You’ve heard of fat-burning supplements, right? They are advertised as weight loss pills that can melt belly fat like ice cream on a hot summer day. Sorry to disappoint you, but even the best fat burners don’t work like that.
However, it doesn’t mean that fat burners are no longer effective. It only means that there are other things you can do to lose weight effectively and permanently that will be discussed later on.
As part of your weight loss journey plan, a fat burner supplement can play a role. Hence, use this guide to know how fat burners work, their ingredients, and their benefits to help you lose weight effectively.
Table of Contents
How Do Fat Burning Pills Work?
Before we go to the mechanism of action of fat burner supplements, let’s briefly introduce what fat burner pills are.
Fat burner supplements are dietary supplements that contain natural or artificial compounds. They are claimed to be weight loss supplements that are effective for fat burn and promote weight loss.
The ingredients used in fat burners are the ones that work to stimulate body fat reduction and get rid of excess fat by using it as a fuel source.
Many fat burners are also believed to improve fat oxidation when combined with a regular exercise program. When it comes to their mechanism, fat burners work by elevating blood pressure while increasing the overall energy expenditure. You should be careful if you have high blood pressure because taking this dietary supplement can lead to hypertension.
As shown in HealthCanal’s article, these weight loss supplements don’t make your fat cells instantly disappear. Instead, they help lose belly fat and excess weight in other ways, such as: increasing the body metabolism, reducing the amount of fat absorption, and decreasing appetite.
The fat-burning effect of most fat burners depends on their ingredients. Because they are not FDA-regulated, you can’t be sure of all the ingredients are effective for losing weight, but below are the common fat-burning ingredients.
Fat Burning Pills Ingredients
Popular weight loss supplements contain herbal ingredients and other compounds, but some of the most common ingredients are:
Green tea extract
Natural fat burners contain green tea extracts. This ingredient helps burns calories and helps lose fat by reducing the number of fatty acids you get from food. To help achieve weight loss, you have to include a healthy diet and exercise, as mentioned in several research.
Caffeine
Caffeine helps in calorie burn by stimulating the nervous system. These dietary supplements may contain more caffeine than tea, coffee, and other sources. Watch out for your caffeine intake, as it can cause nervousness, insomnia, and palpitations.
Yohimbe
This plant compound has been in many weight loss supplements because of its ability to lose weight. The fat-burning benefits of this compound haven’t been proven yet, so there’s a possibility that it can be dangerous, causing anxiety, agitation, and headache.
Carnitine
This compound helps in burning fat by improving the fat metabolism of the body and increasing energy expenditure. However, the research on its weight management is mixed.
Most of these natural ingredients are found in thermogenic fat burners, which can enhance our body to burn fat. Aside from these, there are other ingredients of fat burner supplements:
- Soluble fiber
- Conjugated linoleic acid
- Fucoxanthin
- Kelp
- Capsicum
Fat Burners Benefits
Here are the benefits of fat burners when losing body weight or for weight maintenance:
Accelerate metabolic rate
It increases the proportion of metabolism while enhancing the number of burn calories burned by the body naturally.
Energy Boost
This supplement helps energize the body, which facilitates the performance of hard workouts. It also prevents carbohydrate inactivity in the diet.
Suppress appetite
For sustainable weight loss, one must know the value of healthy eating, which is one of the common problems faced by people who want to lose weight due to an open appetite. Fat burners can help you decrease appetite and feel full for more extended periods.
What Side Effects May You Experience?
Here are the common fat burner side effects:
Lack of sleep
Stimulants found in fat burners can affect your sleeping pattern and increase heart rate, leading to sleep deprivation.
Increase blood pressure
As a result of sped-up metabolism, it can lead to your heart pumping faster than normal, raising your blood pressure.
Behavior changes
Consumers of fat burner powder have gone through behavioral changes, including mood swings, irritability, aggressiveness, and nervousness.
Because of these side effects, many people might ask, are fat burners safe? Well, to answer this, as long as you approach your overall nutrition, such as healthy eating and regular exercise, fat burners can be a safe way to improve your weight loss results.
In addition, here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Watch out for calorie intake: It does not mean you have to cut down on calories totally; just eat food that has fewer calories for effective fat loss.
- Be careful with stimulants: Since fat burners contain caffeine, which is known as a stimulant, limit your intake of caffeine-rich food or beverages, such as chocolate, coffee, and tea.
- Eat enough lean protein: Taking enough protein can maintain lean muscle mass. Aside from the food you eat, you can also get it from protein powder.
- Take them at strategic times: The best time to take fat burners is 30 minutes before your breakfast or workout.
Conclusion
Diet pills or fat burners are not miracle pills that can instantly burn excess fat. For effective weight loss and preventing weight gain, you have to incorporate regular exercise with a low-fat diet to get the best result when using any weight loss supplement.
Moreover, don’t forget to talk to your physician or pharmacist when trying fat burners. They can contain ingredients that can trigger your condition or interact with your medication.