Fat Burners A Waste Of Money?
PART 1:
Are fat burners a waste of money? In short, basically yes. This is because 95% of the products out there are nothing more than cheap stimulants pushing vague, misinterpreted very old science.
Forget the term fat burner. It is just stupid. Thermogenic means the ability to produce heat via metabolic increased metabolic function aka THERMOGENESIS
Now I could sit here and give you the same sell job most all under educated fitness people do pushing a product that they have almost no understanding of the science behind it.
But if you know me then you know it’s not my style 😏 I hope that if you follow me it is because you are not blind sheep. But rather seine seeking knowledge to arrive at calculated decisions..
Instead I will offer you solid education via quality science from top phd’s, I will cite the references and then you can decide for yourself.
PART 1:
1) Thermogenesis Incinerates Body Fat:
One fat-loss target that has emerged as potentially groundbreaking is brown adipose tissue (BAT) or brown fat. BAT normally generates body heat by vigorously burning body fat, by a process known as non-shivering thermogenesis, in response to cold temperature exposure in order to maintain normal body temperature.BAT is composed of a unique type of fat cell that generates a considerable amount of heat, because of its remarkable capacity to uncouple the normally linked process of fat burning with cellular energy (ATP) production within the mitochondria. As a result, instead of the energy from fat being used to synthesize ATP, it is instead converted into heat. To some degree, all cells can generate heat by thermogenesis, especially when body temperature is below a regulatory threshold. However, BAT is the most proficient thermogenic tissue in the body for two basic reasons. First, each cell has a higher number of mitochondria compared to other cells. Second, these mitochondria have a higher-than-normal concentration of a protein known as uncoupling protein 1 (UCP-1) within their mitochondria. UCP-1, as its name implies, is the protein that directly uncouples fat oxidation with ATP production, producing heat instead.
PART 2:
BAT has been long recognized as a thermogenic organ in other species, yet has only recently been found to exist in adult humans. Despite only recently discovering the existence of BAT in adults, there has been an abundance of scientific inquiry into BAT function that has produced a ton of evidence demonstrating that BAT has a significant regulatory function controlling whole-body energy expenditure and body fat levels in adult humans.2-6 Furthermore, additional research has led to the discovery of many naturally occurring compounds that strongly augment BAT-induced fat burning.
2) How BAT Sparks Thermogenesis:
BAT thermogenesis is typically activated in response to cold exposure by stimulating a receptor molecule in the brain belonging to the transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) family, whose normal function is to regulate body temperature. Cold activation of TRPV within the brain triggers the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in noradrenaline release. Noradrenaline then binds the beta-adrenergic receptor embedded within the cellular membranes of BAT and turns up fatty acid oxidation. In addition, extensive cold stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system elicits an increase in BAT levels as well as BAT activity, which further increases the potential to burn fat and promote fat loss. While prolonged exposure to cold temperatures (60 degrees Fahrenheit) for roughly two hours effectively triggers BAT activity and fat reduction7,8, this approach is rather impractical based on the considerable amount of cold exposure time necessary to trigger BAT activity.
PART 3:
3) Thermo-Heat Increases BAT Levels:
In addition to stimulating BAT activity, another forceful way to harness the thermogenic potential of BAT is by increasing the amount of BAT in the body. A compound naturally found in many fruits and herbs and now found in Thermo-Heat, known as ursolic acid20, has recently been shown to increase BAT levels.21 In addition, this study also showed that ursolic acid increased the expression of UCP-1, which increased thermogenesis, demonstrating that ursolic acid can distinctively increase both BAT quantity and activity. Interestingly, ursolic acid also promotes muscle hypertrophy by activating the IGF-1 signaling cascade.22 Since brown fat and skeletal muscle are derived from the same muscle cell-like precursor cell23 and because IGF-1 signaling promotes brown fat growth24, the authors of this study speculate that ursolic acid increases brown fat and skeletal muscle through a common molecular mechanism involving IGF-1 signaling. Altogether, these results illustrate that ursolic acid has the rather unique capacity to increase the amount and activity of BAT while also boosting muscle growth, which altogether additively increase energy expenditure and reduces body fat.
4) Bile Acids in Thermo-Heat Activate Thermogenesis by Triggering Thyroid Hormone Activity Recently, it was reported that supplementation with bile acids confers resistance to diet-induced obesity by upregulation of thyroid hormone signaling and thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue.35 While bile acids are normally used to emulsify fat for improved digestion, when it comes to activating thermogenesis, bile acids function as a signaling molecule that bind to the TGR-5 receptor embedded in the cellular membrane of BAT. This signal escalates the expression of the enzyme deiodinase, which catalyzes the production of the active thyroid hormone triiodothyronine or T3. Greater T3 results in the stimulation of UCP-1 production and BAT thermogenesis. Among the many different hormones in the body, thyroid hormones, like T3, are some of the most potent fat burners- yet harnessing their action has proven to be difficult, while also being associated with some harmful side effects. So, the ability of Thermo-Heat’s bile acids to regulate thyroid hormone function represents a breakthrough approach that could safely and effectively regulate thyroid hormones and their ability to burn fat. For more information on the impressive influence of bile acids on fat loss, see the “Fat Attack” article by Dr. Dan Gwartney in this issue of Muscular Development.
References:
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13. Saito M and Yoneshiro T. Capsinoids and related food ingredients activating brown fat thermogenesis and reducing body fat in humans. Curr Opin Lipidol 2013;24, 71-77.
14. Astrup A, Breum L, et al. The effect and safety of an ephedrine/caffeine compound compared to ephedrine, caffeine and placebo in obese subjects on an energy restricted diet. A double blind trial. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1992;16, 269-277.
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