trace the mechanism that makes something work. . However, for obesity research in particular, a positive finding in rats does not mean the same will happen in humans.
7. Look for more than one human study.
Consider trying a supplement after it has human research that has been replicated by different research groups that are not sponsored by industry. My policy is that I will generally only give a “buy” rating to a supplement when a product has an initial well-designed controlled human trial published and then similar research has been replicated by another unfunded research group. by the supplement industry. Actually, I think it’s a good thing that nutrition and supplement companies are funding and sponsoring some of the research. They should. Not only must they back up their claims with published clinical trials, but they must share part of the cost of this expensive research.
However, a basic tenet of the scientific method is replication. Other researchers should be able to duplicate the findings. So while the funding source does not necessarily demonstrate bias, if there is only one study available on a supplement and it is sponsored by a company or industry, I generally take it with a grain of salt and put an asterisk next to it while I wait for confirmation from another study. . (You might be surprised how infrequently this type of confirmation occurs.)
Do you really need “more” than nutrition and exercise?
Now, when you weigh the fact that even products with research supporting them only help a little, with the fact that many of the ads lie to you about the research, exaggerate the claims, and hide vital ingredient information, and with the fact that you can get a few more minutes of exercise per day and get the same results for free, how enthusiastic are you about fat burners? Yeah, that’s why I’m not really enthusiastic about them either, and based on the fact that I don’t use “fat burning” drugs or supplements and compete in bodybuilding, very successfully, I would say the statement, “it takes more than nutrition and exercise to get perfect abs” is patently false.