Virtually every health store offers a wide selection of weight-loss supplements. Do they all work? No. Many companies make good money off of people’s obsession with dropping pounds.
One supplement, however, whose name remains under the radar, rises above most others in terms of its potential for weight loss. Its name is “pyruvate,” and if you were to ask some athletes and bodybuilders, they would know it well, since it could reduce body fat and enhance the body’s ability to use energy.
Its principal ingredient is “pyruvic acid,” which is also found in our bodies. This acid plays an important role: it is the initial substance that breaks down blood-sugar glucose, thus triggering the cycle of energy creation. Then, it splits again to burn through more energy.
The reason that most people don’t know of pyruvate is that it’s not an essential nutrient. Your body makes all it needs for energy. That said, it is also, surprisingly, found in foods. An average person takes in between 100 mg and 2.0 g of pyruvate each day. It’s found heavily in apples (the redder the better), as well as beer, red wine and cheese.
Therapeutic dosages are usually much higher than what you can get from food. So, enter supplements. Although most products on the market contain only (or almost only) pyruvate, some also contain a related compound, dihydroxyacetone, which the body converts to pyruvate. A combination of the two is known as “DHAP.”
Natural pyruvate burns fat for energy and also moves glucose (sugar) and protein into muscle cells. There, the body uses it to increase exercise endurance, allowing you to work out for longer without feeling fatigued. Supplements of pyruvate are expected to help burn more energy and, thus, more calories. This is the key to its weight loss potential.
Some people actually have syndromes that restrict the production of pyruvate, and in these people, supplements can be incredibly important to body function, as well as to weight loss.
Pyruvate has some reasonably good evidence to support it, unlike most wonder pills for weight loss. Here’s a look at the intriguing proof.
Researchers discovered that pyruvate could decrease both weight and fat loss in obese women. Patients received a controlled liquid diet with pyruvate or with placebo for three weeks. Those who took pyruvate had better results than the women who didn’t get the active substance. They lost more weight and had lower fat mass, yet tests showed that they were getting the same levels of nutrients as the other group.
Researchers used a high dose of pyruvate — 22 g to 44 g a day — on 34 slightly overweight individuals. They followed a mild diet for a month, but half were given a daily liquid supplement that contained pyruvate. Over six weeks, these people lost about 1.0 lb to 1.5 lbs, while the placebo group lost none.
Over six weeks, 51 people got either 6.0 g of pyruvate a day, placebo, or nothing at all. They all exercised during this time, but only those who were taking pyruvate had major decreases in fat mass (2.1 kg) and percentage body fat (2.6%) and an increase in muscle mass (1.5 kg). So, not only did the supplement burn fat, but it also enabled the body to change fat into muscle.
Other studies have also shown positive benefits on weight loss, and one review in the “Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association” stated that pyruvate seemed to have consistently beneficial effects in weight loss. The study said that, while clinical trials on herbal and natural supplements for weight loss are sparse, pyruvate has some of the best supporting evidence out there.
If you’ve ever gone on a diet, you probably know all too well the all-consuming desire to stuff your face as soon as it ends. Crash diets are especially notorious for this. Luckily, not only is pyruvate good for losing weight, but it’s also beneficial in preventing weight re-gain after finishing a weight-loss program. These are the findings from one study that explored the natural desire to increase eating immediately after finishing a diet.
After crash diets, people often react by overeating to the point of consuming 1.5 times their “resting energy output.” This results in a faster re-gain of weight. The researchers looked at patients who had just finished diets and gave them either placebo or DHAP.
They found that the patients who were receiving pyruvate regained significantly less weight and less fat mass. Researchers concluded that the pyruvate was actually helping reduce the size of fat cells, as well as helping with energy expenditure. Pyruvate may be the answer to long-term weight-loss success without a loss of nutrients and without the after-diet hunger pangs.
Take supplements as recommended on the package. As with any supplement, you should talk to your doctor about your ideal dosage and potential side effects or other risks before you start taking it.
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