Let's be real; there's no shortage of supplements available when it comes to weight loss and fat loss.
But from the hundreds of products lining shelves that claim to burn fat, boost metabolism, and get you the body of your dreams, how many actually work?
Honestly, probably not many.
If there's one product that does what it claims, Opti-Nutra has made it: Burn Lab Pro.
While it's a blend of five unique and powerful ingredients combined to maximize your body's fat-burning abilities, there's one we want to zoom in on—capsaicin.
Derived from a whole-food source, it's an entirely natural, effective way to rev your metabolism, reduce your appetite, and help you reach your weight loss goals.
What is Capsicum (Capsaicin)?
Capsicum is the scientific name for a red pepper. And while red peppers are delicious in things like stir-fry's, salads, or just eaten raw, there's a specific constituent in red chili peppers that makes them unique for weight loss and fat loss.
That is capsaicin—the active constituent that's also responsible for providing chili peppers with their heat.
Thus, we call it a thermogenic agent, which acts to increase body temperature, suppress appetite, speed up metabolism, and boost caloric expenditure.
What's not to love about that?
Because of this thermogenic property, you'll also find capsaicin in many fat burning supplements because it helps to increase caloric expenditure, even at rest.
What Does It Do?
Chili peppers have been around for centuries as flavor and heat agents for food and are widely used in various cuisines like Asian and Mexican.
It has also been found to have over 200 active constituents, some of which play multiple roles body-wide.
Capsaicin, the major active compound, plays a role in everything from treating pain and inflammation to cancer and neurodegenerative diseases 1.
But it's also been proposed as a potent anti-obesity agent.
And it's not just that.
Aside from helping you to shed unwanted weight and fat, capsaicin may have a beneficial role in your overall health and well-being.
Rodent studies give rise to the idea that regular consumption of capsaicin could exhibit anti-inflammatory and gastroprotective properties, besides positive vascular effects 2, 3.
Whether you're dealing with digestive issues, inflammation, or cardiovascular concerns, taking capsaicin could be to your benefit.
How Capsaicin Works
As we said, capsaicin is classified as a thermogenic agent which has two jobs: reduce your calorie intake and increase your calorie expenditure. The result? Weight loss and fat loss.
There are a couple of specific ways in which it does this.
1. Fat Oxidation and Energy Expenditure
If you're looking to boost fat oxidation and drop weight, multiple studies show that capsaicin may just be your friend.
One study found that taking just 6mg of capsaicin per day for 12 weeks was enough to elicit a significant reduction in body weight compared to the placebo group—0.9kg to 0.5kg respectively with no adverse side effects 4.
It may do this by increasing oxygen consumption (VO2) and body temperature, which is reflected as an increase in energy expenditure.
Fat oxidation was also reported to increase with resting energy expenditure. An increase in lipid oxidation and increased energy expenditure therefore may be potentially beneficial for weight management.
2. Appetite Regulation
Dietary intake of capsaicin may also be capable of reducing food intake by altering appetite and satiety regulation through targeting signaling pathways in the hypothalamus that control leptin release and thus signal satiety 1.
One study looked at how the addition of red pepper to meals affected food intake and found that it decreased energy intake throughout the day, which may be related to an increase in sympathetic nervous system activity 5.
Interestingly, there's another mechanism to capsaicin's anti-obesity effect.
Brown adipose tissue (BAT) has a significant role in cold-induced non-shivering thermogenesis to maintain body temperature.
Research shows chili pepper affects energy expenditure by triggering activation of BAT much the same as low temperature does, which causes an increase in energy expenditure via non-shivering thermogenesis 6.
The underlying mechanisms as to why this happens is likely attributed to lipolytic activation in brown adipose tissue and increased cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels and PKA activity within the BAT itself.
Activating thermogenic genes may also turn on the switch for increased fat burning 1.
The Best Place To Find Capsaicin
The most common way of getting capsaicin into your diet is through exactly that, food.
Cayenne pepper is a great and super flavorful addition to any dish where a bit of heat is needed, but cooking with it daily may become a bit of a problem considering the amounts you may need to see any benefit.
Another option is in something like the drink labeled as the 'master cleanse' - cayenne pepper, maple syrup, lemon juice, and water.
While we're not advocating this as a cleansing drink because there's little evidence to support its efficacy, it is an easy and somewhat palatable method of getting capsaicin into your body that won't set your mouth on fire.
If you're not a fan of spice, eating straight cayenne pepper or throwing some in your food is probably out of the question for you. So, what's one to do if they can't physically eat it?
Supplement. But before you going buying, read this.
Cayenne pepper is widely available in capsules, but there's ample reason to believe that if you're looking for weight loss, combining it with other fat-burning ingredients is far more effective than taking it on its own.
Enter Burn Lab Pro - an effective, completely natural fat burning supplement that contains Capsimax cayenne pepper extract.
It helps to maximize fat breakdown and fat burning during exercise, provides stimulant-like fat loss without the caffeine or jitters, and the unique encapsulation in OmniBeads protects capsaicinoids from stomach acid for peak absorption, activity, and comfort.
Combined with ForsLean, HMB, GTF Chromium, and BioPerine, you're getting the most efficient, powerful, and effective fat burner ever created.
Whether or not it's a training day, Burn Lab Pro is designed to make you feel stronger, leaner, and cleaner.
References
- J Zheng, S Zheng,Q Feng, Q Zhang, X Xiao. Dietary capsaicin and its anti-obesity potency: from mechanism to clinical implications. Biosci Rep. 2017; 37(3): BSR20170286.
- Abdel-Salam, O. M. (2014). Capsaicin as a therapeutic molecule. Basel: Springer.
- MF McCarty, JJ DiNicolantonio, JH O'Keefe. Capsaicin may have important potential for promoting vascular and metabolic health. Open Heart. 2015; 2(1): e000262.
- S Snitker, Y Fujishima, H Shen, et al. Effects of novel capsinoid treatment on fatness and energy metabolism in humans: possible pharmacogenetic implications. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009; 89(1): 45-50.
- M Yoshioka, S St-Pierre, V Drapeau, et al. Effects of red pepper on appetite and energy intake. Br J Nutr. 1999; 82(2): 115-123.
- M Saito, T Yoneshiro. Capsinoids and related food ingredients activating brown fat thermogenesis and reducing body fat in humans. Curr Opin Lipidol. 2013; 24(1): 71-77.
