In addition to adhering to a calorie-reduced diet and increasing exercise, taking certain diet pills, ones backed by research, can help enhance weight loss by boosting energy expenditure as well as the use of fat for energy. Consult your health care provider before taking any weight loss pills.
CLA
Conjugated linoleic acid, also known as CLA, is a healthy omega-6 fatty acid that might simultaneously burn body fat and increase muscle mass. Lead author Craig Pinkoski and colleagues from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada randomly assigned resistance training subjects CLA or a placebo for seven weeks. The report, which was published in the February 2006 issue of the journal "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise," revealed that subjects taking CLA experienced greater increases in lean muscle tissue and decreases in body fat compared to the placebo group.
L-Carnitine
Klaus Wutzke led a team of researchers from the University of Rostock in Germany who studied the effects of the compound L-carnitine on body composition, or fat to muscle ratio in the body. They discovered that subjects taking L-carnitine experienced greater increases in fat oxidation, or fat burning, and lean body mass compared to those receiving a placebo. The scientists reported their findings in the August 2004 issue of the journal "Metabolism."
Yohimbine
The herb yohimbine might help induce fat loss. Lead researcher Sergeij Ostojic and colleagues from the Institute of Sports Medicine in Serbia found that male soccer players ingesting yohimbine twice daily for three weeks significantly lost more body fat than those who were administered a placebo. The findings were published in the October 2006 issue of the journal "Research in Sports Medicine."
Arginine
The amino acid arginine might enhance fat loss on a calorie-reduced diet. Lead author Pietro Lucotti and colleagues studied the impact of long-term arginine supplementation in obese subjects following an exercise program. For 21 days, subjects adhering to an exercise program and a calorie-reduced diet with, or without, arginine supplementation. At the end of the study, which was reported in the November 2006 issue of the "American Journal of Physiology Endocrinology and Metabolism," Lucotti and his colleagues found that the arginine group lost a greater amount of body fat than the nonarginine group.
References
- PubMed: The Effects of Conjugated Linoleic Acid Supplementation During Resistance Training
- PubMed: The Effect of L-carnitine on Fat Oxidation, Protein Turnover, and Body Composition in Slightly Overweight Subjects
- PubMed: Yohimbine: The Effects on Body Composition and Exercise Performance in Soccer Players
- American Journal of Physiology Endocrinology and Metabolism: Beneficial Effects of a Long-Term Oral L-Arginine Treatment Added to a Hypocaloric Diet and Exercise Training Program In Obese, Insulin-Resistant Type 2 Diabetic Patients
Member Comments