Many people find themselves wanting to shed extra body weight at some point in their lives, and they quickly realize how challenging it is to achieve and maintain healthy weight loss. While a well-rounded diet and consistent exercise routine are fundamental, certain supplements can support your weight loss journey. It's important to note that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not approve supplements for safety or effectiveness, so consulting with a healthcare professional is crucial before starting any new supplement regimen.
Understanding Weight Loss: Beyond the Basics
Traditional medicine often takes a simplistic view of weight loss, focusing solely on calorie intake and expenditure. However, integrative medicine recognizes that various factors, including hormones, neurotransmitters, and metabolic reactions, play a role in weight management. By addressing these underlying factors, you can optimize your body's ability to burn fat efficiently.
Several mechanisms can be influenced when choosing the best supplements for losing weight. Controlling cravings and appetite plays a significant role for many chronic snackers.
Some common issues that can hinder weight loss efforts include:
- Imbalanced gut health: The gut microbiome affects several processes. Too much bacteria or decreased biodiversity can lead to inflammation and cravings for carbohydrates and sugar.
- Hormonal imbalances: For both men and women, elevated estrogen levels throw off your metabolism and affect your thyroid’s performance, leading to sluggishness and weight plateaus.
- Muscle loss: Accelerated muscle loss means your body’s lean muscle mass sharply and rapidly declines.
- Chronic stress: Many constantly living in this fight-or-flight mode get cravings for salty or sweet foods, sleep less, and can’t stay focused for long periods of time. Through this combination, your body doesn’t regulate hunger as well.
Essential Supplements for Weight Loss
Many gymgoers are curious about supplements, like protein powders, sports bars, creatine, and others, that come with claims they can boost the effects of working out. But experts caution that for some of these products, the hype may outpace the science.
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“There is a place for supplements, but people need to be mindful of making sure they’re doing their homework and reading the labels,” says Nicole Avena, PhD, an associate professor of neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and a visiting professor of health psychology at Princeton University in New Jersey.
If you decide to try a supplement, be sure to choose carefully, Dr. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate them in the same way it does prescription drugs. To choose a quality supplement, check the label for USP, NSF, or Consumer Labs Approved. This means the product has undergone third-party testing for quality and purity. A primary care provider can help you identify nutrient deficiencies.
Here's a detailed look at some of the best supplements for weight loss at the gym:
1. Creatine
Creatine is naturally found in your body’s muscles and in your brain. It may help produce energy for high-intensity exercises like sprinting, as well as lifting heavy objects. Many athletes use creatine to improve strength and gain muscle.
What It Does: Creatine is one of the top three workout supplements recommended by sports scientists. It plays a vital role in producing energy for high-intensity exercises like sprinting and weightlifting. Many athletes use creatine to enhance strength and build muscle mass.
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What Research and Experts Say: Studies have shown that creatine supplementation during resistance training can significantly increase leg press, chest press, and total body strength. It also helps muscles provide the quick bursts of power needed during sports. While generally safe, creatine may cause side effects like weight gain, muscle strains, and upset stomach.
2. Leucine
What It Does: Leucine is one of three types of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and is used to fuel the skeletal muscles during exercise. Its job is to repair and build muscle, including in older adults who may need assistance maintaining muscle.
What Research and Experts Say: BCAA supplements, including leucine, have a long-standing reputation for helping your energy level and muscles recover after exercise. One meta-analysis of 18 studies found that this group of supplements seems to help muscle soreness and reduce creative kinase (an enzyme released by damaged muscles) after exercise-induced muscle damage, which can help speed up the recovery process after an intense workout.
3. Protein
Protein offers loads of nutritional benefits, and from a fitness perspective, it’s prized for enhancing muscle growth and repair and appetite control. Most Americans get plenty of protein from their diet, but athletes who exercise at higher volumes may want to increase their protein intake to maximize the muscle-repair benefits.
What It Does: Protein supplements, such as whey, casein, or plant-based options, are crucial for muscle growth, repair, and appetite control.
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What Research and Experts Say: Athletes need 0.5 to 0.9 g of protein per pound of body weight a day, according to the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS). That amount could increase during times of intense training.
4. Beta-Hydroxy Beta-Methylbutyrate (HMB)
What It Does: When your body breaks down leucine, HMB is created. It prevents or slows damage to muscle cells that can occur as a result of exercise, so some exercisers take it as a supplement to aid muscle growth and improve strength and endurance.
What Research and Experts Say: HMB can reduce post-exercise muscle damage and speed recovery while also improving strength.
5. Caffeine
What It Does: Yes, your daily cup of coffee can do more than jolt you awake in the morning - it may also boost your exercise performance. It’s an extremely popular workout aid
What Research and Experts Say: Research suggests caffeine is effective as a workout supplement. One evaluation of research involving caffeine and exercise performance concluded that caffeine mainly benefits aerobic endurance when taken in doses of 3 to 6 mg per kg of body weight.
6. Beta-Alanine
What It Does: Beta-alanine is an amino acid that’s produced by the liver and is also available through foods, such as meat and chicken. Supplementing with beta-alanine may enhance sports performance because it can prevent lactic acid buildup generated by exercise, which contributes to soreness and fatigue.
What Research and Experts Say: Spillane says there’s strong evidence supporting the effectiveness of beta-alanine. For example, a small study of strength-trained athletes found that beta-alanine supplements taken during a five-week strength-training program led to strength gains measured by the load the 30 study participants were able to lift, as well as the number of repetitions they were able to complete, compared with their initial baseline.
7. Sodium Bicarbonate
What It Does: You probably already have sodium bicarbonate in your house: It’s baking soda. Some gymgoers use the household staple in supplement form to improve performance. It can be found in powder form (similar to what you cook with) or tablet form. Sodium bicarbonate can reduce lactic acid buildup from intense, explosive, or sustained exercise that can lead to exhaustion and reduced muscle force.
What Research and Experts Say: For some people, sodium bicarbonate could improve performance slightly during intense, short-term activities like sprinting and intermittently intense sports such as boxing. But for others, sodium bicarbonate either provides no benefit or hinders performance.
8. Diet Whey Protein
Whey protein is one of the most popular supplements for weight loss. In addition to supporting recovery, maintenance, and growth of muscles, it has also been associated with increased fullness and weight loss.
9. L-Carnitine
L-carnitine has a range of benefits in the body, number one being its role in aiding weight loss. It acts by transferring long-chain fatty acids into mitochondria where they can be oxidized to produce energy… this makes the body burn stubborn fat stores for energy.
10. BCAAs (Branched Chain Amino Acids)
Supplementing with BCAAs has been shown to help regulate the body’s insulin levels and play a large role in several different metabolic reactions. And in a scientific review, there was emerging evidence showing the metabolic roles of leucine have some effect on weight loss.
11. Green Tea Extract
Many studies have shown the drink to have health benefits, weight loss among them. So, how can green tea help you lose weight? Green tea has been labelled a metabolic booster by some… but it’s not quite that simple. It contains chemical compounds called polyphenols - catechins to be precise.
12. Omega 3
One study investigated whether appetite could be affected by omega 3 fatty acids when included in a calorie-restricted diet. A positive relation between omega 3 and fullness was observed over the eight weeks of the study, and it was concluded that omega 3 intake can help modulate appetite and may have uses for weight maintenance.
13. Berberine
This bioactive compound is part of a class of plant alkaloids, naturally occurring in shrubs like Oregon grape and barberry. Berberine also activates an enzyme called AMPK, which stands for AMP-activate protein kinase.
14. Carnosine
Carnosine is an amino acid made in the body by combining the amino acids beta-alanine and histidine. Herbal supplements for weight loss such as carnosine may be of special importance for vegetarian and vegan diets.
15. Spirulina
A natural fat burner, this blue-green alga is packed with vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, including antioxidants, tocopherols, and phenolic compounds. Spirulina has been shown to decrease appetite, inflammation, and body fat in one study over the course of 12 weeks.
16. Collagen
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. Its power to heal the gut and satiate appetite might be behind its use for weight loss. Collagen, like other proteins, helps to activate your fullness hormone, leptin.
17. Medium-Chain Triglycerides (MCTs)
Their special molecular structure bypasses normal digestion, passively diffusing MCTs straight to the liver. Then, they are further broken down into free fatty acids. The best part about MCTs is that we don’t store this type of fat if our body does not need it at the time.
18. B Vitamins
For a healthy liver and weight loss, B vitamins provide some of the most valued nutrients for the body and are sometimes the hardest to get in diets. There are eight different B vitamins, and they function optimally synergistically, or when combined in the proper ratios.
19. Cruciferous Vegetables
Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and leeks, or any vegetable in the cruciferous family, help support natural detox pathways that play a role in a well-functioning metabolism. If your diet is low in these foods, adding a high-quality greens supplement can support your weight loss goals.
Additional Considerations for Effective Weight Loss
Beyond supplements, consider these factors for successful weight loss:
- Dietary Diversity: Ensure a diverse intake of nutrients and monitor your portion sizes. Shift your diet toward protein, not only for its ability to manage your appetite but also for its muscle-supporting benefits.
- Green Tea: Consider adding green tea to your diet for its potential weight loss benefits.
- Professional Guidance: It’s incredibly important to work with a functional medicine provider or health coach to identify the root cause of weight gain and develop a personalized plan.
The Importance of a Healthy Lifestyle
Supplements can boost workout performance, but they can come with risks and should not replace a balanced diet or proper training. Remember that a supplement cannot replace health-promoting activities like exercising and eating a balanced, nutrient-rich diet. Talk with a doctor if you’re interested in developing a healthy program that can help you manage your weight.
Weight gain has a different root cause for each person, and you must identify within the body that will open the door for not only weight loss but optimal whole-body wellness.