Natural Fat Burners – Which Ones Really Make a Difference?

Fat-burning supplementation can be a valuable addition to a healthy lifestyle. It can increase your metabolism, reduce fat absorption or boost its oxidation. While producers are constantly looking for new ingredients, synthesizing many of them in the laboratory, only a few substances boast evidence-based effectiveness. Meet the natural fat burners that really make a difference.

What Are Natural Fat Burners?

A natural fat burner is a chemical compound that has been extracted from natural, organic plant or food, not synthesised in the laboratory. While chemical particles in both cases may look the same, effectiveness can differ. A good example is natural and synthetic caffeine. A laboratory-made substance acts quicker (and loses its potential faster) than its natural counterpart. It also lacks natural bioactive additions, such as chlorogenic acid.

It should be stated that choosing natural weight loss supplements is safer than buying complex novelties from the market due to lower risk of contamination. A natural substance can be more expensive to extract and process, but in the end, its effect is often more potent.

The way fat burners work is strongly connected to the method of usage. It may perform best with a meal or before a training session, depending on an ingredient profile.

Best Natural Fat Burner Ingredients to Look Out For

There are a few natural burners for weight-loss whose effectiveness has been scientifically proven. They can act in a multitude of ways. All the chosen substances are well known for years and are sold as a single substance or can be combined in one, complex formula. The second strategy lets producers use lesser doses due to the synergy effect.

Green Tea Extract – Boosting Metabolism Naturally

Green tea extract is well-known for high antioxidant properties. Catechins, mostly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), protect the body from free radicals. It contains caffeine, a stimulant that promotes fat oxidation and raises thermogenesis, which contributes to weight loss. It also raises alertness and enhances energy level. Green tea helps to clean the body as a detox supplement. Scientific research have proven, that polyphenols from green tea extract affects positively on obesity markers:

• total body weight,
• fat percentage,
• BMI.

Green tea also counts as a water retention supplement. It means bioactive compounds help to get rid of surplus water.

Caffeine from Natural Sources (e.g. Guarana, Yerba Mate)

Caffeine is best known for its ergogenic effect. It raises energy level, affects reaction time, alertness, and fatigue. Daily doses of caffeine up to 400 mg are considered safe, however it strongly depends on genetics (polymorphism of CYP1A2 gene). If you are susceptible to this stimulant, choose caffeine‑free fat burners. High doses of caffeine are not recommended for people with high-blood pressure, as well as pregnant or nursing women. It also causes water loss, so don’t forget to drink a lot (at least 70-100 fl oz of water) during the day.

Cayenne Pepper (Capsaicin) – Thermogenic Effects

Capsaicin is found mainly in chilli peppers and often is a part of thermogenic supplements. Through interacting with TRPV1 receptors, it boosts fat oxidation and raises energy expenditure. The most severe side effect when taking supplements with capsaicin is heartburn. To avoid it, take pills along with your meal.

Ginger and Piperine – A Spicy Support for Fat Loss

Two other fat-loss ingredients, both common in the kitchen, are ginger and piperine. It is believed that ginger could modulate body mass through various potential mechanisms including increasing thermogenesis, lipolysis, suppression of lipogenesis, inhibition of intestinal fat absorption, and controlling appetite. Most active compounds in this vegetable are gingerols and shogaols.

As for piperine, it affects signalling pathways AMPK and PI3K/AKT which contributes to enhanced fat oxidation, insulin-sensitivity and reduced adipose tissue synthesis. All of these properties lead to body fat reduction.

L-Carnitine – Supporting Energy and Fat Oxidation

A good example of a natural fat-burner is a L‑Carnitine. Its mechanism of action is based on fatty acids chain transportation to the mitochondrial matrix. Due to that, your body cells utilise fat as an energy source more effectively. L-Carnitine also helps to spare amino-acids, which can be used for muscle protein synthesis, not as a fuel. Among all the natural fat burners it is one of a few that can be safely used for a couple of months. Some research included 360-day trials!

CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid)

Conjugated linoleic acid favourably modifies body composition through increased lipolysis as well as thermogenesis and reduced fatty acids accumulation in adipose tissue. Similarly to L-Carnitine, it probably can be consumed safely for a long time.

Garcinia Cambogia – Appetite Control

Effective body mass control is practically impossible if you eat too many calories. Surplus energy is quickly transferred into adipose tissue, especially when it comes from sugar and saturated fats, both of which support food cravings. Thus, one of the best ways to maintain optimal body fat levels is to eat less.

Garcinia cambogia's main bioactive compound is hydroxycitric acid (HCA). It promotes hunger suppression through increased serotonin levels. In some research, an extract from this plant drastically improves several factors of heart disease – total cholesterol level, LDL, triglycerides and fat metabolites' excretion have fallen after 8-week supplementation. It can be said, HCA is protecting your heart and cardiovascular system from civilization diseases.

High doses of HCA can however cause digestive symptoms, headaches and skin rashes. Several case studies also include liver damage (or even failure), serotonin toxicity and testicular atrophy.

Chromium – Supporting Blood Sugar and Cravings

A common supplement for metabolism is also chromium. It’s an essential nutrient involved in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Chromium influences insulin sensitivity, making your body eager to use glucose as an energy source. While its mechanism of action is not entirely clear to researchers, it has been proven that chromium increases lean body mass and helps to decrease body fat percentage. It’s also a potent carb blocker.

In the case of a healthy, well-balanced diet, chromium deficiencies are rare. Before you buy a chromium supplement, it is good to check your internal levels, especially if you have liver or kidney disease. In both cases, high levels of chromium can cause toxicity.

L-Tyrosine – Boosting Your Metabolism

Widely accepted as a fat burner is also a L-tyrosine. It is an amino acid supporting thyroid hormones' production. It is also crucial for different neurotransmitter production – epinephrine and norepinephrine. As such L-tyrosine supports metabolism, satiety and lipolysis especially when combined with caffeine or capsaicin.

Benefits of Using Natural Fat Burners

On the market you will find a lot of different fat burning substances. Not all of them are thoroughly examined (or even legal). Why should you choose natural ingredients over synthetically-made ones?

1. Safety – natural compounds can be easily identified, as they come from plants and are not made in a laboratory.
2. Lesser risk of containment – as natural substances are extracted and not synthesised, the risk of being contained by an unwanted (and potentially dangerous) compound is lesser.
3. Stable effectiveness – when used in correct doses, natural fat burners provide stable (yet not fast) results.

Are Natural Fat Burning Supplements Entirely Safe?

Asking for the safety of a supplement can be tricky. In most cases, natural substances are well-tolerated and do not pose a threat to health. However, it is vital to check recommendations printed on the box by the producer. Focus on two main groups of data.

Serving recommendations (or ‘how to use’) tells you how often to take a fat burner, when to do it and how big the portions should be. Keeping up with the protocol is important both for effectiveness and safety of users. Contraindications are even more crucial for you. These are conditions where taking supplements is not advised. They usually involve being pregnant or nursing, high blood pressure, cardiac or hormonal problems.

Remember, being natural doesn’t mean the compound is entirely safe. In case of doubts, ask your GP for advice. Natural fat burners will help you incinerate body fat, but you have to act reasonably. A stable basis of good shape are proper diet and physical exercise. If the need arises, they can be combined with supplementation and meal replacements.