Best Fat Burning Supplements

With Summer just around the corner, many people are starting to turn their eye toward renewing or restarting their beach body quest. In a month or so most personal trainers worth their salt are slammed with eager beavers wanting to get rid of their winter body in preparation for hot weather and skimpy clothes. Its a shame that many people don't take a slightly more disciplined approach during winter!!!

The average Nz'er stacks on in the vicinity of 2-3kg over the winter period, many gain this weight forever whilst other may be lucky and get back to their pre-winter weight from the year before.

In any case as the title of this blog suggests, through my nutritional and hormonal profiling work I have had the chance to work with many people, trialling the effectiveness of a range of nutritional supplements with Fat burning properties.

Of course it is not the supplement itself that is burning the fat, - that is caused by your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR),  your exercise regime and your daily activity levels, but the correct supplements in a well structured diet and exercise program can make the world of difference.

My top 5 supplements for burning fat:

1. Fish Oil: Helps to lower insulin resistance (your fat cells will purge out fat stores easier and your muscle cells will uptake fat more rapidly for energy use) it is recommended to take 6-10g daily (but has been used up to 1000mg per % body fat under strict professional supervision)
2. Carnitine: binds to fat molecules and allows for their preferential transport to the mitochondria (engine room of your cells) for consumption. Professionals recommend taking 500mg-6g daily building slowly in divided doses. Bowel discomfort may happen at larger doses and therefore it is recommended to build slowly and find your personal preferred amount.
3. Green Tea: Implicated in assisting ABDOMINAL FAT-LOSS, Green tea contains polyphenols which help to increase whole body thermogenisis (fat burning activity) and metabolic rate. It has been recommended to try starting with 300mg a day working up to 700-1000mg
4. Alpha Lipoic Acid: Another insulin sensitiser and also anti-oxident, when compared to placebo's, ALA in studies has produced profound fatloss when tied into correct diet and exercise programs. Trials starting at 600mg through to 3000mg per day have been used in humans.
5. ACTUALLY THIS ONE SHOULD BE NO.1....!!!!!  Exhaustive, time under tension based resistance training. Not a supplement I know, but probably most important. Training that creates large amounts of Lactic acid accumulation and residual fatigue is absolutely your best friend during fat burning exercise. Take 4-5 doses weekly :-)