What Are The Best Weight Management Supplements?
16th Jan 2024
What is the Best Weight Loss Supplement on the Market in 2024?
There are a variety of reasons why you might take supplements. From fixing deficiencies to making sure you’re getting enough of a range of vitamins a day to helping with fitness goals to helping you live longer, there’s usually a valid reason why an individual takes a supplement.
Weight loss benefits might be one of them and let us preface this by saying that supplements can benefit your weight loss journey.
Americans spend about $2.1 billion each year on weight-loss supplements in pill form. It’s a huge market, not just in the US but in other parts of the world, too.
Can you expect to lose weight by only taking a supplement and by not changing your diet or lifestyle? No. But within reason, there are some supplements that can help you to achieve you weight goals in 2024.
Jump through the article fast:
- What Are Weight Loss Supplements?
- What to Think About Before Taking Weight Loss Supplements
- Vitamins and Minerals for Weight Management
- Which Supplements are Good for Weight Loss?
- Supplements for Weight Loss that Need More Research
- What are Currently the Worst Weight Loss Pills to Take?
- Weight Loss Supplements for Women vs. Weight Loss Supplements for Men
- Do I Need Supplements to Lose Weight?
These are tablets, capsules, powder or liquids that are added to your diet to help you manage or loss weight.
They do this directly or indirectly. Directly, they can improve your carbohydrate metabolism, increase your body’s rate of fat burning or using energy or by reducing feelings of hunger. Indirectly, they can improve your energy levels, and reduce fatigue, cravings and nutrient efficiencies.
Supplements you can buy over the counter are different to prescription medications that treat obesity, which are regulated and backed by scientific research and clinical trials. Supplements are not regulated and do not require the manufacturer to provide safe products that meet the claims they make. The onus is on the customer to do their research before taking anything for their health. Supplements should always be used cautiously.
It’s important to note that many supplements advertised out there lack proper clinical studies behind the claims made by the manufacturer. Make sure to research the individual ingredient you’re taking to see if there’s a chance it will benefit you, before you purchase anything.
Also, just because something works on one person, doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you, and vice versa. I’m sure throughout your weight loss journey you’ve had plenty of people telling you how they think you should go about it. You’ve probably tried a range of diets and methods already and they may not have done anything. The same thing applies to supplements.
For example, in our vitamins and minerals that help with weight loss section below, your levels of the ones listed might be fine, so supplementing with those vitamins and minerals might not give you any weight loss results compared to someone who is deficient or low in them.
Before taking any supplement, even a dietary supplement of vitamins and minerals, it’s always important to speak with your doctor and get a blood test to determine your levels. Your doctor can also inform you of any risks a supplement might have on you due to any medications you’re taking or your medical background.
With that being said, let’s answer that pesky question: ‘What is the best supplement for fat loss?’
If you’re asking yourself, ‘What is blocking my weight loss?’ chances are, you could be deficient or low in a range of essential vitamins and minerals. There are a range of important vitamins for weight loss and metabolism, generally which impact your body’s weight indirectly but are important for other processes to work adequately. Let’s go through some of these now.
Further Reading: Will supplements make me lose fat?
B Vitamins
B-group vitamins support a healthy weight as they’re used for energy production and are needed for the metabolism of fat, carbohydrates and protein. Vitamin B3 (Niacin) in particular, helps break down carbohydrates and turn them into energy. A small link between B12 deficiency and weight gain or obesity has been found, but speak with your doctor first, especially when taking high doses of vitamin B1 as a diabetic.
Make sure to also stick to recommended daily allowances of B vitamins, as high B-vitamin levels may lead to weight gain.
Calcium AKG
Calcium itself hasn’t been found to have a direct effect on weight loss, however, it may help in the maintenance of a healthy body weight by inhibiting weight gain. One of the ways it does this is by improving our gut microbiome, especially when combined with AKG. In mice, AKG has been found to decrease body weight and improve obesity and morbidity factors, such as lowering fat mass and improving glucose intolerance.
Learn more about Xandro Lab’s Calcium AKG and try it out today!
Further Reading: Does Calcium AKG affect my weight?
Fibre
Fibre prevents fats from being absorbed into the body and helps you feel full for longer, preventing snacking. It also helps support a healthy weight and can improve your body’s response to insulin — try eating 30g per day for this. Fibre also decreases the absorption of macronutrients, changes the release of gut hormones and helps maintain our gut microbiome, which is important for many functions of our body. While it’s easy to get all our fibre requirements from the foods we eat, through vegetables, fruits and whole grains, taking a fibre supplement can help with weight loss.
Magnesium
Needed to maintain a healthy body weight, it’s been found to reduce body mass index, body weight and waist circumference for people with diabetes, obesity, hypertension and magnesium deficiency (which is many of us). Think of it as a natural fat burner and one of the minerals and vitamins that burn fat while you sleep.
Try out Xandro Lab’s Magnesium Glycinate, one of the fastest absorbing forms of magnesium, meaning you can increase your magnesium levels faster and experience its benefits.
Multivitamins
A quality multivitamin can provide our bodies with important minerals. Make sure they include B vitamins, as they have an important role in energy metabolism, as well as iron, which is needed to carry oxygen through our body and support building lean muscle mass.
Protein
This can help with weight loss as our bodies burn more calories digesting it and it also helps us stay full for longer. Other than that, it can also help support metabolically active lean muscle. You can also increase the protein in your diet. Protein powders are an easy way to add more protein to your diet, so think of it as a weight management powder that you take each day. Whey protein is great if you’re also going to the gym and want to build muscle.
Vitamin C
It’s been found that those with enough vitamin C in their bodies burn 30 per cent more fat during exercise than those with a vitamin C deficiency. This means that low vitamin C levels can prevent fat loss when exercising. So, while vitamin C doesn’t directly cause weight loss, it’s important to maintain your levels to make sure you’re able to lose as much weight as possible when exercising.
Vitamin D
It’s been found that people with obesity often have lower levels of vitamin D, possibly due to fat-storing vitamin D, keeping it from the blood, as well as lack of exercise in the sunshine. Some studies have found that supplementing with vitamin D can help with weight loss in both adults and children, especially in postmenopausal women combining vitamin D and calcium.
Further Reading: Supplements for Weight Loss
Ashwagandha
By raising the hormone that suppresses appetite, leptin, ashwagandha may be one of the herbs that burn belly fat fast due to how it aids in weight loss by helping one feel fuller after eating less. Also, ashwagandha may help you sleep better and experience less stress, both of which can help your body lose weight.
Try Xandro Lab’s Shoden® Ashwagandha today!
Caffeine
Caffeine is a stimulant that’s often used in many weight-loss supplements, with studies finding it may help reduce weight, body mass index and body fat and it’s one of the supplements that use fat for energy. It’s one of the natural fat burners that work.
Green tea vitamins may curb your appetite and raise calorie and fat metabolism. It contains catechins and caffeine, both have been shown to aid weight loss due to their stimulatory effect, possibly in that they stimulate our metabolic system.
Green tea extract, in particular, was found to have a small weight-loss effect in overweight individuals, although keep in mind that it was a small effect. It might be best to just stick to drinking green tea throughout your weightless journey, especially since it has other benefits, too. Side effects include nausea, vomiting, bloating, gas, diarrhoea and insomnia.
Green coffee has shown some possible modest effects on body weight, due to its ability to prevent fat build-up and modulate glucose metabolism. Keep in mind that the studies on humans have been of poor quality, with possible side effects of headaches and urinary tract infections.
NMN
By indirectly increasing our metabolism and energy expenditure, NMN may reduce fat storage, which is beneficial when we age and put on weight. It has been shown to improve glucose intolerance, decrease fat mass, and increase lean mass in animal trials. According to a Harvard study, NMN can improve blood pressure, lower blood cholesterol and reduce body weight in overweight adults — all consequences of obesity.
Discover how NMN Powder or Capsules can benefit you!
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Fish oil isn’t generally a supplement you take for overall weight loss, however, if you want to know what supplements help reduce belly fat, then you might be surprised to hear that fish oil may help decrease abdominal fat. When combined with healthy lifestyle habits, overweight and obese people may benefit from this side effect of fish oil. Regardless of its benefits on weight, fish oil is a great supplement to take for longevity reasons, so it might be a supplement you consider taking anyway.
Further Reading: The Ultimate Guide to Longevity Supplements
Probiotics
Gut health is incredibly important to our overall health, including our weight. The balance between good and bad bacteria in our gut microbiome can cause unwanted changes within our bodies, so taking probiotics that contain various good bacteria has been found to help reduce body weight and body fat percentage. Keep in mind that while probiotics are incredibly important for gut health, they only have a small impact on body weight and body fat percentage.
Resveratrol
In obese patients, resveratrol has been shown to decrease body mass in addition to decreasing weight, BMI, waist circumference and fat mass while boosting lean mass. Given the benefits of resveratrol for longevity and the fact that it hasn't been shown to influence levels of adiponectin or leptin, you might want to consider taking this supplement or looking into it further. Read more clinical trials here.
Grab your bottle of Trans-Resveratrol today!
Spermidine
Spermidine is believed to replicate the effects of calorie restriction and intermittent fasting. It also triggers autophagy, a process that improves our body's ability to use energy and removes old cells to make room for new ones. This means that a spermidine supplement can be helpful on days when you're too busy to exercise or fast intermittently. Spermidine also modifies the function and microbiota of our stomach, helping prevent obesity. Lowering body mass index has also been found with regular spermidine use. Other than specific weight loss prescription drugs, spermidine might be one of the weight loss pills that actually work fast.
Further Reading:Does Spermidine help with weight loss?
L-Carnitine
This amino acid is produced by the body and is used for the production of energy by moving fatty acids into our cells’ mitochondria. For our bodies to produce enough L-carnitine, we need to also have adequate vitamin C levels. More than 95 per cent of our L-carnitine stores are found in our muscles. The nutrient has potential benefits of weight loss, improved brain function and increased mitochondrial function, which plays a role in healthy aging.
In terms of weight loss, current research has found it can reduce body weight, body mass index (BMI) and fat mass, but not belly fat and body fat percentage. It’s long-term impact on weight loss still needs more research.
Like the supplements above that need more research, there are a range of supplements that currently have no or very little benefit on body weight. Be wary when you see a manufacturer make claims about these ingredients. These include:
- Beta-glucans: Weight loss has been found as a secondary outcome, with research finding no effect on body weight.
- Bitter orange: Inconclusive effects on body weight, with some safety concerns reported.
- Capsaicin: No effect on body weight, possibly effect on reducing energy intake.
- Chitosan: Minimal effect on body weight, with mild adverse effects reported.
- Chromium: Minimal effect on body fat and weight gain.
- Ephedra: Used to be a popular weight loss supplement combined with caffeine, but it was found to have significant adverse effects, possibly even death, so it’s banned by the FDA.
- Garcinia cambogia: Little to no effect on body weight, with some safety concerns reported.
- Guar gum: No effect on body weight.
- Hoodia: No effect on body weight or energy intake, with very little research published about human consumption. There are some safety concerns, too.
- Pyruvate: Minimal effect on body fat and body weight, although these are from poor quality clinical trials.
- Yohimbe: No effect on body weight, with significant safety concerns reported.
The way that men and women often look at weight loss is different, with women generally wanting to lose weight due to societal pressures compared to men wanting to build muscle. While this is not always the case, this changes how men and women try to lose weight and their specific goals. Those trying to build more muscle need to burn and then consume more calories to maintain their weight.
Rather than simply losing weight, women need to also realise they need to minimise losing muscle, so at the end of the day, there is no real difference in supplements taken to lose weight between men and women. It’s just that weight can gather in different areas in men and women, so they should target those specific areas when exercising.
Men, however, tend to lose weight quicker than women due to hormones and women’s bodies generally trying to keep women with a healthy amount of fat for reproduction. Overall, both men and women should try to build muscle to sustain metabolic weight and also eat a diet full of vitamins, minerals and protein.
As we’ve mentioned, supplements are not regulated, so manufacturers don’t need to extensively research all possible side effects and drug interactions. If a supplement is found to be unsafe, though, the FDA can issue warnings or ask that it be withdrawn from the market. Also, it’s important to remember that the supplement you buy may not be the specific one used in research studies.
No weight loss supplement is a replacement for a healthy diet and regular exercise. It’s all in the word — supplement. It’s meant to supplement, to work alongside your diet and healthy lifestyle habits and fill any missing gaps in your vitamin and nutrient levels.
Also, dietary supplements are not prescription medicines. They’re not meant to treat or cure diseases.
End Note
Are you a diabetic or at a high risk of developing diabetes? Read our Diabetic Supplement Guide to learn more about which supplements can help you.
We hope you enjoyed this list of supplement combinations for weight loss. Many of these are nutrients you should be obtaining through a healthy diet anyway, but taking supplements can help you during times when you can’t eat properly.
Want to kickstart your weight loss journey? Alongside a healthy diet, plenty of sleep and exercise, try out some of the Xandro Lab supplements listed in this article. If you’re not happy with the product, we have a 30-day refund guarantee to give you peace of mind on your journey.
Try them out here!