Weight Loss Supplements?

Are there any "good" supplements on the market for weight loss? I've heard about Hydroxycut, ripped fuel, etc. Do any actually work and are they good (safe) to use?

No, and no. 

Don't be tricked.  They don't work, and they're not healthy.  The only thing that works is diet and exercise.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something, lying, or in denial.

Those products are so bad for your body...run the other direction!!  It hopes to aspire up to "junk"!

If you want to take anything, take fish oil (animal) and flax seed (plant) - get a combo with a product called Udo's Oil.  Do a search online on omega-3's and you'll see this is good for most people, but check with your doctor first.  Diabetics sometimes have problem with omega-3 oils.

Save the money and take your girlfriend out with what you'd spend on one of these bottles.

Original Post by jesse_k:

No, and no.

Don't be tricked. They don't work, and they're not healthy. The only thing that works is diet and exercise. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something, lying, or in denial.

 I think that there are many weight loss product on the market which are just a fake and doesn't help at all. And some of them also have very bad side effects. Therefore a good research is absolutely necessary. Unfortunately I haven't heard of hydroxycut yet. What kind of diet pill is it? I thought about trying kioslim. Have you ever heard of it? 

Currently Ripped Fuel it basically a caffeine pill, the formula was changed back around 2003 after a baseball player (for, I believe, the Padres) died from taking it and the FDA banned the active ingredient (ephedra or ephedrine, I'm not sure).

In general, weight loss pills are either worthless, or very dangerous and do little to help in weight loss.  You're much better off spending that money on a gym membership and healthy food.

I don't encourage anyone to take weight loss supplements, but most people sound like a broken record on here about supplements are terrible, they are only good for short terms weight loss, yada yada. Fact is, we've all been there, we've all tried em. Yea, theres no magic pill, but sometimes taking a supplement will give you the needed motivation even if its just knowing you spent a lot of money on a product for it to NOT work. Any supplements you take.. follow directions, take correct dose, and exercise. It won't happen on its own. I took NV over the summer, this is a women's supplement, and even if it wasn't the pill itself, it gave me the mindset to stay on track, and with diet and exercise i lost 20 lbs. I've also seen some great results with the new Lipo 6x. I'm sure I'm gonna get my head bitten off for this one, because we stress doing this the natural way, but I think its only fair to answer your question. I mean this is what these boards are for right.. sharing information.. sharing opinions in a place we fee safe to bring these issues to the table.

If you're looking for a supplement to add to your workout... I would recommend Muscle Milk Light. This is a protein powder. Lower in cals then the original muscle milk, and packed of protein, so it feeds your muscle, cuts cravings, great post workout snack. Should not be used as a meal replacement.

Hope this helps.

Original Post by mlilly1186:

I don't encourage anyone to take weight loss supplements, but most people sound like a broken record on here about supplements are terrible, they are only good for short terms weight loss, yada yada. Fact is, we've all been there, we've all tried em. Yea, theres no magic pill, but sometimes taking a supplement will give you the needed motivation even if its just knowing you spent a lot of money on a product for it to NOT work. Any supplements you take.. follow directions, take correct dose, and exercise. It won't happen on its own. I took NV over the summer, this is a women's supplement, and even if it wasn't the pill itself, it gave me the mindset to stay on track, and with diet and exercise i lost 20 lbs. I've also seen some great results with the new Lipo 6x. I'm sure I'm gonna get my head bitten off for this one, because we stress doing this the natural way, but I think its only fair to answer your question. I mean this is what these boards are for right.. sharing information.. sharing opinions in a place we fee safe to bring these issues to the table.

If you're looking for a supplement to add to your workout... I would recommend Muscle Milk Light. This is a protein powder. Lower in cals then the original muscle milk, and packed of protein, so it feeds your muscle, cuts cravings, great post workout snack. Should not be used as a meal replacement.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your statement. Of course exercising is very important. And changing myeating habits too. That is what I really want but in order to lose weight a little faster to get have some more motivation I thought about kioslim. Anyways I think I am going to try it. But I am going to go to a doctor from time to time to make sure that the pills are okay. 

hate to be a cow here.....................but no doctor is going to advocate weight loss pills like that because if they really could attack weight loss like im sure the ad promises to then dont you think he would have it on his prescription pad in front of him to knock out obesity................like i hate being blunt about this ok but most of the ppl iv met here on c-c are really great hardworking ppl, honest sometimes sucessful and sometimes not AS sucessful but every tool you need for weight loss is already in your own body supplemented by this site. iv seen you post on another site about pills. i would imagine that your extra weight did not jump on over night and so to expect it to move without some persuading is foolish. there is only one way to lose weight eat less do more the same as no pill makes you gain weight (it might affect your appetite but it doesn magic up calories)...........not having time is not an option-get up earlier. there's no half ass way so buy your kioslim if you want i would suggest its a very big waste a cash

I just started taking fish oil. I also started taking 1 a day "weight smart(?)" or something. I know the 1 a days are supposed ot be good with vitamins and all but I am not sure what the weight part of it is. This wouldn't constitute an "evil wight pill" would it?

nah i dont think so............................ i actually read a REALLY INTERESTING study while in college the other day.................................okay here goes a bigggg paste!!!

Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that daily doses of oil containing omega-3 fatty acids, combined with moderate exercise like walking for 45 minutes, can result in significant weight loss.

But taking the oil without exercise, or exercising without taking the oil, does not result in any weight loss, according to researchers from the University of South Australia.

"When we divided up a number of people in our research program, we found that those taking fish oil combined with exercise lost significantly more fat mass than any other group in the study," says study co-author, Professor Peter Howe.

The researchers examined the effects of effects of fish oil and exercise, alone and together, on fat mass, lean mass, and cardiovascular health in 75 overweight adults (age range 25-65).

They were divided into four groups — a group taking fish oil and exercise, another taking just fish oil, a third group taking sunflower oil without exercise and a fourth being asked to combine sunflower oil and exercise.

The group using fish oil took 6 grams of fish oil per day. The supplement provided 260 milligrams of DHA and 60 milligrams of EPA in each 1-gram capsule, for a total of 1.9 grams of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids per day.

Body composition was assessed at the start and end of the study with the use of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), a fairly sophisticated method to measure body fat.

The clear winners in the study were those in the group who were given fish oil and who walked or ran for 45 minutes three times a week.

Exercising subjects who used fish oil lost around 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of fat. The group that took the sunflower oil (which does not contain omega-3 fatty acids) but who exercised lost a very small amount of weight. The two groups that did no exercise (including those on fish oil) also lost no weight. You can see the results more clearly in the figure below.



Subjects taking part in the study were instructed to maintain their normal diet during the study. They completed a 3-day weighed food record on two weekdays and 1 weekend day before attending the clinic at each of three time points. Daily calorie intake in each of the four groups is shown in the table below.

  FO FOX SO SOX Week 0 2125 2326 2520 2373 Week 6 2071 2194 2467 2556 Week 12 2232 2438 2229 2459

FO, fish oil; FOX, fish oil and exercise; SO, sunflower oil; SOX, sunflower oil and exercise

This brings us to the main problem with the study, that of self-reported food intake, which is a notoriously inaccurate way to measure calorie intake. In other words, this was not a study where the diet was tightly controlled by the researchers. And it shows in the results. Subjects using sunflower oil without exercise, for example, actually gained weight, despite the fact their daily calorie intake supposedly dropped from 2520 calories in week 0 to 2229 calories in week 12.

So, how does fish oil work?

One theory put forward by the researchers is that fish oil increases the elasticity of blood vessel walls and improves the flow of blood to muscles during exercise. This increased blood flow, in theory at least, could accelerate fat loss via an increase in the delivery of lipolytic stimuli to fat cells.

Although it's an interesting idea, I'm not sure that an increase in blood flow would be sufficient to account for all of the extra weight loss seen in the group using fish oil.

The effect of fish oil may also be due to some kind of impact on appetite control and calorie intake. There is research to show a link between fish oil and leptin sensitivity, so the idea that fish oil can speed up weight loss via improved appetite control and a subsequent reduction in calorie intake is a plausible one.

Other studies I've seen show that the long-chain omega-3s (DHA and EPA) appear to function as fuel partitioners by directing fatty acids away from synthesis and towards oxidation (see the British Journal of Nutrition for a detailed review, or you can read my summary in The Real Truth about Fish Oil and Fat Loss).

If you want to increase your intake of omega-3s, eat more deep-colored cold-water fish such as salmon, trout, mackerel and sardines. On days when you don't eat any cold-water fish (or if you don't eat fish at all), use a fish oil supplement.

However, despite the fact it has a number of important health benefits, the idea that fish oil is some kind of magic bullet for weight loss is a myth. You can't just pop a few fish oil capsules and expect the fat to melt away without making changes to your diet and exercise program first.

And while there's plenty of research demonstrating the effect of fish oil on fat loss in rats and mice, research showing a direct effect on body fat in humans is limited in both size and quality.

In fact, other than this recent study, I could find only a handful of published trials to show that long-chain omega-3s accelerate fat loss in humans.

To my knowledge, no such studies exist for alpha-linolenic acid (the short chain omega-3 fatty acid found in walnuts and flaxseed). If anyone knows of any that have been done, I'd love to hear about them.

Reference
Hill, A.M., Buckley, J.D., Murphy, K.J., & Howe, P.R. (2007). Combining fish-oil supplements with regular aerobic exercise improves body composition and cardiovascular

I agree about the healthy oils & weight loss formula vitamin; it's got chromium, which some people need to metabolize better. Another healthy supplement is 5-htp, for some of us, at least. It's a serotonin booster and shown to help people lose a bit more. Makes you feel satisfied sooner, cuts down on binging, plus an overall better outlook. Just depends on what your body needs. If you're already healthy, you may not even notice a difference. But none of that caffeine/ephedra stuff can be good for you! Geez, smoking helps ya lose weight, but it kills you too!

just got some "Venom" weight loss pills and so far they are great. I like the comfortable amt of energy they give me, it lasts all day. But the thing I like most about it is how well it works as an appetite suppressant. Im really not hungry. I still eat healthy and correct amt of cals, but I have no hunger pains or cravings, esp at night. BTW I already lost about 20 lbs w/ just diet and exercise. Im using Venom to help with last 5-7 lbs.