A fat burner that claims to burn off fat while you do nothing other than swallow a pill may sound too good to be true -- because it is. No pill can magically burn off fat, and even if such fat burner supplements do lead to short-term weight loss, their negative effects can outweigh any benefits. One of the main components of most fat burners is caffeine or another type of stimulant.
Side Effects
Consuming high doses of stimulants can come with negative side effects, especially if you take more fat burner pills than directed or continue to consume caffeine in addition to the supplements. Excessive caffeine can lead to insomnia, increased blood pressure, nervousness and nausea. Caffeine may help with weight loss by decreasing your appetite and acting as a diuretic that gets rid of water weight, according to the Mayo Clinic website, but neither results in fat burning.
Crash
Once your body is pumped up on stimulants, it's not going to stay that way forever. You may initially gain extra energy and a higher metabolic rate after taking a fat burner, but the effects will wear off and your body will eventually crash. You body's natural tendency to balance itself means every high will be balanced out by a low of equal or greater value. A repeated cycle of overstimulation can result in your body fighting back by actually slowing down your metabolic rate to make up for the excess stimulation, Venuto says. A slower metabolism means you'll be burning fewer calories than you did before you started taking the stimulants.
Addiction
The cycle of highs and lows can lead to an outright addiction to the fat burner, Venuto explains. Your craving for the highs can lead to taking more of the drugs and a textbook case of addiction. Breaking the addiction cycle of stimulants generally means quitting them cold turkey, a move that will send you into withdrawal. Withdrawal often comes with a physical and mental depletion of your body and mind,
Lack of Long-Term Results
Even if fat burners do help you shed pounds, they are offering nothing more than a quick fix, according to the Every Diet website and bodybuilding and fat-loss coach Tom Venuto. Venuto's fat loss suggestion follows the traditional tenet of eating healthy and exercising. A change in lifestyle that includes such components is the best way to burn fat as well as achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Quick fixes like fat burner supplements only target the fat, not the cause behind the fat. This means the fat will keep coming back unless the cause is eliminated.
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