Fat loss and muscle gain supplements

Resolving to get into the best possible condition for your body should be an "anytime" of the year decision!

No matter your personal goal, whether it be to lose a lot of weight or just a little bit; to gain some quality mass or increase your strength; maybe you're an endurance athlete looking for that extra push to get your numbers up, or this is the year you want to step onstage and show off all of your hard work; Bodybuilding.com has the precise products to fill your needs. And to help you out they have product reviews by real live customers and BodySpace members.

You can search anything you're looking for by name right here: BodySpace Member Product Reviews. Even product suggestions based on your own purchases to cut down on your research time, and best of all, the lowest supplement prices on the web and price matching!

Fat Loss

There are many types of fat loss aids; the top two categories are stimulant (thermogenic) fat burners, and non-stimulant fat burners. There are also several others such as carb blockers, thyroid hormone supporters, appetite suppressants, and cortisol products.

For those that find it difficult to sum up the energy required for a lengthy cardio session, a stimulant or thermogenic fat burner would be the best option. This is also for those that just want that extra bit of edge that a stimulant can provide.

Be sure to carefully read the ingredients, dosage, and directions accurately; and always being with the smallest dosage possible, to gauge your sensitivity to some of the common ingredients.

As always these should not be taken by those with heart problems, or those who are not otherwise healthy. They increase the metabolism by increasing the body's core temperature by a very small amount. Some also aid in vasodialation, claim to increase norepinephrine levels, spare muscle and curb the appetite. Common ingredients found in these types of products are caffeine, synephrine HCl, yohimbine HCl, as well as others.

The top 5 best thermogenic (stimulant)* fat loss aids are:

The non-stimulant fat loss products work in a variety of ways. They often contain a blend of ingredients that do different things ~ Ingredients like L-Carnitine, which claims to aid in the increase of the transport of fatty acids into the mitochondria, increasing the conversion of fat into energy and could thus make exercise more productive and last longer.

Another common supplement along this line is EGCG (Green Tea Extract/Camellia sinesis leaf) and is known as an antioxidant; the supplement EGCG or epigallocatechin gallate may as well have very powerful antioxidant properties. In an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study, it was mentioned that EGCG caused a marked increase in the amount of energy expended and the oxidation of fatty acids.

Then there are the thyroid supporters. These are known as guggulsterones. A Guggul is a tree that is native to India; it excretes a sticky resin from the trunk that comes from behind the bark. This resin has been used for hundreds of years for various medicinal reasons, and can be purified, and then processed into its useful Guggulsterones-Z and Guggulsterones-E components.

The thyroid produces a hormone called thyroxin also known as T4; It' a form of thyroid hormone that is not active and must first be converted (changed) into triiodothyronine or T3, this is the active hormone. When a person becomes calorie deficient (eats less than needed to survive) the body will react naturally by slowing down the change of T4 into T3 to preserve that person's current fat stores so they don't ultimately die; this results in an overall slowing of the metabolism as a whole and thus any fat loss will stop.

Those aforementioned Guggulsterones Z and E are able to support an already healthy thyroid function.

Another useful tool for fat loss are the aid of lignins (chemical compounds called a phytoestrogens) such as sesamin, EPA and DHA derived from pure fish oils ~ EPA and DHA are greatly beneficial for cardiovascular health, supporting already healthy joints, healthy levels of blood-cholesterol and overall body fat reduction. It's suggested that when these three are combined the EPA and DHA work together with sesamin increasing the benefits and reaction to sesamin.

Here are 8 of the top non-stimulant fat loss aids* that fall under these categories

Some of the more obscure but effective fat loss aids are the carb blockers and others. Many of the above listed products already do a combination of these things, in addition their "label stated function". The items below are more specific in their actions upon the body.

Resolving To Be In The Best Possible Condition Should Be An "Anytime" Decision.

Carb blockers claim to work by using ingredients that make it hard for the body to release enzymes that are responsible and needed to break down starchy foods; if starch isn't able to be broken down, the body cannot absorb it. So in the end, fewer calories from these starchy foods will be absorbed.

Some of the more popular carb blockers are:

Branched Chain Amino Acids

Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) are mentioned endlessly in the forums, in conversations about cutting and recovery, and for contest preparation. So what are they?

These are the essential amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine. As mentioned before, "Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. When you eat a protein food, it gets digested in the stomach and intestine into individual amino acids and short chains of amino acids that are small enough to be absorbed into the bloodstream. These amino acids have far reaching effects in the body from building and repairing tissues, to producing chemicals that enable our brains to function optimally."

The essential amino acids can't be made by the body alone. They must be obtained from complete protein foods (meats) or different combinations of vegetables as they are incomplete proteins. The nine essential amino acids are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and valine. The body is able to make non-essential amino acids from vitamins and other amino acids.

These essential BCAAs are very important for bodybuilders, athletes, and dieters because they metabolize inside the muscle, instead of inside the liver. Basically after digestion, once complete or partial proteins are broken back down into individual amino acids, these amino acids can now be used for energy, or to build new muscle.