2860: Q&A - Burning Fat with Supplements on Research-Backed Strategies for Sustainable Fat Loss

[00:00:00] Überlass deine gesunde Ernährung und die Gains nicht nur deinem Bauchgefühl. Denn bei der Ernährung gaukelt uns unser innerer Schweinehund manchmal ganz schön was vor. Sag stattdessen Hallo zu deinem neuen Coach, Yasio. Yasio ist die meistgenutzte Ernährungs-App Europas, made in Germany. Egal ob Massephase oder ein bisschen Abnehmen, tracke Kalorien, Proteine, Carbs, Fette, Bewegung und Intervallfasten. Und mit den Tasty-Rezepten bist du ready für deine Ziele. Let's go! Lade die Yasio-App jetzt herunter.

[00:00:29] Have you ever noticed how a calm mind can really set the stage for a good night's sleep? That's the idea behind our new podcast, Good Sleep. Greg, our host from Optimal Relationships Daily, is here to help ease you into a peaceful night's rest with some positive affirmations. And these affirmations aren't just comforting, they can help ease anxiety and nurture positive thoughts, setting you up for true good sleep.

[00:00:54] So, press play on good sleep tonight, because a good tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep. Just search for Good Sleep in your podcast app and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily. It's another Q&A edition of Optimal Health Daily, and I'm Dr. Neil Malek. Hey there, happy Friday. Welcome to another Q&A edition of Optimal Health Daily.

[00:01:17] This is where I answer your health questions related to fitness, diet and nutrition, and lots more. You send me the questions and I answer them for you. Alright, let's hear today's question as we optimize your life. Hi there, my name is Andrea. I'm from Toronto, Canada and I listen to your podcast daily and it's amazing.

[00:01:39] I listen to it on my way to work every morning. My question is, do you recommend any supplements or vitamins to include in my daily diet that would help with weight loss or fat loss? I have a pretty balanced diet to begin with in terms of fruits, vegetables and protein, but I'm looking for that extra little boost to help either reduce bloat or enhance fat loss. So any recommendations would be amazing. Thank you.

[00:02:08] Thank you for your question, Andrea. And thank you for being a regular listener to the show. I'm so happy. Hopefully I can make your morning commute that much better. I have to admit, I was cracking up listening to your birds in the background. It kind of sounded like they wanted to ask me a question too. Now if my ears don't deceive me, I'm thinking you own a cockatiel?

[00:02:27] The only reason I would suspect that is my brother and I, when we were younger, acted as pet sitters and we took care of a cockatiel for about two months over the summer for a really close family friends of ours. All right, as usual, I digress. Back to your question. Well, actually, there are two separate issues that you mentioned. One is in regards to supplements for fat loss and the other for bloating. For fat loss, I'm going to cut right to the chase. There is no safe supplement that I know of that will directly reduce body fat.

[00:02:56] I know, unfortunate. I'm going to list some of the more popular quote-unquote fat loss supplements right now and then quickly summarize what the research shows for each of them. All right, so sit tight. Here we go. One, green tea or green coffee extract. Help made popular by Dr. Oz, these seemed so promising as potential fat burners, but the studies that were conducted were designed so poorly, we can't make any strong conclusions about whether they help or not.

[00:03:25] Plus, what we're finding is some of the products contained impurities. So, I would say it's safer to stay away from these. Number two, capsaicin. Capsaicin is naturally found in chili peppers and right now it's being isolated and sold as a supplement. Now, this idea of supplementing capsaicin gained popularity after a 2013 study found that people may burn more fat when they take this type of supplement.

[00:03:50] Now, while promising, the problem was the study was really small and followed people for only a very short period of time. So, if I were you, and if you can tolerate it, just add some chili peppers to some of your meals. Plus, the advantage is chili peppers in their more natural forms may contain powerful antioxidants that have the potential to decrease risk for other chronic diseases. Three, hudia.

[00:04:16] The claim is that hudia, which is derived from a plant, contains a compound that helps curb the appetite. But again, there's no credible evidence here to say this actually works. Save your money on this one. Four, CLA, also known as conjugated linoleic acid. This one can actually increase your risk of disease. You heard that right. Increase risk for disease.

[00:04:41] Studies are finding that taking CLA may increase a person's risk for developing cardiovascular disease like heart attack and stroke and diabetes. So, this one I would recommend you stay away from completely. Five, ketones or exogenous ketones. Here's the fundamental problem with supplementing with ketones. So many of them contain impurities that it's difficult to tell with any certainty whether they actually promote weight or fat loss. So, this is what's happening.

[00:05:10] When you buy ketone supplements, you don't really know whether you're actually getting ketones or whether it's something else entirely. So, at this time, I would stay away from buying ketone supplements. And lastly, number six, ephedra. Street name, Speed. This is the same stuff found in your over-the-counter cold and flu remedies like Sudafed, but it's in a really small dose. About 20 years ago, the Food and Drug Administration or FDA banned the sale of supplements containing ephedra because it was linked with some horrible side effects.

[00:05:40] There were even reported deaths due to its use. Sadly, that hasn't stopped some supplement manufacturers from sneaking it into their products. So, again, be careful when you shop around for supplements. Scary, I know. Okay, so where does that leave us? Are there any supplements that will help with fat loss? Back to my original statement, no, there's none that I know of that are safe to use. So, here are the best things you can do to try and get your body to burn some of that fat.

[00:06:09] One, control your portions. If you want to lose fat, you have to kind of force your body to burn it for fuel. To do that, you may have to decrease the amount of calories you consume each day. It doesn't have to be by a lot. Even a little reduction done consistently can lead to fat loss. Two, no duh, exercise. The real secret is combining aerobic activity like walking, jogging, swimming, bicycling, you get the idea. Combine that with resistance training.

[00:06:38] And yeah, yoga and Pilates do count. So, one day if you choose to go for a walk or a jog, and then the next day you do some resistance training, that will help. As you get more advanced, if you want to combine both into one workout where you lift weights or do some resistance training first, then go for a run, that would be just fine too. Three, get enough sleep. The sweet spot really is seven to nine uninterrupted hours of sleep most nights.

[00:07:04] We're learning that adequate sleep helps control hunger hormones. And four, manage your stress. When we're under stress for long periods of time, our bodies release this nasty hormone called cortisol. Cortisol not only lowers the body's ability to fight off infection, but it increases appetite and tells our body to store more fat when we do eat.

[00:07:27] So, if you follow one or more of these lifestyle behaviors consistently, doing them over time, your body will start to burn fat. But, just have patience with yourself. Now, on to the second part of your question. Are there any supplements that can help with bloating? Honestly, before I even talk about supplements that relieve bloating, I have to mention that I always recommend folks keep a food record to jot down any time they have these symptoms.

[00:07:53] That way we can see if the bloating is food-related or maybe related to something else. Our guts are a complicated system. So many things can mess with them. The aforementioned stress, for example, can lead to bloating. Carbinated drinks, certain types of fiber, spicy foods, high-fat foods, anxiety, lactose, eating too fast, artificial sweeteners. All of these and more can lead to bloating. So, the key is trying to find the cause.

[00:08:21] If, let's say, certain vegetables and beans or lentils lead to more bloating, then there are over-the-counter products that can help. There are over-the-counter pills or liquids that contain alpha-D-galactosidase, which is an enzyme that helps break down some of those starches and sugars that are found in these vegetables. Some studies are finding products that contain simethicone can also help alleviate symptoms of bloating.

[00:08:50] You can find those in tablet or capsule form. Let's say it's dairy products that you discover are bothering you. There are supplements that contain an enzyme called lactase. This helps the body digest and break down lactose. This is because lactose is usually the primary culprit when it comes to dairy products causing belly bloat. So, in summary, if you want to reduce body fat, do some of those lifestyle behaviors that I always talk about on this show consistently.

[00:09:19] Or, if it's trying to reduce some belly bloat, consider keeping a food diary, jotting down your symptoms, and maybe looking at some other lifestyle factors that can be contributing to that feeling. Have you ever wondered if your calendar age truly reflects your body's health? I'm passionate about taking control of my well-being, which is why I joined 23andMe Plus Total Health,

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[00:10:40] That's 23andme.com slash OHD. Thank you again for the question, Andrea. Now, if you want to submit a question and have it answered right here on the show, you can email it to health at oldpodcast.com. You can also call in your question. The number is 161-ILOVE-OHD. That's 1-614-568-3643.

[00:11:08] Or you can submit your audio question at oldpodcast.com slash ask. All right, that'll do it for another Q&A of Optimal Health Daily. Thank you so much for listening every day and all the way through. And of course, I'll see you back here tomorrow and over the weekend where your optimal life awaits.