QUESTION: Tom. I am currently not using any fat burners.However, in many magazines where I see advertisements for fat burners, they always have a model with a six-pack and the headline is something like, “It takes more than trainingand nutrition to get a six-pack.” Once a person hits a plateau, do we really need fat burners to achieve that “ripped” or “six-pack” look? I am having a really hardtime getting my stomach to look the way I want it, and Ireally respect your opinion, so I appreciate your thoughtson this. Thanks Tom!

ANSWER: The short and sweet answer is NO, you do not ever “need” fat burners.

While I won’t dismiss the fact that there are someingredients in some “fat burner” products that might help a little bit, I take great displeasure in seeing those kinds of misleading headlines as well as the misleading use of models who are often paid to endorse the product even though they may never have even used it (they’re just models!)

Many “fat burner” companies have been sued by the Federal Trade Commission forfalse advertising, false claims and falsifying before andafter photos.

The best you get is a slight thermogenic effect and possiblysome slight appetite suppression. A few products might workthrough other mechanisms like improving thyroid, but if youforgive me the generalization, I consider the effects ofall these “fat burner” products to be minutia.

In a previous newsletter, I wrote that in my opinion, 97% ofyour results come from nutrition and training and maybe youget an extra 3% advantage from supplements.

Just so you know those numbers arent something I just pulledout of thin air, lets take an example:

I have reviewed scientific data that EGCG, the active ingredientin green tea extract, if consumed in enough quantity, couldincrease thermogenesis / metabolic rate by an average of about75 calories in 24 hours.

Since ephedrine was taken off the market, green tea extractappears in many ephedra-free formulas these days.

What is a typical calorie expenditure for an active male in24 hours? lets say 2700 calories per day. 75/2700 = 2.7%.

That slight little extra doesnt hurt, especially when itsdelivered in a healthful package such as green tea, ratherthan central nervous system stimulants, but its minutia inthe bigger picture.

Another way to put this into perspective is to make a list ofwhat other things would burn 75 calories (for 150 lb person:)

• walk your dog for 15 minutes
• three times a day, walk for 5 minutes at normal casual pace
• 30 minutes of ironing
• bagging leaves and grass clippings for 14 minutes
• re arrange your furniture for 10 minutes
• wash your car, 15 minutes
• vacuuming for 15 minutes
• 7.2 minutes of walking up stairs (could be spread throughout the day)

Ah yes, but why move your body when you can take the pill andmetabolism increases while you sit and watch TV? How about foryour health? A body that is not moved, rots away. Unlike a carwhich only has so many miles on it and wears out from over-use,people are the only “machines” on earth that fall apart from under-use.

Here’s what any good personal trainer will always tell you: No amount of calorie restriction or pill-popping will ever give you FITNESS. It willl never give you STRENGTH. it will never get you MUSCULARITY. It will never give you FUNCTIONALITY. At best it will help you reduce body mass slightly.

On one hand, I’m tempted to say that everything counts and thatyes, 75 calories here, and 75 calories there, it ALL adds up,because it does. After you’re exercising regularly and all your fundamentals are in place, detailsand little things do matter.

I’m simply asking you to put the benefits of any fat burners inproper perspective and realize that (1) there is no “need” for taking them and (2) the claims made in the ads are often erroneous or exagerrated.

My advice on fat burners:

1. NEVER buy a fat burner unless you get independent verification ofthe claims made for the product.

How do you KNOW they really work? Are you SERIOUSLY going to takethe advertisers word for it? Are you SERIOUSLY going to take someoneelse’s testimonial as fact? Get verification for yourself by (a) Going to the pubmed data base and looking for research (try www.ReleMed.com too, as their search results are very thorough and relevant and they provide links to the pub med citations), or (b) become a member at ourinner circle, go to the supplement forum and look for the product inquestion. if it’s not there, start a new thread and ask if there isresearch supporting the product. We will do the research and independentverification for you in a neutral and unbiased fashion (because we are not affiliated with any supplement companies).

2. Put it in perspective

With those products that work, such as those providing a smallthermogenic effect, put that in perspective as compared to how easilyyou could burn that many calories with even light exercise likewalking or housework. Keep in mind the additional fitness and strength benefitsyou will obtain from exercise as opposed to doing nothing and poppinga pill.

3. See if there are any side effects or health warnings.

With all supplements and especially with prohormones or stronger thermogenics like the ephedrine and caffeine stack,(if you still have access to them), understand the risk to benefitratio, and be certain you know the dangers and contraindications.

4. Read the label and see if the product contains enough activeingredient to even work.

A classic scam is when a “fat burner”product quotes research thata certain inredient boosts metabolism, which might be true. Whatthey may not tell you is that all the research with positive resultsused a large dosage of the ingredient, which might not be cheap.So the supplement company includes a “pinch” or “light dusting”of that ingredient just so they can say it’s in the bottle, eventhough its nothing more than “label decoration.” Then they have theaudacity to invoke the research studies in their advertisementswhen the amount of the ingredient in their product is no where nearwhat was used in the research!

5. Proprietary blend scam.

Some companies, DONT LET YOU SEE how much ingredient is in theproduct formula, because it contains multiple ingredients and theysay their formula is a “trade secret” aka “proprietary”, so theylist WHAT is in the product but not HOW MUCH. If you don’t knowhow much is in there then how are we (the consumers) supposed toget independent confirmation of the facts and analyze whetherthis product is any good?

6. Make sure there is human research, not just rodent research.

In many cases, advertisements cite studies on rats and mice as “proof” under the assumption that the product will produce the same results in humans. Animal research is an important part of the scientific method, asit is often used to help find areas of research where human studyshould be pursued, or in the other direction, to trace back themechanism that makes something work. However, for obesity researchin particular, a positive finding in rats does not mean the samething will happen in humans (here’s a perfect example).

7. Look for more than one human study.

Consider trying a supplement after it has human research thathas been replicated by different research groups which are notindustry-sponsored. My policy is that I will usually only givea “buy” rating to a supplement when a product has an intitialwell-designed human controlled trial published and then similarresearch has been replicated by another research group that isnot supplement-industry funded.

Actually, I think it’s a goodthing that nutrition and supplement companies fund and sponsorsome of the research. They should. They should not only backup their claims with published clinical trials, they shouldshare some of the cost of this expensive research.

However, a basic principle of the scientific method is replication.Other researchers should be able to duplicate the findings.Therefore, while funding source does not necessarily prove bias, if there isonly one study available on a supplement and it is company orindustry sponsored, I usually take it with a grain of salt and put anasterisk next to it while I wait for confirmation from another study. (You might be surprised at how IN-frequently this type of confirmation occurs).

Do you REALLY need “more” than nutrition and exercise??????

Now, when you weigh the fact that even the products with researchbacking them only help a little, with the fact that many of theads lie to you about research, exagerrate claims and hide vital information aboutingredients, and with the fact that you can do a few more minutesof exercise per day and get the same results for free, how enthusiasticare you about fat burners?

Yeah, that’s why I’m not real excited about them either and basedon the fact that I use no drugs and no “fat burner” supplementsand I compete in bodybuilding – very successfully – I’d say that the assertion, “it takesmore than nutrition and exercise to get six pack abs” is patently false.

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto
www.burnthefat.com
www.BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com