Fat Burners: The Unadulterated Truth
by Tom Venuto,
NSCA-CPT, CSCS
www.BurnTheFat.com
Fat burner supplements are advertised everywhere
these days - on the internet, in magazines and
even on TV. The ads almost always feature a
very lean fitness model or bodybuilder and claim
that these products, usually pills, were the
secret to their six pack abs and very low body
fat levels. Some of these ads suggest that the
only way to get as lean as the "hot bodies"
you see in the ads is by taking their "miracle
pills" and that proper nutrition and exercise
alone is not enough.
While I won't dismiss the fact that there are
ingredients in some fat "burner" products
that might help a little bit, I take great displeasure
in seeing misleading advertising claims as well
as the misleading use of models who are often
paid to endorse the product even though they
may never have even used it (they're just models!)
Many “fat burner” companies have
been sued by the Federal Trade Commission for
false advertising, false claims and falsifying
before and after photos.
The best you get is a slight thermogenic effect
and possibly some slight appetite suppression.
A few products might work through other mechanisms
like improving thyroid, but if you forgive me
the generalization, I consider the effects of
all these “fat burner” products
to be minutia.
In one of my previous newsletters, I said that
in my opinion, 97% of your results come from
nutrition and training and maybe you get an
extra 3% advantage from supplements. Just so
you know those numbers arent something I just
pulled out of thin air, lets take an example:
I have reviewed scientific data that EGCG,
the active ingredient in green tea extract,
if consumed in enough quantity, could increase
thermogenesis / metabolic rate by an average
of about 75 calories in 24 hours. Since ephedrine
was taken off the market, green tea extract
appears in many ephedra-free formulas these
days. What is a typical calorie expenditure
for an active male in 24 hours? lets say 2700
calories per day. 75/2700 = 2.7%.
That little extra doesnt hurt, especially when
it's delivered in a healthful package such as
green tea (rather than central nervous system
stimulants), but it's minutia in the bigger
picture. Another way to put this into perspective
is to make a list of what other things would
burn 75 calories (for 150 lb person:)
walk your dog for 15 minutes
walk for 5 minutes at normal casual pace three
times a day
30 minutes of ironing
bagging leaves and grass clippings for 14 minutes
re arrange your furniture for 10 minutes
wash your car, 15 minutes
vacuuming for 15 minutes
7.2 minutes of walking up stairs (could be spread
throughout the day)
Ah yes, but why move your body when you can
take the pill and metabolism increases while
you sit and watch TV? How about for your health?
A body that is not moved, rots away. Unlike
a car which only has so many miles on it and
wears out from over-use, people are the only
“machines” on earth that fall apart
from under-use.
Here’s what any good personal trainer
will always tell you: No amount of calorie restriction
or pill-popping will ever give you FITNESS.
It willl never give you STRENGTH. it will never
get you MUSCULARITY. It will never give you
FUNCTIONALITY. At best it will help you reduce
body mass slightly.
On one hand, I’m tempted to say that
everything counts and that yes, 75 calories
here and 75 calories there, it ALL adds up,
because it does. After you’re exercising
regularly and all your fundamentals are in place,
details and little things do matter.
I’m simply asking you to put the benefits
of any fat burners in proper perspective and
realize that (1) there is no “need”
for taking them and (2) the claims made in the
ads are often erroneous or exagerrated.
My advice on fat burners:
1. NEVER buy a fat burner unless you get independent
verification of the claims made for the product.
How do you KNOW they really work? Are you SERIOUSLY
going to take the advertisers word for it? Are
you SERIOUSLY going to take someone else’s
testimonial as fact? Get verification for yourself
by going to the pub med data base and looking
for the primary research.
2. Put it in perspective
With those products that work, such as those
providing a small thermogenic effect, put that
in perspective as compared to how easily you
could burn that many calories with even light
exercise like walking or housework. Keep in
mind the additional fitness and strength benefits
you will obtain from exercise as opposed to
doing nothing and popping a pill.
3. See if there are any side effects or health
warnings.
With all supplements and especially with prohormones
or stronger thermogenics like the ephedrine
and caffeine stack, (if you still have access
to them), understand the risk to benefit ratio,
and be certain you know the dangers and contraindications.
4. Read the label and see if the product contains
enough active ingredient to even work.
A classic scam is when a “fat burner”
advertisement quotes research that a certain
inredient boosts metabolism, which might be
true. What they may not tell you is that all
the research with positive results used a large
dosage of the ingredient, which might not be
cheap. So the supplement company includes a
“pinch” or “light dusting”
of that ingredient just so they can say it’s
in the bottle, even though it's nothing more
than “label decoration.” Then they
have the audacity to invoke the research studies
in their advertisements when the amount of the
ingredient in their product is no where near
what was used in the research!
5. Proprietary blend scam.
Some companies don't let you see how much ingredient
is in the product formula, because it contains
multiple ingredients and they say their formula
is a “trade secret” aka “proprietary”,
so they list what is in the product but not
how much. Well, if you don’t know how
much is in there then how are you supposed to
know whether it contains the proper dosage?
(answer: you don't!)
6. Make sure there is human research, not just
rodent research.
In many cases, advertisements cite studies
on rats and mice as “proof” under
the assumption that the product will produce
the same results in humans. Animal research
is an important part of the scientific method,
as it is often used to help find areas of research
where human study should be pursued, or in the
other direction, to trace back the mechanism
that makes something work. However, for obesity
research in particular, a positive finding in
rats does not mean the same thing will happen
in humans.
7. Look for more than one human study.
Consider trying a supplement after it has human
research that has been replicated by different
research groups which are not industry-sponsored.
My policy is that I will usually only give a
“buy” rating to a supplement when
a product has an intitial well-designed human
controlled trial published and then similar
research has been replicated by another research
group that is not supplement-industry funded.
Actually, I think it’s a good thing that
nutrition and supplement companies fund and
sponsor some of the research. They should. They
should not only back up their claims with published
clinical trials, they should share some of the
cost of this expensive research.
However, a basic principle of the scientific
method is replication. Other researchers should
be able to duplicate the findings. Therefore,
while the funding source does not necessarily
prove bias, if there is only one study available
on a supplement and it is company or industry
sponsored, I usually take it with a grain of
salt and put an asterisk next to it while I
wait for confirmation from another study. (You
might be surprised at how infrequently this
type of confirmation occurs).
Do you really need “more” than nutrition
and exercise?
Now, when you weigh the fact that even the
products with research backing them only help
a little, with the fact that many of the ads
lie to you about research, exagerrate claims
and hide vital information about ingredients,
and with the fact that you can do a few more
minutes of exercise per day and get the same
results for free, how enthusiastic are you about
fat burners? Yeah, that’s why I’m
not real excited about them either and based
on the fact that I use no drugs and no “fat
burner” supplements and I compete in bodybuilding
- very successfully - I’d say that the
assertion, “it takes more than nutrition
and exercise to get six pack abs” is patently
false.
Train hard and expect success,
Tom Venuto
www.burnthefat.com
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About the Author:
Tom Venuto
is a natural bodybuilder, certified personal
trainer and freelance fitness writer. Tom is
the author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,”
which teaches you how to get lean without drugs
or supplements using secrets of the world's
best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn
how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase
your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com
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