With the New Year fast approaching, you can bet losing weight will be at the top of everyone's New Year resolutions list and health foods stores will be well stocked with weight loss pills in anticipation of the after holiday rush. But are people wasting their money on weight loss pills?
Good weight loss pills work to some degree, but not as significantly as some may think. When ephedra was introduced back in the early 90's, many considered it a miracle pill. I was one of them. The combination of ephedra along with aspirin and caffeine, burned fat like no other compound since.
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.
Is there anything else that works?
Ephedra was a one of a kind product and may never (save for possibly one) be duplicated for its fat burning power.
The most popular weight loss pills today are those containing Green tea and Hoodia. Green tea works through a process called thermogenesis (fat burning), while Hoodia is claimed to be an appetite suppressant. Both are said to be effective at shedding the fat, but nothing like 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 all the fuss 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 commonly referred to as Chinese skullcap and "Black catechu", which are derived from the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis and Heartwood of Acacia.
What does this compound 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.
An independent double blind clinical study was conducted by scientist at JSS Medical Research, Inc., in Montreal, Canada. Subjects ranged in age from 40-75, typically the age group that has the most difficult time losing weight. Participants were not given any advice on diet or physical activity.
On average each participant lost an astounding 7% of their bodyweight compared to zero pounds lost for the participants who were not given this natural compound.
Their results would likely have been much better if they combined an exercise program along with a sensible diet.
These compounds show a lot of promise and may very well hold the key to the obesity epidemic, especially for those who consume a lot of fructose in their diets. Always check with your physician before taking any weight loss supplement. - 15683
Good weight loss pills work to some degree, but not as significantly as some may think. When ephedra was introduced back in the early 90's, many considered it a miracle pill. I was one of them. The combination of ephedra along with aspirin and caffeine, burned fat like no other compound since.
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.
Is there anything else that works?
Ephedra was a one of a kind product and may never (save for possibly one) be duplicated for its fat burning power.
The most popular weight loss pills today are those containing Green tea and Hoodia. Green tea works through a process called thermogenesis (fat burning), while Hoodia is claimed to be an appetite suppressant. Both are said to be effective at shedding the fat, but nothing like 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 all the fuss 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 commonly referred to as Chinese skullcap and "Black catechu", which are derived from the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis and Heartwood of Acacia.
What does this compound 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.
An independent double blind clinical study was conducted by scientist at JSS Medical Research, Inc., in Montreal, Canada. Subjects ranged in age from 40-75, typically the age group that has the most difficult time losing weight. Participants were not given any advice on diet or physical activity.
On average each participant lost an astounding 7% of their bodyweight compared to zero pounds lost for the participants who were not given this natural compound.
Their results would likely have been much better if they combined an exercise program along with a sensible diet.
These compounds show a lot of promise and may very well hold the key to the obesity epidemic, especially for those who consume a lot of fructose in their diets. Always check with your physician before taking any weight loss supplement. - 15683
About the Author:
Author Deen Dragonovich has over 30 years in health and fitness and has researched fructose blockers along with weight loss supplements for several years. He also delivers valuable weight loss help regarding diet and exercise.
