Yes, I am sorry, the title is a little bit of click bait. When I think about this I feel it should be common knowledge, you cant just hang all your hopes on a magic pill! Whether you’re looking to lose weight or maximise performance, you’ve still got to do the work yourself. This may be taking things to extremes, but, athletes who take performance enhancing drugs still train UNBELIEVABLY HARD. They don’t just take this pill and become world beaters. Sure, they may be able to to recover better etc but they’ve still got to do the work. Before I get side tracked and lost, the same applies for weight loss. You may be looking for those summer gains and searching for a quick fix. Unfortunately, that magic weight loss pill may not exist.
Proposed Mechanisms of Weight Loss Supplements
There are a number of weight loss supplements and they all promote varying reasons for hope and why they promote fat loss. I think my favorite is “Detox Tea”, does spending all day on the loo count as a sensible method of weight loss? Again, I digress. Rather than dig in to each supplement I am going to highlight the main mechanisms behind weight loss supplements.
- The prevention of carbohydrates and fats from being absorbed.
- Increases thermogenesis (increased heat production), essentially energy production, so burning more energy.
- Changes to metabolism.
- Suppressing appetite and/or giving a sense of fullness.
What The Research Is Saying
Unfortunately, not much positive! There appears to be no strong evidence that any supplement will produce significant weight loss on its own. On a note, “significant” generally refers to >2kg. Furthermore, many decreases to weight are only short term, potentially linked to water weight. While many products may well help provide a healthy and balanced diet, they will not individually make a difference. Supplements that contain metabolic stimulants can also lead to other side effects, which is never ideal!
At NK Fitness we promote a balance of lifestyle and a commitment to hard work. As leading Personal Trainers in Berkshire, we will not take any short cuts with your training. If you want to lose fat follow these steps.
- Train more
- Adjust your nutrition
- Forget about that magic pill
- Give us a call and arrange a session!