Fat-Burning Supplements: How They Aid Weight Loss and Athletic Performance
Why Some People Have Trouble Losing Weight
It’s well established that some people gain weight more easily than others and have a more difficult time losing excess weight. Animal research and human twin studies reveal that genetic factors can play a role in the susceptibility to weight gain problems. However, in the past decade, a number of intervention trials with overweight subjects have revealed that three naturally occurring nutrients, when taken at optimal doses, can facilitate weight loss, even in subjects with genetic predisposition to weight problems.
In conjunction with the right lifestyle modifications, they can also help to speed up metabolism, enabling your body to burn more calories while at rest. The best news is that these three fat-burning nutrients are completely safe and produce no undesirable side effects at recommended levels of intake. The fat-burning trio of metabolic conditioners include:
- Hydroxycitric acid ( from the Garcinia Cambogia fruit )
- Catechins (from decaffeinated green tea)
Chromium: Blocking The Conversion of Carbohydrate To Fat
One of the most frustrating aspects of being overweight is the your body becomes more inclined to convert the carbohydrate calories that you eat, into fat; and then stores that fat in your fat cells. Thus, the fatter we become the easier it is to gain even more weight.This is where the insulin-chromium connection comes into play. Let’s discuss the role of insulin first.
As a person gains body fat, the cells of their body become less sensitive to the hormone, insulin. As a result, the pancreas must secrete higher and higher levels of insulin in order to overcome this widespread insulin resistance. Insulin is needed to help regulate blood sugar. However, high levels of insulin encourage the liver to convert carbohydrates into fat, following a meal or snack containing carbohydrate foods. In turn, these fats are shipped to your fat cells, contributing to weight gain and increased body fat.
So it really becomes a Catch-22 situation for an overweight person. Even a low-fat diet alone doesn’t get results because your body is conditioned to convert carbohydrates into fat, due to high levels of circulating insulin.
How Chromium Can Help: A great deal of research has shown that insulin requires the presence of the mineral chromium in order to maximize its effect on body tissue. Studies demonstrate that when overweight subjects are supplemented with 200-400 mg of chromium they secrete significantly less insulin. This is because chromium enhances insulin’s action on body tissues, an effect known as increasing insulin sensitivity. Unfortunately, our daily intake of chromium from food is only 25-50 micrograms. Studies suggest that to optimize insulin sensitivity, levels of 200-400 mcg of chromium per day may be required in person’s that our overweight. Only through supplementation is it possible to ensure chromium intake in this range.
It should also be noted that endurance exercise helps to increase insulin sensitivity and lower circulating levels of insulin. Thus, regular exercise and chromium supplementation are a powerful combination in body fat reduction.
Chromium Elevates Metabolism: Chromium and exercise can also increase your metabolism, speeding up the rate at which your body burns calories at rest. By enhancing the action of insulin, chromium helps to increase the delivery of protein (amino acids) to your muscles. If you exercise regularly, this protein gets laid down inside the muscle as newly formed protein contractile bands ( myofilaments ), which increases muscle tone, definition and lean mass. As your lean mass increases, your body simply burns more calories to keep your lean mass alive from moment to moment. The result is your metabolism speeds up, allowing you to eat more calories each day without gaining body fat.
Together, regular exercise and chromium supplementation help block the conversion of carbohydrates into fat and facilitate an increase in lean mass, tone, definition and metabolism Studies using chromium supplementation have confirmed its effects on body fat reduction and increases in lean mass in weight loss patients and athletes.
Hydroxycitric Acid (HCA): The Natural Appetite Suppressant With No Side Effects
Another effective metabolic conditioner that aids in weight loss is Hydroxycitric Acid, a naturally-occurring appetite suppressant that is found in the rind of the garcinia cambogia fruit.
Traditionally, its use has been as a food additive and condiment in many dishes native to the countries in which it grows (i.e., Southeast Asia)
Toxicity studies have shown that hydroxycitric acid is an extremely safe dietary supplement, with no reported toxicity at recommended intake levels.
Studies on human subjects have demonstrated remarkable weight loss results at doses of 750 mg to 1500 mg.
How Hydroxycitric Acid Works: The available research indicates that hydroxycitric acid inhibits the key enzymes that convert carbohydrates into fat. As a result, the liver shunts carbohydrates to its carbohydrate fuel tank. As the carbohydrate fuel tank fills up, nerve signals travel from the liver to the brain that stimulate appetite suppression. Simply stated HCA supplementation helps you regulate food intake, allowing you to feel full and content in accordance with your true calorie needs.This reduces your tendency to over eat. So it’s really a double benefit:
- HCA Blocks the conversion of carbohydrate into fat.
- HCA indirectly triggers nerve signals that suppress appetite, thereby reducing the tendency to overeat.
Best of all, appetite suppression occurs in a natural way ( as opposed to the use of stimulant drugs or ephedra — which are known to have life-threatening and other serious side effects ). Studies in subjects taking 750 mg of hydroxycitric acid have revealed a weight loss of almost 20 lbs. in just 8 weeks, in patients who had reached a weight loss plateau on a prior two-month diet plan. Experimental research indicates that hydroxycitric acid has a high degree of efficacy in blocking the conversion of carbohydrate into fat and in safely suppressing appetite, and thus is a natural choice for those who wish to burn fat and lose weight safely. For athletes, HCA helps to increase liver carbohydrate stores ( glycogen ), which is a critical factor in many endurance sports.
How Catechins(from decaffeinated green tea extract) Work:
- Proven to produce over 5 pounds of weight loss over 12 weeks in human subjects who did not change their diet or activity patterns (See clinical study reference #1, below)
- Studies suggest that catechins (from green tea) increase thermogenesis, which means they encourage the body's brown fat to burn more calories at rest
- Other studies suggest that catechins (from green tea) help to release fat into the bloodstream, enabling our muscles to more easily burn fat during activity and exercise (See clinical study reference #2, below
Fat Burning Trio
My recommendation is to use a combination of the effective doses and standardized grades of Chromium, Hydroxycitric Acid and Catechins (from decaffeinated green tea), as formulated into a single product (e.g.,Adeeva Body Burn). These ingredients have demonstrated a proven ability to help individuals achieve their weight loss and athletic goals.
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