Choosing the Right Weight Loss Supplements for a Thinner, Healthier Body

Obesity is an epidemic in the West, but it is fastpart of the diet of the bushmen there for centuries.
becoming a problem in other areas of the world asHoodia works by making the brain believe that the
well, as people become more accustomed to eatingstomach is full. CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl even
unhealthy convenience foods and start to lead morewent to the Kalahari Desert to try hoodia herself, and
sedentary lifestyles. Can weight loss supplementsshe says that not only did she not feel hungry all day,
ease the problem and help a person shed thosebut that she had no desire to eat or drink at all.Some
excess pounds? There may be evidence that theyherbal supplements said to promote weight loss
could do just this.But wait! Let me say from the outsetcontain an ingredient called phaseolus vulgaris, which is
that no matter how many weight loss supplementsextracted from the white kidney bean. These
you take, they won't do you any good at all if yousupplements are also known as carb blockers, or
continue to take in more calories that you burn. If youcarbohydrate blockers. They prevent the body from
come across a supplement that claims that you willabsorbing starches, and are beneficial to those on a
lose weight just by taking it -- even if you eat all thecontrolled-carbohydrate diet. Even more popular as
food you want and don't exercise -- stay away fromweight loss supplements are so-called fat blockers,
it. Either it will have no effect at all, or it will make youwhich, as the name implies, inhibit the body's absorption
very sick. Always remember that a healthy diet andof fat. Chitosan, a substance derived from shellfish, is
good exercise are the essential components of anthe main ingredient in fat blockers. It is an indigestible
effective weight loss regimen. A weight lossfiber that absorbs fat from foods. However, it is not
supplement is just used to speed the process alongsuitable for people who are allergic to shellfish.Other
just a little bit.There are many kinds of weight lossdiet pills have the effect of increasing lean muscle
food supplements out in the market today, and theymass or reducing fat, or both. Supplements that
have different functions and mechanisms. Somecontain chromium picolinate are likely to be helpful and
supplements function on the principle of thermogenics,safe, according to human studies. Clinical trials also
that is, the body's process of making the metabolismshow that sometimes chromium has no effect on
run faster to burn fat faster and more efficiently. Abody weight, even though it can increase lean muscle
number of herbal supplements can contain ingredientsand decrease weight. Still, there are concerns about its
that stimulate the metabolism, such as ephedra (masafe use in the long run. Another substance that
huang), green tea extract, caffeine, guarana, orshows similar promise is conjugated linoleic acid, which
synephrine. Synephrine encourages the breakdown ofis found in beef and dairy foods. But again, more
fat cells; guarana contains guaranine, whose effectsstudies are needed to assess its effectiveness in
are very similar to those of caffeine; and green teaweight loss and lean muscle mass-building. The same
not only promotes thermogenesis, it has numerousgoes for hydroxymethylbutyrate (HMB), which is a
healthy effects on the body as well. Ephedra was aby-product of the breakdown of leucine, an amino acid.
popular ingredient in many weight loss supplements,Sometimes it can be confusing to choose from
until it was banned because of associations withamong the many weight loss supplements available
adverse events like heart attacks, stroke, andtoday, most of which have heavy marketing and
death.Some diet pills and herbal supplements work toadvertising hype behind them.Whichever ones you
suppress the appetite and reduce food cravings. Forchoose, remember that they don't work magic; they
instance, plantago psyllium -- derived from the seedsshould always be taken in conjunction with healthy
of Plantago ovato -- is said to cause a feeling ofeating habits and regular physical provides you with
fullness, thereby discouraging more food intake. Butinformation on (herbal) nutritional supplements, weight
perhaps the most famous appetite suppressant isloss supplements, bodybuilding supplements, & anti
hoodia, which is derived from a prickly plant that growsaging natural supplements.
in South Africa's Kalahari Desert and which has been