We’ve all had experience trying to burn off that pesky belly fat in order to attain a lean sexy stomach. Although a healthy diet and a great workout routine are the backbone of burning belly fat, sometimes it may not be enough. That is when supplements help make the transformation from an ugly fat belly to a sexy lean stomach.
Raspberry Keytone. One supplement that has been growing rapidly since it’s been mentioned on the Dr. Oz show is Raspberry Keytone. The way it works is by shrinking the size of the fat cells in your body, which makes it easier for your metabolism to burn them off. The recommended daily amount is 100mg to 200mg. Typically, it’s better to obtain your nutrients from whole foods, but in this case you would have to eat 90 pounds of raspberries to get the equivalent of 100mg so supplementation is definitely recommended to get your daily dose.
Tonalin CLA. Another popular supplement that aides in burning belly fat is Tonalin CLA. CLA stands for Conjugated Linoleic Acid, which is found in flaxseed, hempseed, grapeseed, sunflower, safflower and olive oil. It can also be found in dairy, beef and chicken. The way CLA works is by inhibiting an enzyme called LPL (Lipoprotein Lipase). LPL is an enzyme that breaks down fat and stores it in the body, but by supplementing your diet with Tonalin CLA it will cancel out the LPL and your body will store less fat and use it as energy instead.
7 Keto. This supplement has found its way into more and more fat burning formulas because of the boost it gives to the metabolism. Commonly found in DHEA supplements, 7 Keto is known to increase T3, a hormone secreted by the thyroid gland. The thyroid itself is the control center that regulates how slow or fast your body burns calories. 7 Keto is also known to increase the rate at which your metabolism burns calories. As we age, the thyroid slows, which in turn causes our metabolism to slow, making it easier to store fat. Supplementing your diet with 7 Keto will help increase energy levels and decrease stored fat, a combination everyone can be happy with.
L-Carnitine. Although naturally produced by your body, L-Carnitine is still one of the best supplements to take when it comes to burning fat and boosting energy. L-Carnitine is an amino acid that’s main priority is to transport fatty acids to your mitochondria, the furnace that uses them as fuel to create energy. With the higher levels of L-Carnitine in your system, your body will produce energy faster which will create less of a chance of fatty acids being stored in the fat cells.
Green Tea. Green tea works through various mechanisms that include increasing thermogenesis (heat production, which in turn burns calories) inhibiting fat digestion and absorption, promoting fat burning, and also boosting endurance during exercise. Research has suggested that perhaps green tea polyphenols know as catechins, and green teas principal catechin, EGCG, may work together to promote weight loss, fat loss and weight management. This happens by lowering blood levels of triglycerides, glucose, insulin, and cholesterol. It also inhibits fat absorption by reducing the fat cells ability to rapidly produce. A naturally occurring side effect of green tea consumption is that of appetite suppression. Herbal green teas are not synthetic, hence are completely absorbed by a person, unlike many vitamins and other supplements. Green tea was said to have shown some weight loss benefits by virtue of the fact that it can prevent fat from being stored, increase protein levels, and promote thermogenesis by triggering beta-adrenoceptor into action. Some scientific studies have shown that we need about 300-700 milligrams per day of EGCG to get the weight loss benefits of green tea. So how much does each cup contains? Well again, it depends on the quality. If you get a high quality loose leaf tea, then it’s about 3 grams of tea leaves per cup, so that’s about 300 milligrams, so about 3-6 cups (8 ounce cups) a day would be ideal. But, also know that getting high quality green tea is tough as well since the EGCG is very sensitive to being packed, which is why loose leaf tea is the way to go. So what else can you do to get your EGCG’s from green tea? There are also supplements out there that have extracts of EGCG’s. If you do your research on websites where there are reviews, you will be able to find a good supplement.
Resveratrol. This antioxidant component found in grape skin (red wine), peanuts and dark chocolate has been shown to provide many positive health effects including mimicking the effects of calorie restriction, especially when it comes to losing excess body fat. Reducing calories has been shown in studies to slow down the aging process. Along with fat loss, Resveratrol has been shown to improve brain health and improve symptoms associated with diabetes. One of the largest concentrations of resveratrol can be found in red wine but you will have to drink a massive amount of it (5 liters of wine provides 25mg of resveratrol) in order to get the dosage required which is anywhere from 100mg to 500mg per day. For this reason, Resveratrol supplements are definitely the way to go in order to get the optimal dosage. Although Dr. OZ recommends 500mg of Resveratrol a day, you probably want to start off at a much lower dosage (around 50mg to 100mg) per day to see how you feel and then you can gradually increase the dosage each week. Make sure to choose a quality Resveratrol supplement from a reputable nutritional supplement company.
Coenzyme Q10. This is a substance present in the mitochondria of every cell in the body and is involved in a number of key energy production pathways. Our bodies naturally produce it and it is also found in many foods we eat including organ meats, egg, lamb and fish. However, people will be unable to eat the amount of food required to absorb enough Coenzyme Q10 that is required each day, so supplementation is needed. Coenzyme Q10 is very popular for weight loss and losing body fat since it provides the main energy source for the heart which improves heart health and helps the heart’s ability to pump blood while working out. Coenzyme Q10 is also shown to increase the body’s metabolism which helps in burning body fat. A recommended dose of Coenzyme Q10 is 30mg to 60mg per day.