While the combination of a healthy, calorie-controlled diet with exercise and effective fat-loss supplements is the best approach to slim down and lose weight, a little extra help never hurts.
You can add extra impetus to your weight-loss efforts to slim down ahead of summer by considering alternative products that may help improve the effectiveness of your diet and training.
READ MORE | Halt Hunger Pangs: The Best Supplements To Suppress Appetite
Keep calories in check
A golden rule in any successful weight loss plan is achieving and maintaining a slight calorie deficit – burning more calories than you consume on a daily basis. Creating this deficit relies on a decrease in the calories you eat and a boost in the energy you burn through daily activity and exercise.
However, working out and eating a little less makes you hungry. It is, therefore, beneficial to find ways to avoid overeating. One option is to include an adjunct to traditional approaches like an appetite suppressant in your supplement plan to help you manage your caloric intake more effectively.
A product like Biogen Appetite Suppress is formulated with ingredients like white kidney bean extract1 that help to suppress your appetite, and temporarily increase the feeling of fullness and satiety.
Research1 shows that white kidney bean extract inhibits the enzyme α-amylase, which can limit carbohydrate digestion and absorption with “small but potentially meaningful attendant beneficial effects on body weight and metabolic health”.
By reducing feelings of hunger and cravings, these supplements empower dieters to maintain better control over their food consumption and make healthier choices. By curbing the desire to overeat or indulge in unhealthy snacks, appetite suppressants help you create that crucial calorie deficit.
Furthermore, products like Biogen Appetite Suppress provide additional weight-loss assistance with ingredients like Garcinia and Bioperine® that improve digestion and support glucose metabolism.
When combined with a balanced diet and regular exercise, appetite suppressants can become valuable tools in achieving and sustaining weight loss goals, empowering individuals to adopt healthier lifestyles and improve overall well-being.
About Biogen Appetite Suppress: D 33.7 Combination Product. Western Herbal Medicine. Complementary medicine. This unregistered medicine has not been evaluated by SAHPRA for its quality, safety or intended use. Health supplements are intended only to complement health or supplement the diet.
READ MORE | Why A 500-Calorie Daily Deficit Seldom Achieves Long-Term Weight Loss
Metabolism booster
Green tea extract is another product that may provide additional slimming support through its role in increasing energy metabolism due to its catechin and caffeine content.
In one study2, overweight and obese women who took green tea extract for six weeks increased leptin levels – a hormone released by fat tissue that regulates hunger by promoting satiety to maintain normal weight on a long-term basis – and reduced low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.
Research findings3 also show positive shorter term and longer term effects on resting fat metabolism when taking green tea extract.
Biogen Green Tea Extract offers a convenient option to increase your daily intake, with an additional 25 mg of caffeine per capsule for additional metabolism support.
Each capsule is also a source of antioxidants that help protect cells against the oxidative damage caused by free radicals. Formulated with 95% polyphenol green tea extract, delivering 500 mg per serving, this product may offer support for cellular health.
About Biogen Green Tea Extract: D 34.8 Polyphenols. Health Supplement. This unregistered medicine has not been evaluated by SAHPRA for its quality, safety or intended use.
READ MORE | Apple Cider Vinegar And Weight Loss
Better blood sugar regulation
And a third potential option for dieters is apple cider vinegar (ACV). ACV is made through a fermentation process where apples are combined with yeast to convert their natural sugar into alcohol. Bacteria is then added to ferment the alcohol into acetic acid, which is the main active component in the liquid.
The more beneficial form of ACV contains ‘mother of vinegar’, a natural cellulose produced by the vinegar bacteria, along with proteins, enzymes and beneficial bacteria that give the product a murky, cobweb-like appearance. Users can also expect sediment, colour variation and cloudiness in their preferred products.
Studies demonstrate that ACV may offer benefits when included in a comprehensive weight-loss plan. For example, one study4 found that ACV “significantly decreased serum total cholesterol (and) fasting plasma glucose”.
This positive effect on glucose is generally attributed5 to the acetic acid from vinegar, which can increase insulin sensitivity by inhibiting the activity of carbohydrate-digesting enzymes, which lowers a person’s blood sugar response during and after meals, and lowers fasting glucose levels.
This not only has the potential to offer some benefit to those suffering from pre-diabetes or diabetes, but also has a beneficial spin-off in terms of promoting weight loss and fat loss.
Other studies6 suggest that vinegar can increase satiety, which can help to reduce your total calorie intake, which could assist with weight loss.
Adding a product like Biogen Apple Cider Vinegar to your daily nutritional plan can help support weight loss by aiding digestion, with added Curcumin C3 Complex®, Ginger and Bioperine® to boost your metabolism.
About Biogen Apple Cider Vinegar: D 33.7 Combination product. Complementary Medicine. This unregistered medicine has not been evaluated by SAHPRA for its quality, safety or intended use.
References:
- Ruth Nolan, Oliver M. Shannon, et al. It’s No Has Bean: A Review of the Effects of White Kidney Bean Extract on Body Composition and Metabolic Health. Nutrients. 2020 May; 12(5): 1398. Published online 2020 May 13. doi: 10.3390/nu12051398
- Huang, LH., Liu, CY., Wang, LY. et al. Effects of green tea extract on overweight and obese women with high levels of low density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C): a randomised, double-blind, and cross-over placebo-controlled clinical trial. BMC Complement Altern Med 18, 294 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-018-2355-x
- Adrian B. Hodgson, Rebecca K. Randell, Asker E. Jeukendrup. The Effect of Green Tea Extract on Fat Oxidation at Rest and during Exercise: Evidence of Efficacy and Proposed Mechanisms. Adv Nutr. 2013 Mar; 4(2): 129–140. Published online 2013 Mar 6. doi: 10.3945/an.112.003269
- Amir Hadi, Makan Pourmasoumi, et al. The effect of apple cider vinegar on lipid profiles and glycemic parameters: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2021; 21: 179. Published online 2021 Jun 29. doi: 10.1186/s12906-021-03351-w
- Ogawa Nobumasa, Satsu Hideo, et al. Acetic Acid Suppresses the Increase in Disaccharidase Activity That Occurs during Culture of Caco-2 Cells. The Journal of Nutrition. Volume 130, Issue 3, March 2000, Pages 507-513.
- J Darzi, G S Frost, et al. Influence of the tolerability of vinegar as an oral source of short-chain fatty acids on appetite control and food intake. Int J Obes (Lond). 2014 May;38(5):675-81. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2013.157. Epub 2013 Aug 27.
Author: Pedro van Gaalen
When he’s not writing about sport or health and fitness, Pedro is probably out training for his next marathon or ultra-marathon. He’s worked as a fitness professional and as a marketing and comms expert. He now combines his passions in his role as managing editor at Fitness magazine.
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