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Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle
Syndicated Q & A Column (Ask Tom / Ask The Fat Loss Guru) Fat Burners: The Unadulterated Truth Affiliate instructions: You have permission to publish this Q & A column in your e-zine, on your website, on your blog or on your forum, provided the entire column is unaltered and the bio/about the author box is included in its entirety. This column may be titled, "Ask Tom", "Ask Tom Venuto," "Ask The Fat Loss Expert, or "Ask The Fat Loss Guru." All you need to do is copy and paste. You may of course, replace all www.burnthefat.com links with your affiliate hoplink. It's also great idea to include a clickable book cover graphic and or an author photo with each Q & A column you print. Please note that some of these Q & A columns have been rewritten as "articles" (with question removed), but they are mostly the same content. Our Q & A column has become immensely popular because it can provide you with an entirely new content category for your newsletter or website. However, if you prefer article format, please check the "articles" section. Title: Fat Burners: The
Unadulterated Truth Fat Burners: The
Unadulterated Truth QUESTION: Dear Tom, I am not currently using any fat burners. However, in many magazines where I see advertisements for fat burners, they always have a model with a six-pack and the headline is something like, “It takes more than training and nutrition to get a six-pack.” Once a person hits a plateau, do we really need fat burners to achieve that “ripped” or “six-pack” look? I am having a really hard time getting my stomach to look the way I want it, and I really respect your opinion, so I appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks Tom! ANSWER: The short and sweet answer is NO, you do not ever “need” fat burners. While I won’t dismiss the fact that there are some ingredients in some “fat burner” products that might help a little bit, I take great displeasure in seeing those kinds of misleading headlines as well as the misleading use of models who are often paid to endorse the product even though they may never have even used it (they’re just models!) Many “fat burner” companies have been sued by the Federal Trade Commission for false advertising, false claims and falsifying before and after photos. The best you
get is a slight thermogenic effect and possibly some
slight appetite suppression. A few products might work through other
mechanisms like improving thyroid, but if you forgive me the
generalization, I consider the effects of
all these “fat burner” products to be minutia. In a previous
newsletter, I wrote that in my opinion, 97% of your results come from
nutrition and training and maybe you
get an extra 3% advantage from supplements.
Just so you know those numbers arent something I just pulled out of thin air, lets take an example: I have reviewed
scientific data that EGCG, the active
ingredient in green tea extract, if consumed in enough
quantity, could increase thermogenesis / metabolic rate by an average
of about 75 calories in 24 hours.
Since ephedrine was taken off the market, green tea extract
appears in many ephedra-free formulas these days.
What is a typical calorie expenditure for an active male in 24 hours?
lets say 2700 calories per day. 75/2700 = 2.7%. That slight little
extra doesnt hurt, especially when its delivered in a healthful package
such as green tea, rather than central nervous system stimulants, but
its minutia in the bigger picture. Another way to put this into
perspective is to make a list of what other things would burn 75
calories (for 150 lb person:)
Ah yes, but why move your body when you can take the pill and metabolism increases while you sit and watch TV? How about for your health? A body that is not moved, rots away. Unlike a car which only has so many miles on it and wears out from over-use, people are the only “machines” on earth that fall apart from under-use. Here’s what any good personal trainer will always tell you: No amount of calorie restriction or pill-popping will ever give you FITNESS. It willl never give you STRENGTH. it will never get you MUSCULARITY. It will never give you FUNCTIONALITY. At best it will help you reduce body mass slightly. On one hand, I’m tempted to say that everything counts and that yes, 75 calories here, and 75 calories there, it ALL adds up, because it does. After you’re exercising regularly and all your fundamentals are in place, details and little things do matter. I’m simply asking you to put the benefits of any fat burners in proper perspective and realize that (1) there is no “need” for taking them and (2) the claims made in the ads are often erroneous or exagerrated. My advice on
fat burners:
1. NEVER buy a fat burner unless you get independent verification of the claims made for the product. How do you KNOW
they really work? Are you SERIOUSLY going to take the
advertisers word for it? Are you SERIOUSLY going to take someone else’s
testimonial as fact? Get verification for yourself by going to the pub
med data base and looking for research (try www.ReleMed.com
too, as their search results are very thorough and relevant and they
provide links to the pub med citations).
2. Put it in perspective With those
products that work, such as those providing a small
thermogenic effect, put that in perspective as compared to how easily
you could burn that many calories with even light exercise like walking
or housework. Keep in mind the additional fitness and strength benefits
you will obtain from exercise as opposed to doing nothing and popping
a pill.
3. See if there are any side effects or health warnings. With all
supplements and especially with prohormones or stronger
thermogenics like the ephedrine and caffeine stack, (if you still have
access to them), understand the risk to benefit
ratio, and be certain you know the dangers and contraindications.
4. Read the label and see if the product contains enough active ingredient to even work. A classic scam
is when a “fat burner”product quotes research that a
certain inredient boosts metabolism, which might be true. What they may
not tell you is that all the research with positive results
used a large dosage of the ingredient, which might not be cheap. So the
supplement company includes a “pinch” or “light dusting” of that
ingredient just so they can say it’s in the bottle, even
though its nothing more than “label decoration.” Then they have the
audacity to invoke the research studies in their advertisements
when the amount of the ingredient in their product is no where near
what was used in the research!
5. Proprietary blend scam. Some companies, DONT LET YOU SEE how much ingredient is in the product formula, because it contains multiple ingredients and they say their formula is a “trade secret” aka “proprietary”, so they list WHAT is in the product but not HOW MUCH. If you don’t know how much is in there then how are we (the consumers) supposed to get independent confirmation of the facts and analyze whether this product is any good? 6. Make sure there is human research, not just rodent research. In many cases,
advertisements cite studies on rats and mice as “proof”
under the assumption that the product will produce the same results in
humans. Animal research is an important part of the scientific method,
as it is often used to help find areas of research where human study
should be pursued, or in the other direction, to trace back the
mechanism that makes something work. However, for obesity research
in particular, a positive finding in rats does not mean the same
thing will happen in humans.
7. Look for more than one human study. Consider trying
a supplement after it has human research that has been
replicated by different research groups which are not
industry-sponsored. My policy is that I will usually only give a “buy”
rating to a supplement when a product has an intitial well-designed
human controlled trial published and then similar
research has been replicated by another research group that is not
supplement-industry funded.
Actually, I think it’s a good thing that nutrition and supplement companies fund and sponsor some of the research. They should. They should not only back up their claims with published clinical trials, they should share some of the cost of this expensive research. However, a
basic principle of the scientific method is replication.
Other researchers should be able to duplicate the findings. Therefore,
while the funding source does not necessarily prove bias, if there is
only one study available on a supplement and it is company or industry
sponsored, I usually take it with a grain of salt and put an asterisk
next to it while I wait for confirmation from another study. (You might
be surprised at how IN-frequently this type of confirmation occurs).
Do you REALLY need “more” than nutrition and exercise?????? Now, when you
weigh the fact that even the products with research
backing them only help a little, with the fact that many of the
ads lie to you about research, exagerrate claims and hide vital
information about
ingredients, and with the fact that you can do a few more minutes
of exercise per day and get the same results for free, how enthusiastic
are you about fat burners?
Yeah, that’s why I’m not real excited about them either and based
on the fact that I use no drugs and no “fat burner” supplements
and I compete in bodybuilding - very successfully - I’d say that the
assertion, “it takes more than nutrition and exercise to get six pack
abs” is patently false.
Train hard and expect success, Tom Venuto About the Author: Tom Venuto is a
natural bodybuilder, certified
strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal
trainer (CPT). Tom is the author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The
Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or
supplements using methods of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness
models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your
metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com
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