Do diet pills and fat burners really work?

JustMissTracy wrote: »

Samarisa wrote: »

htimpaired wrote: »

Samarisa wrote: »

Some worked very well. They got banned. Anything natural/herbal that works in the future? They'll ban it. Then what will you do? Regain the weight, that's what.

You can speculate as to why these bans happen or not if you wish. It's just been my experience after decades of use; from ephedra to methylsynephrine.

If it works? It gets banned.

The issue of tolerance and health concerns also exists. But then again, being very overweight isn't healthy, either.

Clearly it's all part of a government conspiracy to keep people fat.

More like pharma lobbyists not wanting competition from anything they can't patent. You can believe that or not.

I do.

Either way: It works? It gets banned.

OR

It gets banned, because it's really not good for you.

Samarisa wrote: »

JustMissTracy wrote: »

Samarisa wrote: »

htimpaired wrote: »

Samarisa wrote: »

Some worked very well. They got banned. Anything natural/herbal that works in the future? They'll ban it. Then what will you do? Regain the weight, that's what.

You can speculate as to why these bans happen or not if you wish. It's just been my experience after decades of use; from ephedra to methylsynephrine.

If it works? It gets banned.

The issue of tolerance and health concerns also exists. But then again, being very overweight isn't healthy, either.

Clearly it's all part of a government conspiracy to keep people fat.

More like pharma lobbyists not wanting competition from anything they can't patent. You can believe that or not.

I do.

Either way: It works? It gets banned.

OR

It gets banned, because it's really not good for you.

Then why are NSAIDs legal? Why is pseudo-ephedrine legal when that is what they make meth out of?

CM_73 wrote: »

ugofatcat wrote: »

CM_73 wrote: »

witcherkar wrote: »

CM_73 wrote: »

witcherkar wrote: »

So i work for a health and wellness company. We have 3 products that used together help hou lose weight. One: suppresses appetite and gives you over 30 superfoods. Two: a carb and fat blocker. Three: a thermogenic metabolism booster making you burn double the calories. All natural ingredients. And yes it works. We have real people who have lost weight with it and as long as your not eating mcdonalds 3 times a day, it works. Ive used it. Wait, im still using it!!

That sounds very tempting! Can you quickly run through the mechanism by which these magic pills bind fat and carbohydrate to make them indigestible? And no need to go easy on the sciency bit, I'm an analytical chemist

Also, the ones that double calorie consumption - I'm no biologist, but I'm assuming the result would be massive amounts of heat? How does the body cope with that? Does RHR rise significantly? What are the effects on the heart?

If these things really did as claimed, has anyone ever survived taking all 3?

Yours in anticipation,

I am not a scientist or a doctor. Im a 21 year old girl who has seen the results on friends, family, and even strangers. Heres is the best i can get for you. And yes everyone has survived all three since i take all 3 too.

I shall start with the first one. The ItWorks Fat Fighters. Two tablets contain the following ingredients:


Chromium dinicotinate glycinate 150 mcg: This reduces blood sugar levels.
NeOpuntia (cactus leaf) 500 mg: This is actually the prickly pear cactus which somehow binds fat so we dont absorb it.
Proprietary blend of the following 510 mg
1. Garcinia cambogia fruit extract: This prevents carbs from turning into fat.
2. Green tea leaf extract: This has caffeine which is a stimulant.
3. Phaseolamin: This is the white Kidney Bean Extract. This inhibits a carb digesting enzyme. So it blocks the carbs from being digested. It also reduces appetite by lower ghrelin hormones (the ones that tell you to eat).Also lowers blood sugar and insulin levels.
5. Bitter melon fruit: This inhibits primary human adipocyte differentiation by modulating adipogenic genes, which increases fat burning.
6. Banaba leaf extract: This lowers blood sugar and blocks carbs
7. Gymnema sylvestre leaf extract: This also lowers blood sugar
8. Wheat amalyase inhibitor: amalyase is an enzyme that helps us absorb carbs. So an inhibitor would make us not.
9. Vanadium: Also reduces blood sugar

The 2nd one is the thermofit.
Ingredients:
1. B12- Boost Energy
2. Chromium- Already talked about
3. Capsaicin- This comes from hot peppers. It reduces appetite and speeds up fat burning.
4. Capsimax- This is a type of Capsaicin which causes sensations of heat and burning because it promotes the release of substance P.
5. Raspberry Keytones- doubled with Capsimax makes it stronger.
6. Acai Fruit Extract- superfood that lowers blood sugar
7. Green tea extract- already talked about
8. Bitter melon- already talked about
9. Dandelion root- direuretic
10. Gymnema Leaf Extract- already talked about
11. Niacin- increases body temp

Cool, thanks for that. As I say, I'm no biologist, or even a biological chemist, so I have no idea what the effect of a lot of these extracts are.
There are certainly some compounds that may help to do as claimed, but the effects (to my limited knowledge) are going to be minimal and unlikely to be statistically significant.
Caffeine, obviously, is the one that leaps out as being helpful but the amount of caffeine in a percentage of 500mg of extract will obviously depend a lot on the extraction technique and the ratio to other compounds present.
CDG is another I'm familiar with, but I'm not aware of any research that conclusively demonstrates its effectiveness?
They appear to be extracts containing some ingredients that may help, some that are controversial, and others based on popular belief.

On a different note, I'm really glad they work for you. Personally, I wouldn't spend my money on them, but if you believe in them, and they help you stay in a calorific deficit as a result of this, then they're clearly worth it to you.

Does the company produce any peer reviewed scientific studies into the effectiveness of these tablets?

CM_73 you are officially my favorite person on these forums now.

I have heard that the fat pills/detox pills/cleanse pills are very good at shrinking the size of your wallet, by the way.

Aw, shucks, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me!

I do feel a bit bad for bashing the poster over the claims, it's not her fault, but I do get really irritated by the companies touting these products. To my mind they're no better than the phone & Microsoft scammers, just preying on peoples vulnerabilities and blatantly making false, or deceptive, claims.

I guess there is a place for these things, if someone believes that it gives them the drive to get to the gym, or to keep on logging calories when they're otherwise flagging then I'm in no place to knock that.
But, what happens long term? what happens if the company goes bust or you can no longer get the pills? At some point they're going to have to see the light to maintain a healthy weight in my opinion.

The problem, for me, is the claims associated with these ones. The oil in water demo is just insulting and as for doubling calorie burns...

If they'd stated that they may help weight loss as part of a calorie controlled diet, or similar, then fine, each to their own but that's just ridiculous.