To lose body fat, you must burn more calories than you consume.
However, some natural fat burners are believed to boost metabolism, decrease fat absorption, or help your body burn fat as fuel.
Here are 3 natural fat burners you can use to burn fat.
Table of Contents
1. Protein
Protein is a natural fat burner and the most important element of weight loss. It can boost your metabolism and curb your appetite, which can help you burn body fat.
It also helps maintain lean muscle mass in your body.
For example, a study on 60 people revealed that a high-protein diet was twice as efficient at burning fat as a moderate-protein diet.
Because protein can suppress your appetite by raising the level of fullness hormones such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), cholecystokinin (CCK), and peptide YY (PYY) while decreasing hunger hormone ghrelin concentrations.
There are still many people struggling to eat enough protein every day.
Supplements such as protein powder are a handy way to boost your consumption of protein.
You can also choose to eat lean meat and eggs to fulfil your daily protein requirement (1, 2, 3, 4).
2. Caffeine
Caffeine is a naturally occurring substance found in coffee beans that is used in many commercial fat burners.
It can help increase your metabolism and burn more fat in your body. Research shows it can increase your metabolism by up to 16%.
Several studies have shown that caffeine can help burn fat as fuel. However, in lean people, this impact seems stronger than in heavy people.
Unfortunately, long-term consumption of caffeine may make your body more sensitive to its fat burning effects.
However, you don’t have to take fat burners or supplements to reap the weight loss benefits of caffeine.
Coffee is a substantial source of caffeine, therefore, drinking a few cups of sugar free black coffee will do the job (5, 6, 7, 8, 9).
3. Green Tea Extract
Green tea extract is another natural substance that is frequently used in many commercial fat burners. It is available in both powder and capsule form.
Green tea extract is also rich in caffeine and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), both of which are compounds that can help you burn fat.
These two compounds complement each can help you burn fat through a thermogenesis method.
Thermogenesis, in simple terms, is a process where your body burns calories to generate heat.
For example, a review of six studies discovered that taking a mixture of green tea extract and caffeine helped individuals burn 16% more fat than placebo.
In another study, scientists analyzed the effects of a placebo, caffeine, and a mixture of green tea extract and caffeine on fat burning.
They found that the mixture of green tea and caffeine burned about 65 more calories a day compared to caffeine alone and 80 more calories compared to placebo.
The recommended daily dosage of green tea extract is 250–500 mg. However, you can get the same benefits by drinking 3–5 cups of green tea a day (10, 11, 12, 13, 14).
Side effects of fat burners
Over-the-counter commercial fat burners are widely available. Most of the time, these supplements can damage your health.
This is because the FDA does not regulate fat burners before they reach the market.
However, it is the responsibility of the manufacturer to ensure the safety and effectiveness of their supplements.
There are many instances where fat burners have caused serious side effects such as high blood pressure, strokes, seizures, and even death.
Keep in mind that a weight loss supplement can not replace a healthy diet and regular exercise.
Conclusion
There are no magical fat burners to solve your weight problems.
However, in combination with a healthy diet and exercise regimen, plenty of natural solutions can help you burn more fat.
These natural fat burners include coffee, green tea, and protein supplements.