Fat Burner Diet: Effective or Nonsense?

Quite ordinary nutrients are supposed to dissolve fat and make you slim. But what is really true about the fat burner diet? What can I eat?

What is behind the fat burner diet?

Why constantly stand on the eating brake, sweat in the gym or pant through the park? Just to finally lose a few pounds? When a slim waist is much more comfortable to have: Fat burners are supposed to dissolve unloved fat pads – and losing weight works by itself! In any case, new books about the Fatburner diet and the providers of corresponding slimming products promise this.

It is claimed that we simply lack minerals, vitamins, special enzymes and fatty acids to get the fat burning process going properly. So give us a mega dose of magnesium or vitamin C and we will stay slim? Unfortunately, it is not that simple.

Magnesium, vitamin C & etc.

• Magnesium: Many people are only too fat because they don’t have enough magnesium, it is claimed. This is because the mineral is located in the fat cell and controls the fat burning process from there. The more magnesium, the better. Misconception: fat is only broken down when the muscles are working and there is enough oxygen. This only works with exercise – it has nothing to do with the magnesium supply.
• Chromium: Additions of this trace element are supposed to activate the musculature and thus increase fat burning fourfold – but there is no evidence of this. Chromium is indeed involved in fat metabolism. But there are no clear study results on the effects it has on fat pads: Some participants actually lost weight when taking chromium, others gained weight, and some did not gain any weight at all. The trace element has not been researched very much, too much of it is even poisonous.

• Lemon juice / Vitamin C: Supposedly models swear by it: regularly peel a lemon before going to bed – and you will never have figure problems again. Vitamin C or capsules with “citrus bioflavonoids” are said to have the same effect: loosen and remove fat from the stomach, thighs and hips. But that certainly does not work. Nevertheless, vitamin C is great for losing weight – if you eat fruit and vegetables instead of pizza and chocolate bars!
• Fatty acids: The hit: juice and powder of barley or wheatgrass to lose weight. Special fatty acids in them (gamma-linolenic acid, linoleic acid) are said to help break down excess fat. However, there is no lack of linoleic acid; it is found in vegetable oils and is converted to gamma-linolenic acid in the body. However, nobody has become slim from this yet.
• Conjugated linoleic acid: A fatty acid, which we ingest through milk and meat, is said to make us slim in higher doses because it builds up muscle and breaks down fat. In a Norwegian study, overweight people under CLA lost more fat than the control group that received a sham drug. In addition, the muscles were retained. Experts such as the Giessen nutritionist Alexandra Schek nevertheless believe it is too early to celebrate CLA as a slimming product, there are still too few studies. Higher doses are even suspected to promote liver cancer.
• Enzymes: Preparations with enzymes are long-running. Enzymes from pineapple (bromelain), papaya (papain), kiwi (actinidine) or fig (ficin) in particular are said to stimulate the digestion of fat and thus break down fat deposits. Neither one nor the other is true.
• L-carnitine: The body can also produce this vitamin-like substance itself. L-carnitine, which is taken in addition, does not reach the cells, therefore more fat is not burned.

• Protein: A diet high in protein is designed to prevent muscle breakdown and to help you regain weight as soon as you lose weight. This is said to be achieved because the thyroid gland produces more hormones when protein intake is high, which boosts the metabolism. But nutrition experts doubt these effects.
• Iodine: Only iodine has an effect on the thyroid gland, protein does not. On the other hand, it is undisputed that a lot of protein counteracts muscle breakdown (and thus the dreaded yoyo effect after a diet). However, high-protein weight loss diets put a strain on the kidneys and are far too one-sided.
• Thyroid hormones and seaweed: Thyroid hormones (triiodothyronine, thyroxine) get the metabolism going – and you lose weight. However, it is mainly muscles and only little fat that is lost. This artificially induced hyperthyroidism can also have dangerous side effects (sweating, sleep disorders, cardiac rhythm disorders). Preparations made from bladderwrack are similarly critical. They contain iodine, which is needed for the production of thyroid hormones, and are also supposed to stimulate the thyroid gland. In healthy people, however, iodine-containing preparations have no effect. However, if you have a still unrecognized hyperthyroidism, it is dangerous for you! For food supplements, an upper limit of 100 micrograms per day is recommended for iodine.

Lose weight successfully and healthily? With these ten tips you can do it!

• Keep your muscles busy! Muscles that are exercised regularly burn fat better than untrained ones and help to keep the weight off. The more muscles you have, the greater the energy consumption – regardless of whether you are doing sports or relaxing on the sofa.
• Every move counts! Even less sweaty movements burn fat. However, at least 2000 kilocalories per week should be accumulated in order to get the fat reduction going. An example: 25 minutes’ walk to work every day (700 Kcal); climbing two flights of stairs every day (300 Kcal); 2 hours’ cycling every week (600 Kcal); 1.5 hours’ walking every week (400 Kcal).
• Change your diet! This is best done with a balanced, low-fat mixed diet. You consume about 30 grams of fat and between 1000 and 1200 calories per day. It shouldn’t be less, otherwise you won’t get full and risk not getting enough nutrients and a yo-yo effect.

• Against increased appetite attacks: A brisk walk or a pot of tea curbs the appetite and distracts. Get into the habit of eating regularly. If you eat three to five meals a day, your blood sugar level won’t drop to the basement and you won’t get ravenous appetite in the first place.
• Don’t forbid yourself anything! “Never again chocolate”, with that resolution, you’re guaranteed to fail. You think only about chocolate and finally succumb to temptation – with a bad conscience. Think of chocolate as something special that you can definitely treat yourself to, but only as a small portion.
• Eat slowly! The signal “Enough – I’m full” takes about ten minutes to reach the brain, and even a little longer for overweight people. Therefore, if you eat too fast, you quickly eat too much.
• Full is full! Leave something on the plate more often.
• Don’t eat out of frustration! If you’re under stress or distressed: Do not go to the nearest baker. Treat yourself to something nice that has nothing to do with food, for example a visit to the cinema or a new CD.

• Be patient! Slim overnight or “7 pounds less in 7 days” – these are empty promises. Do not set yourself any deadlines and do not let others tell you what to do. The body is reluctant to part with its fat pads, and this takes different lengths of time for each person. Just don’t make the mistake of eating less and less when your weight stagnates. This merely down-regulates the metabolism – and you will certainly not lose weight.
• Separate yourself from wrong ideas! There is no diet and no slimming agent with which you can lose weight only in certain places (buttocks, thighs). The genes decide where the upholstery sits. When you lose weight, the fat cells empty but do not dissolve. Nevertheless, sport also helps here. It tightens and smoothes the tissue. In addition, good blood circulation improves the appearance and ensures that no fluid builds up in the tissue.