Obesity is a major concern in the modern era, and is an indirect cause of many of the major killer diseases. Losing weight is probably the best and most important move you can make to improve your health. As a result of its popularity, there are many supplements available that claim to be able to help you lose weight, but very few of them actually work. In this article we will look at three of the ones that probably don’t work, plus one that does.
The hormone hCG is found in pregnant women and is the main marker used in pregnancy test kits. It has long been known as a supplement that might help not only suppress appetite, but also help people lose only fat and not lean body weight. The catch is that this works only with super low calorie diets that are almost impossible to maintain, and there is also scant evidence that it actually works. In addition, it is prescription only, and so is difficult to find a doctor willing to prescribe it for weight loss. As a result, hCG weight loss is probably not the most efficient diet plan.
Fish oil is a good supplement to add to your diet for a variety of reasons, as the omega 3 fatty acids it contains are good for reducing inflammation and increasing the health of your cardiovascular system. Other than this, other fish oil benefits also include an increase in metabolism and thus in theory might help lead to weight loss, although the effect is probably very small and probably absent without a good diet and exercise program to go along with it. Good for your heart and cardiovascular system, but probably not a stellar weight loss supplement.
Green tea is good for lowering blood cholesterol and thus leading to a healthy heart, but it also is sometimes hyped as a weight loss supplement. Like fish oil, the evidence is good that it is a healthy supplement to take but thin that it has an strong effect on weight loss. So both fish oil and green tea are probably safe and healthy additions to the diet, but are most likely not going to make much difference in weight loss.
And finally, one supplement that does show some signs of being good for weight loss is apple cider vinegar. Like green tea, it too can help lower cholesterol but it also might alter metabolism in a way that helps burn fat. In both laboratory studies on mice and live studies on humans it has shown evidence of being good for dieting. The only possibly cautions are that it can weaken bones, and since it alters metabolism diabetics may want to be cautious about taking it.
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