Let’s face it: losing weight is hard.
It often requires a major lifestyle overhaul, a ton of commitment, and the breaking of some of our worst habits. It’s also not always predictable, and even the strictest of dieters face the dreaded weight loss plateau every once in a while. So it’s no surprise that many people look for the quickest, easiest solution to get to their goal weight.
This is where fat burners come into play.
These pills and supplements claim to help you boost your metabolism, burn through that extra unwanted fat, and give you a clear path to your end goal with as little time and effort as possible. But do they actually work?
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What is in fat burners?
First, it’s important to note that the term “fat burner” is actually kind of a misnomer. Despite the flashy name, there aren’t any pills that can actually target your fat cells and “burn” them.
However, fat burners can help your weight loss in different ways. There are three main types of fat burners:
- Thermogenic pills. These pills are meant to encourage weight loss by speeding up your metabolism. They do this by encouraging thermogenesis, the process in which your body “burns” through calories from your food (the process literally generates heat!). Common thermogenic ingredients found in fat burners include caffeine and green tea extract.
- Appetite-suppressing pills. These supplements work by inhibiting your appetite, that hunger cue that makes you crave the good stuff while you’re dieting. Some common appetite suppressants include fiber and medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs).
- Fat blockers. As the name suggests, these fat burners work directly on your digestive system by decreasing the amount of fat that it absorbs from your diet. The medicine orlistat is a good example of this.
Many fat burner supplements on the market today use a combination of these components to increase their “fat-burning” effects.
Do fat burners really work?
The answer is not quite as cut-and-dry as you might like. Many of the ingredients found in fat burners have some scientific evidence that supports the claim that they can help you lose weight. However, they aren’t miracle pills, and the long list of ingredients in many fat burners can sometimes be questionable for your health.
Let’s take a look at some of the most common ingredients found in fat burners and how they might aid in your weight loss attempts:
- Caffeine
Caffeine, the energizing ingredient responsible for many of your favorite energy drinks, is also fairly effective for weight loss. Its stimulating effect on the central nervous system can increase thermogenesis, which directly translates to a speedier metabolism as you burn more calories.
In addition, research has also found that caffeine increases your levels of the hormone adrenaline, which then signals to your body to increase its breakdown of fat tissue.
- Green Tea Extract
Green tea is another common dietary staple that’s promoted for its fat-burning properties. Besides its mild caffeine content, green tea is also rich in catechins. These antioxidants are also thought to speed up your metabolism and encourage fat burn.
One study found that participants who were given green tea extract over the course of 12 weeks showed significantly lower fat mass, BMI, body weight, and waist circumferences than a control group who did not receive the extract. However, a broader meta-analysis came to the conclusion that, while studies with green tea extract did show a small improvement for fat loss, it wasn’t significant. So there is some scientific evidence here, but more research needs to be done.
- Orlistat
This drug can be classified as a fat blocker. It works by inhibiting your gastric and pancreatic lipases, aka the enzymes that are used during digestion to break down dietary fat. In other words, the use of this drug means that your intestines don’t absorb all of the fat that you intake.
Studies have found this to be fairly effective for weight management - one evaluation found that participants who used orlistat saw significant decreases in their weight, BMI, and waist circumference.
However, like all drugs, it isn’t without its side effects. Orlistat users also report significant GI distress. It’s also only meant to be used by obese patients in conjunction with a healthy, low-fat diet.
- Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
CLA is a fatty acid that’s become popular among the bodybuilding and fitness crowd for its potential fat-burning capabilities. Unfortunately, the research on CLA is still in the air. While there’s been some evidence to show that CLA supplementation is effective for reducing fat, many of those studies were on animals. Research on overweight human subjects for this potential fat burner has so far yielded pretty inconsistent results.
- L-Carnitine
Another popular component in sports nutrition supplements, l-carnitine is an amino acid that plays a role in converting stored fat tissue into usable energy. This makes it especially popular among athletes looking to “lean out” while improving their performance.
There’s evidence that l-carnitine supplementation is especially effective for weight loss when it’s used over a longer period of time. However, the same scientists are also concerned that prolonged l-carnitine use could potentially increase your risk of cardiovascular issues like atherosclerosis, which is a hardening of your arteries linked to high blood pressure.
- Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT)
MCTs have been taking the dieting world over by storm thanks to the increasing popularity of the keto diet. This saturated fat, which is commonly found in coconut oil, is thought to help with your weight loss by increasing the release of appetite-suppressing hormones leptin and peptide YY. In other words, taking MCT means that you feel full for longer, and that means less chance of excess snacking or overindulging later.
- Fiber
Eating enough dietary fiber comes with a ton of health benefits including healthy weight management. Soluble fiber, which can be found in complex carbohydrates like bran, legumes, barley, and seeds, is slow to digest and turns into a “gel” when mixed with water in your digestive system. This means that it could help your weight loss efforts by keeping you full and satiated in between meals.
It’s important to note, though, that the fiber that you get from whole food sources might not be as effective as the fiber you get from a supplement. Increasing your intake of fiber-rich foods might be a better option, especially since higher fiber intake generally means you’re eating healthier, nutrient-dense foods like fruits, veggies, and whole grains.
So while there is some evidence that supports the notion that these common fat burner components can help with weight loss in various ways, more research still needs to be done before you can feel comfortable with popping a pill for weight loss. One review concluded that, while some fat burners show some promise, the increasing popularity of fat burners is ”industry-driven”, and that its rate of growth is likely not going to be matched by a similar increase in scientific research.
Do testosterone boosters work as fat burners?
There’s also been interest in supplements that boost testosterone as a potential fat burner. This sex hormone plays a big role in body composition, especially for males, but it starts to decline as they grow older. This drop in testosterone levels is often blamed for the decreased muscle mass and increased fat tissue that some men see as they age.
So in theory, boosting your testosterone with supplements could be a viable fat-burning solution. In fact, one study found promising evidence that testosterone therapy given to men with testosterone deficiency yielded significant and sustained weight loss results!
However, current research suggests that over-the-counter supplements that claim to boost testosterone might not always be the best solution, simply because they might not work as claimed. One study that evaluated the efficacy of several different testosterone boosters concluded that only 24.8% of the supplements actually had any positive effect.
So there’s definitely some promise, but more research needs to be conducted here as well.
How to lose weight effectively with fat burners
So the bad news here is that, no matter what the supplement industry marketing may tell you, the solution for weight loss hardly ever comes in one neat and tidy pill. No matter how many fat burners you take, they won’t be effective against poor dietary choices or imbalanced fat-burning hormones.
So the old standby applies here: if you want to use fat burners effectively, they should be used in conjunction with diet and exercise.
But on the bright side, having real data about your diet quality and hormone levels can show you the clearest, easiest path to effective weight loss. Base’s convenient at-home Diet Test gives you clear insights on your measurable biomarkers that affect your metabolism and fat-burning abilities, including testosterone, lipid panels, and thyroid hormones.
By using at-home testing with Base to pinpoint your weight loss hangups, you can determine exactly where your specific weight loss issues lie and then determine a better, data-informed approach.
Fat burners on the market today claim to help you lose weight by boosting your metabolism, fighting off hunger, and blocking the absorption of fat in your diet. While there is certainly scientific evidence that supports the fat-burning abilities of some of the common components found in these fat pills, they are by no means an easy fix to a complicated problem. Measuring your hormone levels and analyzing your nutrition panel with an at-home test like Base’s Diet Test can help you make better decisions about your weight and health.
Struggling with fat loss?
Take our quiz to build a bespoke testing plan that will help you lose weight effectively.
