FucoThin: Can It Help One Lose Weight?

FucoThin has been on the market for some years and people who sell this health supplement claim that it can help one reduce weight. The chief ingredient found in FucoThin is a chemical called fucoxanthin, a substance found in nature in several species of seaweed. The FucoThin manufacturers assert that the product enhances metabolism of proteins and carbohydrates and rapidly burns fat. The people who sell the product claim that the thermogenic effects have been shown to occur in animals that developed weight loss after being on a diet of FucoThin. However, in the scientific literature no such studies exist.

As far as humans are concerned, there have been no studies and only anecdotal reports exist about FucoThin. Moreover, there are many reports on cyberspace that FucoThin does not work in all individuals and the weight loss is modest at best. The few people who have lost weight say there is only a weight loss of a few pounds which was regained as soon as the diet was stopped. Finally it is not even known whether FucoThin is safe to ingest for a long time as there are no studies.

For those individuals who would like to lose weight, FucoThin is just another hyped up product without any clinical data to back up what the manufacturers’ claims. For individuals interested in losing weight, the core ingredients include a healthy diet and exercise. Cyberspace is full of seductive weight loss products which generally only thin your pockets and FucoThin is one of them.

Bitter orange for weight loss?

Many people seem to be buying bitter orange in bulk in the hope that it can help with weight loss. Bitter orange (citrus aurantium) has been more in the news ever since ephedra was taken off the market for health concerns.

People who take bitter orange claim that is it a great alternative to ephedra and works well for weight loss; however, there is no clear evidence that it does in fact reduce weight.

Recent studies indicate that while bitter orange may work in a few individuals it is also associated with similar side effects like ephedra. Extracts of the bitter orange plant have revealed two potent chemicals called synephrine and octopamine. Both these compounds are very similar in their activity to ephedrine in ephedra.

Experts claim that excess ingestion of these substances can increase blood pressure, alter heart rate and rhythm and can even induce heart attacks, strokes and even sudden death.

More over bitter orange can also interfere with many pharmaceutical drugs leading to adverse side effects.

The problem with bitter orange is that it is listed as a health food supplement and does not undergo the rigorous testing that is required of pharmaceutical drugs. Further, many potent and toxic substances found in the product are not even listed on the label. For this reason, many people who take bitter orange are prone to develop side effects and dangerous complications. Individuals who have heart disease, high blood pressure or problems with their heart rate should avoid bitter orange. While some individuals may lose weight with bitter orange this is not a universal finding. The best and surest way to lose weight is to eat less and walk more. This may not sound too appealing but it definitely works and is a lot cheaper than any health supplement.

Best appetite suppressant?

The majority of people want to lose weight and look trim and slim. However, unfortunately many of us only seek the easy way out – we all want to use a drug(s) or health supplement(s) that works on their own and induce weight loss without too much hassles. Not only that, we want the results fast!

The one health supplement that has been hyped up to be the best appetite suppressant is hydroxycitric acid (HCA). It is a substance found in the rind of the fruit tree, garcinia Cambogia, a tree which is native to many parts of SE Asia. In parts of Asia, Garcinia has been used for centuries as a flavoring agent and food preservative. People who use extracts of this plant in cooking claim that it makes one feel full and avoids over eating. These anecdotal reports did not go unnoticed by the weight loss industry and soon, extracts of Garcinia were available in every health food store by the 1980s.

The manufacturers of hydroxycut base their evidence on experiments done on rats in the 1970s. In these experiments when rats were given massive amount of hydroxycut, they ate less and lost weight. Well, since then hydroxycut has been marketed as HCA, Citrimax, Super Citrimax, citrin and super garcinia as a weight loss agent for humans.

So does hydroxycut work?

Experts claim that hydroxycut is an intermediate in the metabolism pathways. When you eat excess carbohydrates, they get converted into fat. This fat then starts to add up on your buttocks and waist line. Hydroxy citric acid somehow stops the enzyme what coverts carbohydrate into fat- so you do not get fat deposits even if you eat a lot of carbohydrates.  All this sounds great but does it work? Experts in nutrition claim that this is not the only pathway for the body to make fat; there are many other pathways which are not affected by hydroxycitric acid and thus, most people do not see weight loss.

Are there are any reports

Unfortunately, the vendors of HCA have never conduced trials to determine if their products work in humans. All the anecdotal reports claim that it is junk. There are countless blogs on cyberspace and the majority of people who have bought this supplement feel cheated. In fact, the FDA has recently sent a warning to all these manufacturers to stop marketing HCA as a weight loss supplement. Of great interest to all consumers is that HCA has been shown to cause liver damage, seizures and heart problems—something which the manufactures never mentioned.

In two small trials, some individuals did lose 2 pounds over 12 weeks but the weight loss was not sustained. Further, one should remember, rats were given massive doses of HCA and now with the data clear on toxicity of the supplement, I am not sure if many consumers would be so interested in ingesting mega doses of HCA.

Finally HCA is not an inexpensive product. Depending on where you buy and from whom the cost can vary from $40-$60 for a month’s supply and most of these vendors sucker you into buying 3-6 months’ supply at a discounted rate.

So what should the consumer who wants to lose weight do?

For the moment, there is no magic weight loss pill. If you really want to lose weight, start an exercise program or start to walk, and eat less. This method is slow, safe, cheap and gets you the results if you remain motivated.