Fat burners are supplements that can burn excess fat from your body. Most of these products come with natural ingredients such as yohimbine and caffeine. But synthetic fat burners are also available in the market that can lead to serious health problems such as liver failure.
In this article, we’ll discuss how fat burners work and whether you can use them to burn fat without exercising or not. So, let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Do Fat Burners Work?
Yes, fat burners work, but you must not expect any miracles as they don’t burn your body fat directly. Instead, they help your body in several ways to burn fat including:
- Make you consume fewer calories by suppressing your appetite.
- Reduce the fat amount your gut absorbs.
- Accelerate your body’s fat-burning process by increasing your metabolism.
The ingredients that natural fat burners contain are associated with weight loss. While they can help you lose more weight, bear in mind that most of these supplements have not been tested for their working mechanism and benefits in scientific studies.
Another important factor to note about fat burners is that they aren’t regulated by the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration). It means that manufacturers of these supplements can make all types of claims even if they don’t have any scientific evidence to back them up.
Common Ingredients of Fat Burners
There are tons of ingredients that different manufacturers use to make their fat-burning supplements. We have compiled a list of the most common ones that most natural fat burners contain.
Caffeine
According to the National Library of Medicine, caffeine can increase your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) by three to 11 percent. It can also regulate your nervous system if consumed in moderation. According to the FDA, consuming 400 milligrams of caffeine per day is safe.
Therefore, you must choose a natural fat burner that doesn’t contain more than 400 milligrams of caffeine in a daily dose. Consuming more caffeine than that can cause insomnia, jitteriness, nervousness, and high heart rate.
Green Tea Extract
Green tea extract can also help your body burn more calories in order to reduce the fat amount you absorb during a day because of its caffeine content. However, the amount of weight loss caused by green tea extract is not significant but it’ll help if you’re not involved in working out.
Yohimbine
Yohimbine is a plant compound that’s obtained from the bark of the Pausinystalia Yohimbe tree. This ingredient is believed to have fat-burning potential. It allows your body to retain adrenaline for a longer period of time to burn more fat. According to a study, yohimbine can reduce your body fat composition by more than two percent.
Soluble Fiber
Scientific studies show that soluble fiber can curb your appetite and help your body to burn more fat. It increases the levels of multiple fullness hormones in your body including GLP-1 and PYY. This nutrient can also slow down the process of delivering nutrients to your gut.
This way your body takes more time to digest nutrients and you feel fuller for a longer period of time. It helps you reduce the number of calories you consume through your food and increase the amount of fat your body burns to promote weight loss.
Carnitine
It’s yet another substance present in fat burners and its primary purpose is to improve your metabolism. While you can consume this compound through different food items such as dairy products and meat, it’s hard for some people to increase the intake of carnitine who prefer a vegan-friendly diet. However, it’s important to consume it in moderation because excessive amounts of carnitine can lead to fishy body odor, diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea.
Protein Powder
Protein is one of the most important nutrients to increase your body’s fat-burning process. Not only does protein curb your appetite but it also enhances your metabolism to burn more fat. According to the International Journal of Obesity, food items that are high in protein are almost twice as effective as food sources with moderate protein content.
Protein can also increase the levels of multiple fullness hormones including PYY, CCK, and GLP-1. This ingredient of fat burners is especially helpful for those people who don’t like to eat meat. Make sure that you choose a supplement that’s low in additives and sugar. Based on your height, weight, sex, age, and activity levels, the daily recommended amount of protein can vary. According to Harvard Health Publishing, you should consume at least 0.36 grams of protein per pound (or 0.8 grams per kilogram) of your body weight.
Other Ingredients
Other than the ingredients discussed above, many fat burners also contain one or more of the following ones as they also have fat-burning properties.
- Raspberry Ketones
- Kelp
- Garcinia Cambogia
- Fucoxanthin
- Forskolin
- Conjugated Linoleic Acid
- Chromium
- Capsicum
So, Can Fat Burners Work Without Exercise?
While fat burners can work without exercise, you’ll need to wait for a long time to see the results. It’s also important to use a product that contains only natural and safe ingredients. Synthetic products can lead to adverse health effects and that’s why many fat burners have already been pulled off the market.
In addition, you must not start taking these supplements without consulting with your doctor, especially if you’re already on some medication. That’s because the ingredients of a fat burner can interact with other medicines and can lead to serious health issues.
How to Achieve the Best Results Using Fat Burners?
As mentioned, fat burners can’t bring any miracles and it’s important to set reasonable and realistic expectations. You won’t be melting a large amount of fat each week. We recommend you use the following tips to help a fat-burning supplement do its work efficiently and effectively.
Cycle Your Fat Burner
Bear in mind that even the best fat-burning supplement won’t keep giving notable results forever, even if you use a thermogenic product. People use such fat burners because they want to lose weight in the shortest period of time. These products can also help you to have higher energy levels so that you can perform well in the gym.
But you can only enjoy these benefits for a certain period of time as your body gets used to the supplement and fails to produce the same results. That’s why you should cycle your fat burner after two to six weeks.
Start with a Low Dose
Fat burners are specially formulated to provide you with the right amounts of various substances to help you lose weight. However, this does not imply that the more of the substances you consume, the better the effects. The serving directions and instructions for supplements are provided by the manufacturers so that you can choose what dose is appropriate for you.
It’s usually a good idea to start taking fat burners with the lowest dose recommended on the packaging and stick to it for at least a couple of weeks. Following that, you can decide if you wish to increase the dose to the upper limit of the range if it is mentioned on the label. If a product only has one serving size listed, don’t exceed it.
Follow a Training Program
Although we have mentioned that fat burners can work without exercise, you should follow a training program if you want to achieve the best results in a short time. Not only will it improve your body’s fat-burning process but it’ll also minimize muscle loss.
When it comes to long-term weight loss, it’s important to focus on building your muscles. It burns calories, shapes your body, and helps you to stay active while feeling good about yourself.
FAQs
Do I Really Need Fat Burners to Lose Weight?
You can start eating the food sources that offer the ingredients that most natural fat burners contain. This way you won’t need to take a fat-burning supplement to lose weight. Keep in mind that these ingredients alone will not burn a whole lot of fat stored in your body. In order to accelerate the fat-burning process, it’s also important to perform exercise regularly.
Do Fat Burners Work on Belly Fat?
The main purpose of fat burners is to help your body to burn fat naturally. There is no scientific evidence that suggests that fat burners burn fat directly by entering your body. These natural supplements contain ingredients that can increase your body’s natural weight-burning process that can help you lose belly fat.
Final Words
While fat burners do help your body to burn fat, their efficacy is significantly enhanced when you pair them with a training program to boost your metabolism. If you want to try a fat-burning supplement, choose a well-known and reliable product that comes with natural ingredients instead of synthetic ones.
You have to keep in mind that these supplements are not regulated by the FDA, so their effectiveness is not backed by any scientific evidence. Lastly, never add a supplement to your diet plan without taking advice from a licensed and professional doctor.