Weight Loss Supplements Part 1 - Are They Worth It?

Jul

31

Weight Loss Supplements Part 1 - Are They Worth It?

≡ Category: Diet, Exercise, Obesity, Practice, Supplements, Theory |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

ARE THEY WORTH IT?

In general, I’m not a big fan of drugs or supplements that are supposed to DO something to you. In general, I think that supplements should basically assist the body in doing what it does naturally.

For example, due to pollution, substance abuse, soil depletion, and other problems, we may not get enough nutrients from our food, so we need supplements to make sure we get enough nutrients. That use of nutrients is simply helping the body to do what it does naturally. (For a more thorough discussion of why people take nutritional supplements, see my post Why People Need to Take Nutritional Supplements.)

On the other hand, a drug or supplement that, if you take it, supposedly makes you lose weight is usually attempting to somehow outwit the body’s chemistry to get a desired result. That gives me pause. Even if these supplements work, they can have unintended consequences.

So why bother? Isn’t it better to just lose weight the natural way, through diet, exercise, and nutritional supplements? That would be my normal inclination, but it ain’t necessarily so.

Here’s why. The higher ratio of lean muscle you have to fat, the higher your metabolism will be, and the easier it will be to reduce adipose tissue (fat). In other words, those who have fat, will get more fat, and those who have less fat, even what they do have will be taken away from them.

What I mean by that is, if you can take a supplement or drug that makes you lose fat without losing lean muscle mass, then it will make it easier to lose more fat or stay slender. However, you want to make sure that the weight loss aid you choose doesn’t have side effects that are worse than the problem you started with.

But won’t that mean that you’ll be forced to take the weight loss aid pretty much forever to stay slim? Not really. Remember, if you increase your lean muscle mass to fat ratio, your metabolism will improve. It’s just a temporary measure. Besides, you are planning to develop positive lifestyle habits, like regular exercise, and avoiding saturated fats, refined carbohydrates, and sugar. Right?

In this series of posts starting today, I’m going to run down a list of popular weight loss supplements and examine the merits of each, starting with some of the worst and working backwards.