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?
Most reputable companies put out decent products that work to some degree, but not to the extent most people think they do. In the early 90′s ephedra hit the market with a lot of fanfare. It promised to burn fat like no other compound. And for the most part, it lived up to that promise.
Unfortunately along with its fat burning strength, ephedra also made your heart race uncontrollably and was blamed for a few deaths as well. Needless to say ephedra has been banned by the FDA and is no longer available in stores.
Are there any other products that work?
Since ephedra was taken off the market, there really hasn’t been anything that rivals its weight loss power (save for possibly one).
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 promising natural substance that takes a different approach to weight loss by preventing fructose from converting to fat.
What’s the big deal 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.”
Over the last thirty years manufacturers have been replacing sugar with high fructose corn syrup because of its cheap production costs. More and more products on supermarket shelves have high fructose corn syrups as an ingredient.
What is this new compound?
This all natural compound is derived from the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis and Heartwood of Acacia. There more common names are Chineses skullcap and “Black catechu”.
How does it work?
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.
Subjects between the ages of 40 and 75 participated in an independent double blind scientific study conducted by scientists at JSS Medical Research, Inc., in Montreal, Canada. None of the participants were given any advice on dieting or exercise and typically this age group has the most difficult time at losing weight.
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.
Combined with a proper diet and exercise program, one can only imagine what the results might have been.
If weight loss is your goal, these natural compounds show a lot of promise. However, do not expect miracles. A sensible diet and exercise program is always the best way to keep the weight off.
