Most of us have a little extra fat on our bodies that we wish we could get rid of. While cardio and weight lifting can help, a healthy diet and the right natural supplements may be the extra boost you need to drop a few inches and achieve your ideal figure. Read on to find out the best way to incorporate natural fat burners into your routine.
What are natural fat burners?
Natural fat burners are substances that are found in our food or supplements that increase the breakdown of fat cells and produce heat — a process called thermogenesis.1 Some natural fat burners increase our metabolism and others impact the digestion of food to help us feel more satisfied. This article will review the most effective fat burners to help you decide which ones can help you meet your goals.
How do fat burners help weight loss?
Fat burners help with weight loss in a variety of ways. One of the ways they impact your weight loss is by improving the amount of brown fat tissue in the body. Your body contains two types of fat tissue — white fat tissue and brown fat tissue. White fat makes up most fat stores in the body that are due to overconsumption of calories.1 This type of fat increases the likelihood of putting on weight.
Brown fat is highest in concentration in new-born babies and tends to decrease as we age. It helps to regulate body temperature, among other important actions.1 Brown fat can be thought of as “active” tissue that increases total energy expenditure (calorie burning) and leads to creation of heat — or thermogenesis. For this reason, greater ratios of brown fat to white fat would lead to greater calorie burn and loss of weight.1 Fat-burning foods and supplements can help to stimulate this effect in the body.
Burning fat is the best way to improve body composition. Getting rid of body fat and replacing it with lean mass (muscle) will increase your metabolism in the long term and could help to prevent chronic health conditions that are associated with being overweight or obese.
Summary: Natural fat burners can improve the ratio of brown fat tissue to white. Having more brown fat improves calorie burning which could lead to weight loss.
Benefits of natural fat burning supplements
Using natural fat-burning supplements can help increase the results of your healthy eating and workout plan. In addition to boosting the activity of the fat tissue in the body, using the right fuel (food and supplements) can help your body conserve lean body mass while still losing weight. The following natural, fat burning supplements can help boost your metabolism and target stubborn fat to help reach your body-composition and performance goals.
Best fat burners that work
While there are hundreds of products on the market that promise to help you burn fat, the following list of fat burners are natural products that you can rely on. While there seem to be new products released every day, these are the 4 natural fat burners that have shown benefits for years with plenty of research to support their use and safety:
- Green Tea
- Caffeine
- Vitamin B6 & Vitamin B12
- Protein
Green tea is a natural energy booster and fat burner that has been used in many cultures for centuries. The fat burning components in green tea are called “catechins”, which have been found to boost metabolism and burn more energy during both periods of exercise and rest.2
The most interesting part about catechins is that they help the body choose to burn fat as the primary energy source.2 Because they can also decrease appetite and act as a stimulant to boost energy, green tea catechins have a multi-level benefit when trying to burn fat. Green tea also contains caffeine, providing a double dose of fat burning potential.
Caffeine is used by most people as a means help wake up in the morning, but caffeine has additional properties that can help with fat loss and boosting metabolism. Fat loss requires both increasing how much energy we burn and decreasing how much energy we take in (from food) — and caffeine plays a role in both.3 Caffeine acts as a stimulant, which reduces our appetite, while also breaking down and burning fat.3 Caffeine is found naturally in many foods — from tea and coffee to chocolate. It’s also included in many pre-workout supplements and energy drinks. Everyone reacts differently to caffeine, so be careful to monitor how much you are consuming and how it makes you feel.
B complex vitamins play crucial roles in the body, but vitamins B6 and B12 specifically play key roles in metabolism. Vitamin B6 is also known as Pyridoxine. Vitamin B6 is found in many food sources, both plant and animal based, like chickpeas, beef, tuna, salmon, chicken, potatoes, and bananas.4 B6 is used for many metabolic functions, and also immunity and brain function.4 B6 is used for many metabolic functions including breaking down and burning fat, carbs and protein.4 Efficient metabolism of our food to energy is essential to healthy body composition.
Similarly, vitamin B12 plays countless important roles in the body. Because B12 is found almost exclusively in animal-based foods and doesn’t always have the best absorption rate, B12 deficiency — which leads to a form of anaemia — is very common.5 Many older adults, vegetarians and vegans need B12 supplements to help prevent anaemia, which can cause weakness and other health problems.5 Supplementing your diet with B12 can help boost your metabolism as well as your energy levels if you’re not getting enough from your diet.
Protein is a common nutrient that you already consume daily and can also help you to burn fat. When you’re working out regularly and trying to change your body composition, consuming more protein while cutting back on overall calories is the best way to target your stored body fat for burning. Consuming extra protein helps your body to preserve and build lean body mass (muscle) and activate stored fat for fuel.6
Summary: Natural fat burners include green tea, caffeine, B complex vitamins and protein. These can assist you to burn fat through increased energy expenditure, improved energy levels and metabolism, or encouragement of your body to burn fat as its fuel.
Take home message
While there are hundreds of products you can buy to help burn fat, natural products like green tea, caffeine, vitamins B12 and B6, and protein are easy to incorporate into your daily routine. They have all been proven through research to be effective in increasing fat thermogenesis. Combining these powerful natural supplements with a healthy diet and consistent workout plan can help you burn fat and meet your body composition goals.
Why not take a look at our Fat Burner Supplements?
- Cypess, A. M., Lehman, S., Williams, G., Tal, I., Rodman, D., Goldfine, A. B., … & Kolodny, G. M. (2009). Identification and importance of brown adipose tissue in adult humans. New England Journal of Medicine, 360(15), 1509-1517.
- Tokimitsu, I., & Meguro, S. (2017). 15 Anti-obesity Effects of Green Tea Catechins. Health Benefits of Green Tea: An Evidence-based Approach, 134.
- Harpaz, E., Tamir, S., Weinstein, A., & Weinstein, Y. (2017). The effect of caffeine on energy balance. Journal of basic and clinical physiology and pharmacology, 28(1), 1-10.
- Office of Dietary Supplements. (2016, February 17). National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements – Vitamin B6. Retrieved from https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminB6-Consumer/
- Office of Dietary Supplements. (2018, November 29). National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements – Vitamin B6. Retrieved from https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminB12-HealthProfessional/
- Dong, J. Y., Zhang, Z. L., Wang, P. Y., & Qin, L. Q. (2013). Effects of high-protein diets on body weight, glycaemic control, blood lipids and blood pressure in type 2 diabetes: meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. British Journal of Nutrition, 110(5), 781-789.
Claire is a Registered Dietitian through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a board-certified Health and Wellness Coach through the International Consortium for Health and Wellness Coaching. She has a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master’s degree in Clinical Dietetics and Nutrition from the University of Pittsburgh.
Talking and writing about food and fitness is at the heart of Claire’s ethos as she loves to use her experience to help others meet their health and wellness goals.
Claire is also a certified indoor cycling instructor and loves the mental and physical boost she gets from regular runs and yoga classes. When she’s not keeping fit herself, she’s cheering on her hometown’s sports teams in Pittsburgh, or cooking for her family in the kitchen.
Find out more about Claire’s experience here.