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There are an overwhelming number of supplements available on the market today that all claim to help you reach your weight loss goals. While some vitamins and supplements can, in fact, improve your metabolism and provide you with the capability to burn through fat more effectively, there are an equal amount which offer little to no value to your body, and may actually make it even more difficult to lose weight in the long run.
Supplements should be added to your diet only when there are nutrients that you may be lacking, and your eating plan should be the primary provider of vitamins and minerals to your body. With that, there’s one supplement that experts agree is better left out of your daily lineup when it comes to boosting energy and achieving healthy weight loss.
Pre-Workout
Often taken to provide energy to the body before an intense workout, pre-workout supplements contain a mixture of caffeine, vitamins and sweeteners. This can help to maintain focus, stimulate blood flow, and increase the intensity of your workout, and when consumed in moderation can be useful for offering a pick-me-up when you’re having a slow day before a tough workout. However, there are certain side effects of pre-workout which may do more harm than good in the long run.
“Noticeable side effects of excess caffeine include jitters, anxiety, etc., but interference with sleep can be detrimental to your recovery and hormone regulation,” warns Shaffer Mok, MD, founder of Maximal Being. “Namely, you can upregulate cortisol (your stress hormone that also decreases testosterone and caffeine) which can affect sex hormone-binding globulin essential for bringing your testosterone to your tissues.”
While testosterone is often considered a male dominant hormone, the reality is that women also produce testosterone as it is useful for supporting muscle growth in the body, creating that sought after lean look. “As testosterone is essential for muscle growth in men and women, and lean muscle mass is the best way to burn fat, you will lose the beneficial effects of the big T,” explains Mok.
Taking an excess of pre-workout can overload your body with energy, making it more difficult to sleep and consequently decreasing testosterone production in the body. This may actually make it more difficult to achieve the weight loss that you’re working towards even when you’re going your hardest at the gym.
Additionally, the stress hormone cortisol can skyrocket if your sleep is reduced, causing your body to hold onto more water weight and inflammation as a coping mechanism. “Excess cortisol will cause people to retain fat and water around their trunk and may cause muscle wasting in the arms and legs,” says Mok.
With this, it’s best to keep caffeine intake to a minimum, avoiding regularly depending on high energy pre-workout supplements so your body only reaps the benefits of occasional use without becoming overwhelmed or retaining water weight in a response to stress. Pre-workout is also often loaded with sugar which tends to make weight loss more difficult, and can cause irritation in the stomach which may lead to bloating.
Caffeine can still be useful in moderation for sparking weight loss, so Mok suggests that instead of turning to pre-workout, consider using green tea extract to give you a similar boost to a lesser extreme. Green tea extract also contains ECGC, which is an antioxidant that can help to promote fat burn naturally, boosting your metabolism and furthering you towards your goals.
It can be tempting to fall into the well-marketed weight loss traps of fad products that all promise to help you achieve the body of your dreams, but unless you’re particularly low on energy you may see better results from leaving the pre-workout on the shelf as you work towards your goals.
