Looking and feeling younger usually starts with weight loss. Most people are carrying extra unhealthy weight that causes feelings of exhaustion and achiness. Losing just ten percent of your body weight (if you are overweight) can help you feel younger and more energetic, and can reduce your chances of developing arthritis, Type 2 diabetes, and even certain types of cancers.
Of course, eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise is the tried and true way to lose weight steadily. Many people choose to supplement a healthy lifestyle in order to lose weight faster or to help their body cleanse itself of the toxins built up over years of unhealthy living. Just as there are prescription medications to aid with weight loss, there are also natural supplements that can assist you with this process.
Hoodia
Hoodia is very well-known as a natural weight loss supplement. Pills containing Hoodia are advertised everywhere, and many different varieties can be found on the internet. Although many people swear by Hoodia, there have been no scientific trials on humans yet to test its effectiveness.
Caffeine
Caffeine is the most widely used drug in the world, and in addition to helping you wake up in the morning it may rev up your metabolism a little, helping you to shed extra weight. Caffeine should be used carefully—many natural supplements are packed with caffeine, and the side effects can be unpleasant. Although caffeine does tend to raise body temperature (and therefore help you burn more calories) it can also cause anxiety, agitation, irritability, and heart arrhythmia when taken in high doses. Since caffeine is a diuretic, users should be careful to avoid dehydration.
Guarana
Guarana is a plant whose seeds have around double the caffeine found in coffee beans. Obviously this supplement has similar benefits and side effects to any caffeinated products.
Chromium
Chromium is a mineral that is needed by the human body in trace amounts in order to metabolize food properly. It is also used by the body, in addition to insulin, when moving glucose from the blood stream into cells. Because of these properties, chromium can be especially useful to help people who are diabetic or insulin resistant lose weight. Diabetics who already take insulin, however, should not add a chromium supplement without consulting their physician.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar has long been touted as a natural supplement that aids weight loss and helps normalize blood sugar levels. However, most studies that showed a benefit used acetic acid, an acid found not just in apple cider vinegar but all vinegars. Since apples are considered a “superfood” themselves (apple pectin is supposed to help block fat absorption) perhaps it is the combination of apple and vinegar that makes apple cider vinegar so popular. The important thing to remember is to consume this only in small, diluted quantities. Undiluted apple cider vinegar can burn the throat and digestive tract.
HGH/HGH Precursors
There are many supplements that contain Human Growth Hormone, or HGH. HGH is naturally found in the human body, but our levels of it peak in the teen years, and begin to peter out after that. HGH is responsible for a high metabolism, youthful glowing skin, the ability to heal well and recover quickly from physical stress and exercise, and the tendency to carry lean muscle on the body rather than fat. HGH keeps
Genf20 Plus
muscles supple and strong, and because of this it is touted as a “miracle cure” for both signs of aging and obesity. HGH injections are the best way to receive the benefit, but they are expensive, and many doctors shy away from prescribing them due to controversies (the FDA has approved HGH for HGH deficiency but not for anti-aging and weight loss.) HGH and HGH precursors (substances that prompt your body to create more of its own HGH) are easily available online in high quality formulas like HGH Advanced, Genf20 Plus, Provacyl, Genfx and GHR1000.
While there are a wide variety of weight loss supplements out there, many of them rely on the same key ingredients shown to boost weight loss. It is important to research any supplement before using it to find out what the active ingredients actually are. There are many scam products out there that have only small amounts of an active ingredient, or are merely appetite suppressants with no other benefit.
Although appetite suppressants can help you lose weight if your problem is that you simply cannot ignore your rumbling stomach, they are often not as much help to those whose problem is emotional overeating. After all, if you are used to eating even when you are not hungry, than taking a supplement that decreases your appetite is not likely to help you achieve results. It would be better to seek a supplement like the ones listed above, which help the body to burn more calories that it normally would without the supplement. Remember to consult your doctor before adding any supplements to your regimen.
Alternative medicine will not make a splash if it had not been effective in countering the common health problems in the nation today. Its advantage among the traditional treatments is that, since they are sourced from natural ingredients, they hardly make you ‘sick’ for taking. Supplements made from natural sources may be your best bet against obesity. Then again, if you would not help yourself by minding what you eat and the manner of which you eat your food, you will hardly get any favorable result. It must be a consensus decision to lose all that extra pounds, so you will be determined to exhaust all possibilities to get the outcome that you wanted.
Excessive weight can bring a lot of stress. It can make you look bumpy; it can make you feel sluggish; it can make you worry about how people will judge you just because you are not a size 4. Most of all, obesity or being overweight can make you a potential candidate for several serious medical conditions. If only for those reasons, you should really start the move to a healthier you. They helped me through the obesity nightmare. Don’t lose hope that you would, too!