Thermogenic Supplements - To Take or not to take Everybody wants to have a chiseled body. Guys talk about arms, shoulders and abs while women talk about butts, thighs and legs. We workout, go on fad diets, buy crazy inventions and are always looking for a “miracle pill”. Recently, there has been a massive influx of products referred to as thermogenic supplements which are promoted as such a pill. Thermogenic supplements such as Xenadrine, and Hydroxycut litter late night infomercials, and pages of body building magazines. They claim it increases metabolism, and burns off fat all without losing muscle mass (Cytodyne Technologies (2), par.1-3; Muscletech, par. 2-3). This article will look at the components of these products and analyze their significance in relation to their claims. It will also examine the way the product is viewed and promoted through different media. The purpose is to explore the validity of nutritional information regarding thermogenic supplements. The common active ingredient among these supplements is caffeine in some herbal/natural form. By reading the bottles it is found that these sources are usually from guarana, or green tea leaves. Although the amounts of caffeine vary from product to product, the approximate suggested daily dose on the bottle is about 6ooo mg separated into 3 doses of 2000mg. Caffeine is a stimulant we find it in our daily coffee, colas, teas and chocolate and acts on the sympathetic nervous system leading to increases in metabolic rate and inhibition of cAMP breakdown. It is also responsible for increased muscle tremor. (Prevost, par.3) The increase in metabolic rate is likely the primary reason for the inclusion of caffeine in these products. Ephedrine is another active ingredient among these supplements. Usually acquired from Ma Huang leaves and stems as an ephedra alkaloid, ephedrine acts on the cardiovascular system to increase heart rate. Like caffeine, it is a stimulant, but there have been numerous studies that have documented the hazards of using Ma Huang as a herbal supplement. (Ooms TG, Khan SA, Means C, 2001; Haller CA, Benowitz NL, 2000; Powell T, Hsu FF, Turk J, Hruska K, 1998) Ephedra alkaloids have been linked to many toxicity problems. (Ooms Tg et. al, 2001; Haller CA et al., 2000) These problems include hypertension, palpitations, tachycardia, strokes, kidney stones, seizures and death. (Haller CA et al., 2000) Although ephedrine may be relatively safe in its hormonal form, the alkaloid substitute (Ma Huang) is deemed unsafe. (Ooms et al.,2001) Ephedrine in its hormonal form is a beta agonist as well as promotes beta agonist production. It has a lipolytic effect but cannot be maintained by itself for long periods of time due to negative feedback loops that are beyond the scope of this paper. Being a beta agonist, it also has a protein sparing effect which helps in preserving muscle. (Prevost, par.2-3) Salacin, found in willow bark is an integral part of these products in that it completes treatment of caffeine and ephedrine. It is important because it inhibits the negative feedback cycle that caffeine and ephedrine utilize, namely the beta agonist. To suppress the negative feedback cycle allows ephedrine and caffeine to take effect without being controlled by the body. Together with salicin, the three substances are referred to as ECA (Ephedrine, Caffeine and Aspirin) mixtures. (Prevost, par. 1-2) Another key component to thermogenic products, hydroxycitrate (HCA), is an active ingredient that is extracted from the rind of this Indian fruit, Garcinia cambogia. Some products such as Hydroxycut and Hydrolean refer to the purified extract of Garcinia Cambogia as Hydroxagen. The purpose of this compound, according to these products, is to increase fat utilization over glycogen as well as suppress hunger. Results from one scientific study suggested that chronic administration of HCA promotes lipid oxidation and spares carbohydrate utilization at rest and during running. (Ishihara K, Oyaizu S, Onuki K, Lim K, Fushiki T., 2000) However according to a study by the team of Heymsfield SB, Allison DB, Vasselli JR, Pietrobelli A, Greenfield D, and Nunez C (1998) when HCA was administrated alone, it failed to produce significant fat loss. In addition to failures to produce significant fat loss, the use of Garcinia to suppress appetite also proved to be unsuccessful. Although the loss of fat using HCA is inconclusive, it has yet to be tested in conjunction with compounds such as ephedrine and caffeine. Numerous studies have been done to explore the efficacy of caffeine and ephedrine (CE) mixtures in the obese. CE mixtures have shown to help induce fat loss in obese individuals. (Fillmore CM, Bartoli L, Bach R, Park Y, 1999; Toubro S, Astrup AV, Breum L, Quaade F, 1993 Feb& Dec; Greenway FL, Raum WJ, DeLany JP, 2000; Yoshida T, Sakane N, Umekawa T, Kondo M, 1994; Daly PA, Krieger DR, Dulloo AG, Young JB, Landsberg L, 1993; Molnar D, Torok K, Erhardt E, Jeges S, 2000; Pasman WJ, Westerterp-Plantenga MS, Saris WH, 1997) According to these studies, small to moderate dosages of CE or ECA (Ephedrine, Caffeine and Aspirin) caused significant fat loss with minimal loss of lean muscle mass. The results of these studies seem to indicate that the inclusion of CE or ECA in moderate dosages is encouraged for weight loss. Products such as Xenadrine, however includes gross amounts of these products. Perhaps theses companies play on the saying “More is better”, however, this may not be the case as toxicity problems may occur. The dosages of caffeine for the scientific studies mentioned occur in amounts ranging from 20-100mg of caffeine and 10-20mg of ephedrine. The dosages for the thermogenic products range from 1500mg to 2000mg of caffeine and 500-900mg of ephedrine. These dosages are extremely high and may in fact foreshadow potential problems with cardiovascular, and neurological function as well as toxicity syndromes which may lead to death if not serious illnesses. Dissection of the major component parts of these thermogenic products reveals the relevancy of the claims of these products. The use of CE mixtures to help increase weight loss has indeed been proven by scientific studies and offers very little side effects. (Fillmore CM et al., 1999; Toubro S et al., 1993 [Feb&Dec]; Greenway FL et al., 2000; Yoshida T et al., 1994; Daly PA et al., 1993; Molnar D et al., 2000; Pasman WJ et al., 1997) The only problem with thermogenic products is that they use a very high amount of CE compared to scientific studies. This may prove to be more detrimental to health than beneficial. As mentioned previously, the use of HCA in these products is for the most part inconclusive. Although Heymsfield SB et al. (1998) has linked HCA to the increase in fat loss with preservation of lean body mass in some individual they suggest further research needs to be conducted. The claims about the potent effects of HCA are thus largely unsubstantiated so far and should therefore be taken into account. The way that these products are generally introduced to the public is through infomercials, advertisements in bodybuilding magazines, word of mouth and anecdotes. Although more popular thermogenic supplements have websites with their evaluations and product reports, on the most part their biggest advertisement comes from anecdotes from the users of the products. For instance, www.musclesurf.com and www.cytodyne.com gives the public a chance to read all the reviews and user comments, but also access to ‘scientific studies’ that include their products. This form of information should be assessed carefully for many reasons. The primary reason to be careful about the information that is presented in these websites is obvious. These websites are used to ultimately promote their product. Bad anecdotes, or scientific papers that don’t help endorse the product are likely to be excluded. Although some cautions and user exclusions are written on the label, they are fairly general warnings. This does not help the consumer to really decide whether the side effects are common, frequent or worth the results promised. Many articles in popular sources of information such as magazines like Muscular Development, Body Magazine International, and Ironman all have information/advertisements about certain thermogenic products, but are usually fairly vague or biased. For instance: "…Xenadrine truly represents the state-of-the-art scientific weight loss technology…This formula has allowed countless users to attain weight loss they never thought possible." (Cytodyne Technologies (3), 2001) How is Xenadrine a “state-of-the-art scientific weight loss technology”? The effective fat loss combination of CE/ECA has been known for quite some time. It wasn’t until recently that a companies such as Cytodyne and MuscleTech decided to exploit the research and promote a product that uses a similar combination. Despite the fact that there are very few articles that will explain the physiological aspects of the product, there have been references to individuals in the research and medical community. There have been references to journal articles, such as “Obesity Research” about the effects of thermogenic supplements, but in the same light, there are no specific products that are listed in those articles. The information used by the referernced individuals is likely to come from research information such as the type that has been gathered in this paper. The combination of the various papers and publications are taken into account and an opinion is generated. For instance, Cytodyne technologies cites on their website: "The new clinical trial published in Obesity Research clearly demonstrates that Xenadrine is the most efficacious fat-loss technology available!" Gerald I. Sugarman, M.D. Author of over 50 published scientific articles, and the new best selling book The Doctor's Guide To Weight-Control. (Cytodyne Technologies (1), 2001) Dr. Sugarman is in fact an M.D. who practices as an attorney specializing in Medical Malpractice for the injured child or adult. Unfortunately, a copy of his book was unattainable in time for citations in this article. However, this book may prove to be a valid source of information about thermogenic products. Going back to the efficacy of a specific product such as in this case Xenadrine; Dr. Sugarman is quoted in saying that it “… is the most efficacious fat-loss technology available.[sic]” However, upon searching for articles in Obesity Research, no specific tests were done on Xenadrine. This points out that Dr. Sugarman may in fact implied Xenadrine was an effective product by agreeing with the research about thermogenic supplements in general. Indicated previously, very few popular information sources cite scientific research about specific components of the product. For instance, if a user did not research the harmful side effects of Ma Huang and associated ephedra alkaloids, they would not be aware that a toxicity problem exists and that most of the side effects of the thermogenic product come from that one ingredient. Like any advertisement, the goal is to increase sales. The information supplied by these companies are usually one-sided and play primarily on the emotions and personal experiences of their audience. Very often, these products will depict individuals who have experienced atypical fat losses. This tactic appeals to the psychological side of skeptical buyers in hopes to convince them to try it. Due to the lopsidedness of popular information sources such as body building magazines and the Internet, the validity of such information should be further researched by the individual and should not be taken for face value. Again, the bulk of nutritional information available to the public about products like Xenadrine and Hydroxycut tend to be very highly anecdote based. Although there are some studies available for the public to read about, they might have some affiliation or benefit from the company. One must be very careful in evaluating nutritional information about these products. That is not to say that anecdotes are invalid, but one must be careful about what might be missing in the anecdotes. If there is little unbiased scientific literature on the specific products as with most thermogenic products, then the next best thing is to read evaluations of the products component parts. This article has explored some of the claims and validity of thermogenic supplements. Although very little scientific research is available about specific products (usually supplied by the company promoting the product), researching the major ingredients of these products has proved to be very enlightening. The validity of the effects of thermogenic supplements seem to be warranted given various studies that yield positive results on CE/ECA mixtures and relation to fat loss. Although there are potential problems in the use of ephedra alkaloids within these products, potential hazards of using these products are listed. Hence, the actual validity of the information provided about these products in general are warranted, the claims of a specific product being better than its competitor on the other hand has yet to be determined.
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