Do Weight Loss Pills Really Work?
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?
Weight loss pills do work, but not to the degree most people think. Back in the early 1990’s when ephedra was first introduced, it was touted as a miracle weight loss supplement and to some, including myself it was. When you combined ephedra with caffeine and aspirin, this “stack” burned fat like butter on a hot stove.
Unfortunately along with its fat burning power, there was a long list of side effects as well. Many could not handle the powerful stimulant affects of this compound and it was blamed for many deaths. Whether or not this was true, the writing was on the wall and ephedra was banned in the United States and is no longer available.
Is there anything else that works?
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 one promising compound that seems to block fructose from converting to adipose tissue.
Why the concern 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 promising natural 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”.
What does this new substance do?
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.
A double blind clinical study was conducted by scientists at JSS Medical Research, Inc., in Montreal, Canada. Participants were between the ages of 40 and 75. This age group normally has the most difficult time losing weight. None of the subjects were given any physical activity or dietary advice.
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.
One can only imagine their results if they combined a sensible diet plan with a regular exercise program.
Although these compounds show a lot of promise (especially if you are addicted to sweets) and may very well hold the key to the obesity epidemic, it should not replace a healthy diet and sensible exercise program.
