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Melt away the fat, fast!

This is what a weight loss patch promises: easy weight loss without the extra effort. It all sounds too good to be true, right? In most cases, it actually is. Weight loss patches are viewed by many as a substitute for diet pills. But in recent years, the US Federal Trade Commission has issued a warning against the use of a weight loss patch for weight loss.

How it works

A weight loss patch claims to help in weight loss by either suppressing your appetite or helping you burn excess fat. A weight loss patch works through the skin, supposedly releasing appetite suppressants and other chemicals into your body. It is said to be more effective than a diet pill because it goes directly to your body without passing through the stomach, which removes the important nutrients found in the weight loss patch.

Ingredients

Many weight loss patches usually contain these four main ingredients:

1. Guarana: a stimulant that aids in mild fat burning or thermogenic properties.

2. Chromium: helps regulate insulin function and balance blood sugar levels.

3. Garcinia cambogia or hydroxycitric acid: said to prevent the conversion of carbohydrates into fat by inhibiting the action of the enzyme citrate lyase.

4. Fucus vesiculosus or brown seaweed: supposed to help burn fat. It contains a significant amount of iodine, which serves to aid the thyroid gland.

Is it effective?

Unfortunately, although these ingredients can aid in weight loss, a weight loss patch only contains a small amount of these ingredients, thereby resulting in minimal weight loss. Furthermore, some of the ingredients, like brown seaweed, remain untested and the long term effects still unknown.

Bogus patches

Recently, the US FTC has been alarmed with the increasing number of retailers selling a bogus weight loss patch for weight loss. The US government is cracking down on these retailers, hoping to eliminate the selling of fake weight loss patches in the market.

In the end, a weight loss patch is not an effective product for weight loss. If you are thinking of losing weight, go for a diet and exercise plan instead.

One of the best ways to compare weight loss products is to weigh the pros and cons of each one, taking into account the promised benefits against potential side effects. However, when you compare weight loss products, it’s important to do your research and not just believe everything you see on the label. Here are some tips to help you out.

Types of weight loss products

To effectively compare weight loss products you need to know the three main types: fat burners, fat blockers, and appetite suppressants. Each one has different ways of making you lose weight, and all three can be combined with other ingredients to enhance their effectiveness.

Fat burners

These products vary in effectiveness and response time. Fat burners usually target extra fat and break them down so they can go to muscle, where they are turned into energy. This energy is what keeps you going throughout the day. Fat burners also contain caffeine, which may produce side effects such as increased heart rate, insomnia, nervousness, and anxiety. That’s why it is also important to compare weight loss products of this type according to their caffeine content.

When you compare weight loss product, make sure they do not contain ephedra. Ephedra is known to effectively burn fat, but may carry serious side effects such as seizures, vomiting, and even death. This has prompted the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to bad it from commercial sales. Examples of products with ephedra are Xenodrine and Hydroxycut. Other fat burning products are herbal, and thus much safer. Examples are Stacker Metabolizing Fat Burners, Nutrex Lipo 6, and S.A.N. Tight.

Fat blockers

You can also compare weight loss products that block fat instead of burning them, such as Xenical, Chitosan, Alli, and Proactol. Fat blockers prevent fats from affecting the lipase enzymes, which are responsible for absorbing the fat from food. However, the kind of food you eat can cause side effects while taking fat blockers. For example, eating greasy and fatty foods can cause you to have oily stools. Other side effects include abdominal discomfort and diarrhea.

Appetite suppressants

If you have problems controlling your food intake, try to compare weight loss products that suppress your appetite. Popular names include Meridia, Phentermine (also known as “Phen-Phen”), and Acomplia. Some appetite suppressants have herbal ingredients, which may make them safer. Hoodia gordonii is an example of a natural appetite suppressant. It works by retaining glucose levels in your body to make you feel full, as your body typically feels hungry when you have low glucose levels.

Also try to compare weight loss product usage between different appetite suppressants. Products containing Hoodia may have different recommended dosages, usually ranging from 400mg up to 1200mg in a day. This is because it varies according to the person’s metabolism. Make sure to consult your doctor before taking any such supplements.

Prescription and over-the-counter weight loss products

Weight loss products may be bought over the counter or available only on prescription. Prescription weight loss products can only be sold if your doctor issues a prescription. Their use is so restricted because they are very potent and may be harmful if misused. They are also approved by medical organizations to ensure that they really work according to their claims. Experts also study their side effects and determine whether there are conditions that make them unsafe. Prescription weight loss products are commonly given to patients who are obese or are nearing obesity.

Over-the-counter products, on the other hand, can be bought directly from pharmacies or drugstores. Some of them are generic and thus a lot cheaper, although not all of them are effective. One must take caution when buying OTC weight loss products. To stay safe, buy only those with known success rates.

Natural ingredients

Many buyers are easily fooled by the words “natural” and “herbal.” These words do not necessarily mean that the product is safe. Ephedra, for example, is considered a natural ingredient, but its side effects have turned out to be serious and sometimes even fatal. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned products containing Ephedra because of these effects. Always consult your doctor to see whether a product is safe, and remember to supplement your weight loss product with proper diet and exercise.

A typical over the counter weight loss product can be a little expensive or cheap depending on the ingredients added in them. However, before you go shopping for an over the counter weight loss product, you need to do a little research on your own about its ingredients, whether it is approved or not by the FDA, and consult your doctor whether it is fit for your condition and overall health.

What is over-the-counter?

An over the counter weight loss product is something that you can buy from the drugstore or pharmacy without a doctor’s prescription. Some of these products are generic and you have to be careful when buying them because they tend to have excessive toxins that can be harmful for your body.

Claims

A lot of OTC weight loss products do not support their claims or do not have enough scientific and medical evidence or research backing up the claims. However, there are credible OTC weight loss products that are known among consumers since they are proven to be effective and safe by those who have used and are still using them.

Types

An over the counter weight loss product can be in the form of a fat burner, fat blocker, or appetite suppressant. In some cases, the products can be a combination of two or all of those qualities. It is important that you know what these types can do for you. Here is a simple guide.

Fat burners

Fat burners work by breaking down your fat so they can be used for production of more energy and faster metabolism. They work by aiding the breaking down of fats in your body. A lot of fat burners contain caffeine to increase the heart rate. Some fat burners also work by promoting body heat so you can burn more calories. However, side effects include anxiety and nervousness, and they are not recommended for those with heart diseases and those with anxiety disorders.

Appetite suppressants

A popular over the counter weight loss product is the appetite suppressant because they prevent you from eating to keep your fat consumption to a low level. They also prevent you from giving in to cravings and binging, which can aid in weight loss. Appetite suppressants are one of the oldest types of weight loss products since a lot of people experience high weight loss success rates when taking them. In fact, the popularity of these products increased when Hoodia Gordonii was introduced in the market. Although Hoodia is considered as the best and effective appetite suppressant by many users, there is not much research to back up its effective claims.

Fat blockers

Another popular over the counter weight loss product is the fat blocker. According to users, it is more effective and very safe to use compared to other weight loss products available in the market. Xenical (orlistat) is an example of OTC fat blocker product. Fat blockers work by preventing the lipase enzymes from absorbing the fats coming from the foods you are eating. Through this method, a lot of people were able to lose weight especially when they used it with proper diet and exercise.

Side effects of fat blockers

However, side effects include diarrhea, abdominal discomforts, oily stool, and your body’s inability in absorbing essential vitamins and minerals that are fat soluble. Other examples of fat blockers are Proactol, Alli, and the natural one called chitosan. Both of them have the same side effects, sometimes, more. However, the latter is proven by scientific evidence to be weak in blocking fats.

Can they make you lose weight?

Despite several manufacturer claims, using an over the counter weight loss product may not be able to help you lose weight. Be careful with claims that are misleading especially if they are promising fast results within a week. Remember that there is no such thing as a “magic” diet pill that can make you shed off those unwanted pounds in only a short period of time.

What to avoid

Avoid any over the counter weight loss product that has ingredients that are not approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Examples of these products include ma huang, ephedrine or ephedra, white willow (salicin), and guarana. These products have no proof for effective weight loss and they have a lot of harmful side effects. For instance, ephedra is linked to side effects like seizures, stroke, heart attack, and death. Chromium is another popular ingredient in OTC weight loss products that has no back up proof on its claims that makes it effective for weight loss.

Safety measures

Only buy OTC weight loss products after consulting with your doctor so you can be sure if they are right for you or not. Furthermore, make sure that they are recognized and recommended by other users to ensure safety and effectiveness.

Hunger exists to keep us alive, but it also can morph into a destructive force that could lead us to deforming obesity and even an early grave.

One question people who are interested in fasting and weight loss always ask me is whether or not appetite suppressants work. This has led me to research much on hunger and weight loss. The question is: How can I master hunger and not gain back all the weight I lose through fasting and dieting?

Some of my findings are outlined in this article and I hope it will give you hope and motivation to follow your goals and never give up.

Not a Panacea

Appetite suppressants can be “somewhat” helpful when fasting – but from experience I can tell you that they are NOT a panacea or fix all to the natural hunger pains when fasting or dieting. The only one that I would feel comfortable recommending is Hoodia because it is made from a plant. I would suggest that you use Hoodia, but NOT any other product that has chemicals of any kind or even caffeine – or other stimulant.

Powdered Hoodia has been the one that has helped me the most by “calming” the hunger. You can go online and Google “powdered Hoodia” and you will find an ample selection to choose from. What I do is put a tablespoon of the Hoodia in a cup — usually in the afternoon — and mix it with some water and a squeeze of lemon.

It tastes quite bad, but this approach is the one that I have found produces the best appetite suppression. I also use decaffeinated green tea and seltzer water with lemon to calm hunger. This combination has carried me through 7,14,21,30 and even 40 and 60-day water and juice fasts. It works like a charm. Something about the hot liquid hitting my belly, the Hoodia, and then the effervescence of the seltzer.

Hunger Flagellation?

Do not look at the hunger pains you go through when fasting and dieting as a punishment, or even as a torture to be endured (even though it certainly can feel that way). Instead, welcome the hunger pains as the clear and indivisible sign that your body is working overtime to overcome the very toxicity that you want to get rid of.

The toxicity – or the worst of it at least – hides in between your fat cells. So the only way for the body to deep clean itself is to dig into these cells. The process actually releases these toxins directly into your bloodstream, which in turn can cause pretty violent hunger pains, as well as headache, dizziness, nausea, weakness, diarrhea and fever.

These symptoms – as well as the hunger pains – usually go away completely between the fifth and tenth day of water fasting. From then on, many persons feel as if they could go on fasting indefinitely. Confront your hunger face-to-face and realize that this very hunger is the one that will lead you back to your old ways if you do not learn to master it.

A Demanding Child

Many persons feel that it is bad to feel hunger and that any sign of it has to be addressed immediately. Learn to ignore it. Learn to live with it. Now please, I am not saying here that you should starve yourself in an anorexic way. What I am saying is that the belly can be like a demanding child who insists on getting what he wants, when he wants it or else it throws a tantrum.

Discipline it and you find freedom. Try to constantly suppress it and sooner or later it will blindside you and lead you back to where you started. The fasting and dieting process, especially when you are new, is one that can take months and even years. In my case, I fasted on and off for an entire year.

I would fast for 21 days, eat for about two weeks, then fast for another month, eat for 14 days, fast another month etc. IT is about forming life-long “discipline muscles” that will allow you to assume control of your stomach, instead of the other way around. Many persons fast once, break the fast, and within a short period gain all the weight back, and then some.

Toe-to-Toe

The only way to keep that from happening is by facing the hunger directly and becoming “comfortable” with it, to the point where appetite suppressant, or no appetite suppressant, you have the ability to choose what you are going to put in my body.

The real “breakthrough” is mastering hunger in the long-term and being able to say NO – regardless of how hard and loud my stomach yelled for that particular food that I know harms me. This is true freedom, and it is my sincere desire that you find it and experience health and wellness in every area of your life!