Obesity and Pyruvate

Obesity is a national crisis. Because of its toll on health-care costs and work productivity, public health authorities are investigating multiple ways to treat obesity. Pyruvate is a substance your body makes and is also found in popular dietary supplements. Some evidence demonstrates that pyruvate can help people lose fat, but more study is needed to confirm this. Consult your doctor about all your weight-loss concerns. Ask whether pyruvate is right for you, and how much you need to take. For many, the dose may be too high to be affordable and practical, and other alternatives may be available.

Obesity in the United States

Obesity, which refers to having too much body fat, has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. A full one-third of American adults are obese, and one out of every three children is either overweight or obese. In addition, rates of extreme obesity are growing. Having a body mass index of 30 or greater classifies as grade 1 or class 1 obesity. Grade 2 means having a BMI of 35 to 39, and grade 3 refers to a BMI higher than 40. According to CDC statistics published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association," 14.3 percent of all adults fall into grade 2, and 5.7 percent fall into grade 3. When you peer deeper into subgroups, however, the story is more sobering. For example, 30.2 percent of African American women ages 20 to 39 fall into grade 2, and 17.7 percent of those aged 40 to 59 are in grade 3.

Pyruvate

Pyruvate is a substance your body makes in the process of metabolizing glucose, and it plays an important role in the production and use of energy. Although your body makes all you need, pyruvate supplements are popular as a reported weight-loss aid. Pyruvate also occurs naturally in foods, such as red apples, cheese, dark beer and red wine. Pyruvate may help particularly with fat metabolism, both helping you shed fat and preventing fat re-gain when you transition off weight-loss activities, such as dieting.

Pyruvate in Studies

In a review of the scientific evidence on the substance, NYU's Langone Medical Center reported that in one six-week study, 51 people taking 6 g of pyruvate daily lost an average of 4.6 pounds of fat mass, and they gained about 3.3 g of muscle mass. However, in another study in which participants took higher doses of 22 g to 44 g, weight loss over six weeks averaged 1.5 lb --- although most of those pounds came from fat mass. Finally a study investigating the combination of pyruvate and a substance called dihydroxyacetone demonstrated that it could help mitigate weight gain when coming off a calorie-restricted diet.

Dosing and Safety

Talk to your doctor before taking a pyruvate, but know that to get the weight-loss benefits seen in research may require fairly high doses --- between 6 g and 44 g has been reported. However, most supplements come in capsules containing between 500 mg and 1,000 mg. You'd have to take a lot of those capsules for a therapeutic benefit. For most people, pyruvate is well tolerated. Reported side effects include mild stomach upset and diarrhea. However, one small study showed that pyruvate supplements may negatively affect your cholesterol levels, and no safe intake has been established for children and pregnant or nursing moms.