Liquid diets frequently come hand-in-hand with pills that you are supposed to pop to maintain your energy level, increase fat burn and keep your appetite at bay. However, scientific evidence to back the benefits and safety for many of these ingredients is still lacking, despite some preliminary studies that look promising, notes MayoClinic.com. Always consult a doctor when you start a weight loss plan, especially if you take medicine, have a health condition or plan to severely limit calories.
Appetite Suppresant Formulation
You'll frequently see a combination of damiana, guarana and yerba mate in weight-loss formulations on the market along with claims that the product formulation is "clinically proven" to help suppress your appetite. A report in the 2001 "Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics," does point to an average 11-lb. weight loss after 45 days among people taking this combination of herbs, notes the BlueCross, BlueShield. However, this oft-touted study is a "short report," meaning it produced interesting results that are preliminary, requiring more robust scientific study to confirm.
Hoodia Effects
Hoodia gordonii is one of the most popular appetite suppressants in weight-loss formulations, according to the Diet Spotlight website. Hoodia has an active ingredient called P57. This is an appetite-suppressing molecule that is supposed to fool your brain into thinking you are full whether you've eaten or not. Because it delays hunger, it diminishes your interest in food, according to Drugs.com. However, there is not sufficient reliable evidence to rate hoodia's effectiveness as a weight loss aid, according to MayoClinic.com.
Popular Metabolism Boosters
One of the most popular metabolism-boosters in weight loss formulations is green tea -- especially when it's used in conjunction with caffeine. Clinical studies do exist that back claims that caffeine and green tea can give your metabolism a boost and thus help your body burn fat, according to University of Maryland Medical Center. However, overall there's still not sufficient reliable evidence to back this benefit. Along with green tea, popular caffeine-containing herbs include kola nut, yerba mate, guarana, coffee and black tea.
Cayenne is another popular metabolism booster that you'll see in liquid fast recipes such as the ever popular lemon and maple syrup diet as well as in weight loss products on the market. Cayenne may amp up your body's heat production, known as thermogenisis, for a short time. As of 2010, however, cayenne's worth as a weight loss aid was still unproven, according to UMMC.
Safety Concerns
Some weight-loss formulations contain ephedra, which is banned in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration as an unsafe product because it can cause liver and kidney damage and even death. Ephedra often is used along with caffeine-containing herbs, which raises risk for adverse effects. The ephedra in your product may not be obvious because it goes by many other names. These include ma huang, sida cordifolia, epitonin, pseudoephedrine and ephedra sinica, according to UMMC. Some products have reformulated to use bitter orange in lieu of ephedra to amp up calorie burn. However, bitter orange may also be unsafe and there's insufficient scientific evidence to back its use as a weight loss aid, according to MayoClinic.com.
Blood-Sugar Control Potential
Substances that purportedly help control your blood-sugar levels are frequently featured in weight loss aids that come along with liquid diets. Cayenne may be useful for this purpose, though it's most often included as a metabolism booster. Bitter melon is a popular ingredient, however, because it has hypoglycemic, meaning blood-sugar lowering, effects, according to Drugs.com. While research does substantiate this effect, no clinical trials to substantiate the effective dosage existed as of 2010.
Vitamin Features
Liquid diets often feature a host of vitamins and minerals. Vitamin B-12 is one of the most popular because of the theory that it will give your metabolism a boost and improve your energy level. However, megadoses of this vitamin are unlikely to produce such results -- unless you have a deficiency in this vitamin, according to MayoClinic.com. On the plus side, large doses of this vitamin are unlikely to be harmful to your health.
Considerations
When you use an appetite suppressant or a metabolism booster along with your liquid diet you run the risk of a myriad of side effects. For example, caffeine-containing formulations can worsen heart, kidney, stomach and psychological problems and can cause dizziness, heart palpitations, headaches and gastrointestinal issues such as diarrhea and nausea. Cayenne can cause stomach irritation and gastrointestinal upset. Some side effects may not be known yet. For example, there's insufficient information on the safety of hoodia, according to Drugs.com. You also run the risk of drug interactions, even with "natural" ingredients, so if you regularly take over-the-counter formulations or prescription drugs you need to be especially cautious. For example, green tea has interactions with blood-pressure, antipsychotic and heart medicines as well as antibiotics, according to UMMC. Even the benign-seeming vitamin B-12 can interfere with absorption of some medications.
Even when liquid diets, appetite suppressants and metabolism boosters do help you lose weight, you are unlikely to keep the weight off, according to MayoClinic.com, unless you keep using the formulations. This may be both unsafe and impractical.
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