The New Generation Of Fat-Burning Supplements Every 40-year-old needs
Fat burners work differently for 40-year-olds compared to people 20 years our junior. Here’s what you need to know about the next generation of pills that fight the fat fight for you.
Fat burning pills are effective and safe.
THE BRIEF
Time to read: 3 minutes 30 seconds
Time to action: 5 minutes
Mantra: Perfect the trifecta: Nutrition, Exercise, Supplementation
Main message: Unashamed good news in tackling weight loss
Stat: Almost 26% of the UK is obese. Help is here, and for once it’s healthy
Fat burner supplements have come a long way from the potent mix of appetite suppressants and caffeine-fueled accelerants that made the 80s and 90s so… excitable. The most significant changes, ingredients aside, are that they work now and can genuinely help. It’s an exciting time when all approvals [to date] point to a genuinely effective tool in fighting diabetes and obesity because, whether we choose to recognise it or not, they are both big problems for the UK.
Wegovy is now with us, and it’s fair to say it’s an evolutionary leap in the help on offer to anyone suffering from weight-related illness. It works by suppressing your appetite so you eat less by mimicking the action of a gut hormone that slows down the movement of food in your gut. People on the largest doses lost 12% more body weight than the placebo group. Both groups were also active in calorie reduction -suggesting that appetite suppression works, lessening the desire for food consumption.
Is it weight loss in a bottle?
The question for many is, ‘Will it become available to the open market?’. The chances are good, and the effect it could have on individual health and the health of the NHS is hard to measure. However, an educated guess would suggest that phase 2 of prescription based on medical consultancy might be the next logical step for the consumer. What is wonderful, though, is that it appears to give anyone the extra help needed to reach their weight loss goals, and even more wonderfully, it is reinforced through eating education.
Fitness-based fat burners
The fat-burning supplement market remains fiercely competitive if your weight loss is less health-related and more fitness-focused. The more potent fat burners on the market within the fitness sphere tend to be thermogenic. These raise your body’s temperature to boost metabolism. If that sounds a little hardcore for 40+, there are stimulant-free options that don’t lead to the feeling of elevated heart rate. Solid advice would be to consider a few factors before starting to make sure your supplement of choice helps and doesn’t hinder your fitness push.
Say no to bro
Consult with your doctor to ensure it is safe for you, they’ll know the ingredient list better than you will. We know you know it - but will you actually do it? In this case, please go with less bro-science and more GP-science. Natural ingredients such as yohimbine, green tea extract, and the ubiquitous l-carnitine are clearly less risky, and they can help your body convert fat into energy. Natural ingredients largely mean fewer side effects, a win for literally every body.
Better living through chemistry
Increasing the dose of a fat-burning supplement will not accelerate the process. This advice may sound too obvious to publish, but it isn’t. Fat-burning supplements can contain ingredients that, while not life-threatening, might upset your body chemistry if the suggested doses are exceeded. These work fastest with good nutrition. If you want to accelerate the process, the speed is found in the accompanying good food, which aids recovery, energy levels, and absorption rates. These tactics are the stuff that genuinely makes you feel good.
One more coffee
Fat burner supplements can be highly caffeinated, so it might be worth reducing your daily coffee intake to accommodate. It’s not a deal breaker. At 40+ you might be able to drink coffee like water, but if you can, drink water like water and then take your supplements for the strongest efficacy. Coffee is by no means a no-no, and as 90’s cool as you might feel after sustained increased long-term caffeine intake, it’s probably more 2020’s not to. No one loves an ageing hipster.
Supps, y'all, wanna get down?
The key is ‘supplementation’. Where un-prescribed supplements are concerned remember it’s a help, not a magic pill. As with its prescription relatives, it’s not about replacing the need for exercise and nutrition, it just helps you to get to your fitness destination a little faster. Try a 1 month-on, month-off approach to avoid over-familiarity. This will give your 40-year-old metabolism the best chance of creating the fat-burning boost you’re looking for.
DR DRAGON
A GP for an eclectic community, Dragon is a prolific author in the world of health. Award winning for his content creation and ability to answer the ‘actual’ questions asked of him, his theories are always worth listening to in looking for those little things that can actually make a real difference in our lives.
