spilled bottle of yellow capsule pills

Your supplements might not be helping you lose weight

Your supplements might not be helping you lose weight
(Source: Unsplash)

Uh-oh! It looks like there is ‘insufficient evidence’ to support herbal, dietary supplements for weight loss. According to Philstarlife.com, their use cannot be justified based on current evidence, as per the first global review of complementary medicines for weight loss in 16 years. 

The research, which encompassed two literature reviews including 121 randomized placebo-controlled trials involving over 10,000 participants with overweight or obesity, found insufficient evidence that herbal and dietary supplements produce clinically significant weight loss, as per Medical News Today.

“Over-the-counter herbal and dietary supplements promoted for weight loss are increasingly popular, but unlike pharmaceutical drugs, clinical evidence for their safety and effectiveness is not required before they hit the market”, said one of the studies’ lead authors, Erica Bessell from the University of Sydney in Australia.

“Our rigorous assessment of the best available evidence finds that there is insufficient evidence to recommend these supplements for weight loss. Even though most supplements appear safe for short term consumption, they are not going to provide weight loss that is clinically meaningful,” she explained further. 

To put things into perspective, the report covered herbal supplements, which contains a whole plant or combinations of plants as the active ingredient, and dietary supplements containing naturally occurring isolated compounds from plants and animal products, like fibres, fats, proteins, and antioxidants. These supplements can be purchased as pills, powders and liquids.

Thus, you should rethink heavily investing in herbal supplements. “Herbal and dietary supplements might seem like a quick-fix solution to weight problems, but people need to be aware of how little we actually know about them,” Bessell warned. 

At the end of the day, it all boils down to you. Will you resolve for quick fix solutions or you in it for the long haul? What do you plan to do in order to hit your weight loss goals?

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