Weight Loss with Fat Burners

Another warrior ingredient in the battle against weight loss is the metabolite of dehydroepiandrostereone (DHEA), -acetyl-7-oxodehroepiandrosterone, also known as 7-oxo-DHEA. The name may be a mouthful, but the clinical studies carry even more weight. In one double blind, placebo-controlled study, 30 obese subjects received either 100 mg/d 7-oxo-DHEA (as 7-Keto®, from Humanetics Corp.) or placebo twice daily.⁸ The treatment group showed a significant increase in weight loss and three times more fat reduction than the placebo group.

Confirming its thermogenic effect, a 2005 trial suggests 7-Keto administered to overweight adults in conjunction with a calorie restrictive diet may also mitigate the decline in resting metabolic rate (RMR) normally associated with dieting.⁹ It suggests a 7-Keto diet regimen led to a RMR increase of 1.4 percent, compared to a 3.9 percent RMR decline in control subjects. Results suggest 7-Keto achieved thermogenesis not by acting as a stimulant, but instead by upregulating the activity of fat-burning enzymes.

The botanical Coleus forskholii and its root extract forskolin are also key ingredients in the category. Studies involving Sabinsa’s ForsLean® forskolin extract show promise. In one study, 50 subjects were randomly administered 250 mg/d of ForsLean or placebo for 12 weeks.¹⁰ The mean lean body mass increased by 1.78 percent in the treatment group vs. a mean decrease of 0.2 percent in the placebo group. Additionally, the mean percentage body fat content in the treatment group was 34 percent by the end of the trial, while it increased to 39 percent in the placebo group.

A natural ingredient taking its own different approach to weight loss is fucoxanthin. This ingredient is relatively new to the natural products marketplace, and is climbing to the top of the thermogenic heap. Found in brown algae, it appears to impact adipocyte differentiation. Researchers in Japan found fucoxanthin and its metabolite, fucoxanthinol, could prevent the differentiation of preadipocytes to adipocytes, and also down-regulate adipogenic gene expression.¹² The research performed on mice fed fucoxanthin also suggests it may reduce the weight of white adipose tissue by possibly expressing mitochondrial protein for metabolic thermogenesis.

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