What food supplements to lose weight?

Food supplements have never been so popular: 70% of French people are convinced of the benefits of alternative medicine and 38% trust this type of product to feel better (1). But what is behind these products and above all, are slimming food supplements effective?

What is a slimming food supplement?

1- Prior definition

According to the Ministry of Health(2), a food supplement is defined as “a food intended tosupplement a normal dietand is a concentrated source of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect”. It is subject to strict regulation, since it is intended to be ingested. However, it is not a drug, having no therapeutic action (neither preventive nor curative). Its sale is free, whether it is done on the Internet, in physical stores or in pharmacies.

Regarding slimming food supplements, they can be defined as a combination of active ingredients (plants, vitamins, minerals …) aimed at boosting weight loss. They would optimize certain metabolic functions, such assatietyor lipolysis, toaccelerate weight loss.

2- Different supplements for different results

Yes, but there are a multitude offood supplementsto lose weight, whose promises are multiple. How to find your way around, among names as attractive as each other?

• “Fat burners”: these are food supplements promoting gastrointestinal lipolysis (breakdown of fats from the diet during digestion) and / or adipocyte (emptying of adipocytes via activation of metabolism).
• “Fat sensors”: they aim to capture dietary fat before it is absorbed by the body.
• Digestion aids with a “flat stomach” effect: these aim to encourage eupeptic functions and reduce the adverse effects of difficult digestion, such asbloatingor constipation, which tend toswell the belly.
• “Appetite suppressants”: also called appetite suppressants or anorectics, they have the property of accelerating thefeeling of satietyand thus, encouraging to reduce food intake.
• Drainers: they aim to reduce the phenomenonof water retention, thanks to their diuretic and venotonic effects. They help purify the body and eliminate toxins.
• The “detox“: they promise the elimination of toxins, which would harm the proper functioning of the body and therefore, weight loss.

It should be noted that some dietary supplements combine several effects, and therefore cannot be classified under a single category.

How to choose your slimming food supplements?

1- Selection criteria

If you are interested in a cure of food supplements to lose weight, it is better to rely on a few criteria of confidence before making your choice.

• The form: each dietary supplement comes in a different format – capsules, tablets, drink, ampoules. The choice is usually based on personal preference. But sometimes the form has an impact on the absorption of active ingredients: for example,Probiotics must be taken in the form of gastro-resistant tablets, so as not to be “deteriorated” by gastric juices during digestion.
• The function  : you don’t choose the same dietary supplement depending on whether you want to alleviate the inconvenience of menopause (weight gain is a common phenomenon after 50), optimize the slimming effects of a diet, or recover in hand after a period of excess. The reasons for weight gain are multiple, so the choice of dietary supplement must be made according to your age, lifestyle and specific issues.
• The composition: it is better to favor a natural composition and find out about the origin of the product, because the ingestion of a food supplement is not insignificant. In addition, the composition is indicative of the effectiveness of the product, both the ingredients and their dosage.

2- Focus on the ingredients

A dietary supplement aimed at boosting weight loss must have natural active ingredients:

• Lipolytics – typically ingredients that promote thermogenesis and the breakdown of fats, such as caffeine (coffee, guarana, tea, mate …), capsaicin (chili), piperine (pepper) or bromelain (pineapple );
• Sasatietogenic – usually plants or algae rich infiber (mucilages, pectin), which swell on contact with water and cut the appetite (konjac, apple, psyllium, nopal, fucus);
• Digestive – purifying ingredients, beneficial to liver function ((artichoke, black radish) and/or transit (plum, flaxseed, senna) and neutralizing intestinal gas (vegetable charcoal, ginger, fennel), for a “tummy” effect dish “;
• Diuretics – traditionally plants known for their draining effects (orthosiphon, green tea, nettle, meadowsweet, mouse- , ear hawkweed ) and venotonics (horse chestnut, red vine, butcher’s broom, ginkgo), which will unclog the body.

Selection of the best dietary supplements for weight loss

If you are considering taking dietary supplements with a view to losing weight, here are some cures to consider.

No. 1: Slimming fat-burning capsules, Cellublue