Many fat loss supplements today contain Hydroxy-citric acid, which is derived from the Garcinia Cambogia fruit. What does scientific research say about it though? The most reputable study I found showed that there was a 50% reduction in fat between the placebo group and those supplementing with Hydroxy-citric Acid while both are on a low calorie diet. Researchers also concluded that there was no appetite suppression. One theory they said was that it may be due to hepatic lipogenesis, in other words keeping the liver from synthesizing free fatty acids in the blood into fat stores. This means that HCA has a inherent powerful effect on fat loss in the body.

Hydroxy-citric Acid Increase Endurance?

There is evidence according to one study that Hydroxy-citric Acid may also increase athletic endurance. According to research, inhibiting the citrate lyase enzyme increases endurance. The mechanism that Hydroxy-citric acid works by is to inhibit this enzyme. Low calorie diets seem to also enhance the fat loss effect. This is great news for bodybuilders because it will make cardio easier for bodybuilders during fat loss cycles. It may also be good to try before a endurance athletic event to boost performance.

Every once in a while a bodybuilding guru will tout special benefits of high niacin supplementation. One past study showed it had up to a 600% increase in growth hormone. This may sound wonderful, but niacin also reduces FFA (Free fatty acids). Why should we care about that? Well there seems to be a link in it reducing FFA and actually reducing performance. In other words, Niacin may increase growth hormone, but your workouts may suffer. The doses also used are very high and near the FDA toxicity levels for Niacin. In summary, Niacin shouldn’t have much (if any), positive effect overall to a bodybuilder’s muscle gains.

Panax Ginseng has been around for years and recently it is now even being added to some sodas such as one line of diet Pepsi. There is interesting research out now that it may increase insulin sensitivity.

There were two double blind placebo-controlled studies done by english researchers. One study examined placebo compared to 200 and 400mg doses of Panax Ginseng. The second study compared placebo to ginseng and saccharin. After 9 hours of taking Ginseng, they measured their blood glucose levels. It was found that those who dosed with Ginseng, were much lower than their fasting blood glucose levels.

This is great news for bodybuilders because lower glucose levels implies increased insulin sensitivity. More insulin sensitivity long term, leads to better body recompositioning resulting in more muscle gains and fat loss.

BCAAs are a debateable supplement. Despite valid research supporting it, many bodybuilders believe they are not worth the money or simply don’t work. There is new research in the last year that suggests yet another reason for BCAA supplementation. A group of Sweden researchers studied the role of BCAA and central fatigue. What is Central Fatigue? It’s the inability to maintain power output because of a decline in neuromuscular transmission signal quality output. In layman terms it is the point of muscular failure. Training after muscular failure increases your risk of overtraining.

The research showed that when BCAA levels increased, 5-HTP and Tryptophan decreased. BCAAs directly compete with Tryptophan in the brain. 5-HTP and Tryptophoan promote fatigue and rise during and after excercise. What does this all mean? It means with BCAA supplements you can workout longer and more intensely before reaching muscular failure, the point at which makes you very susceptible to overtraining.

It amazes me how some of these supplements ever gain steam on the market such as Colloidal silver. I guess the saying goes, “There is a sucker born every minute”. This product has come and gone in popularity over the years. Colloidal silver is the metal silver finely ground up and suspended in water. Why would they do this? They claim research that silver helps against flu and infections. They know that bodybuilders are keen on consistent training, so it is now targeted towards them.

What they don’t tell you is that the silver from this product builds up under your skin. It will cause a permanent greyish color to your skin. When the sun hits your skin it causes a silverized effect, the same chemical reaction process as developing photographs. This disease is called Argyria and has happened in people who ate or breathed silver for months. There is no evidence that silver really does what these companies claim and there is plenty of other ways to boost the immune system without looking like an Alien!

Many supplements are touted for curbing your appetite. But is it really possible to do that? Researchers at Columbia University did a study on the nucleus incumbens and it’s role in binge eating. The Nucleus incumbens is in the limbic system and it controls mood and feelings of satiation, including feeling “full”. In the research they injected opioids into rats. The ones who had opioids injected ate 3 times as much fatty foods.

The result of the study showed that nucleus incumbens only controlled appetite AFTER they were full. This means that appetite suppressing supplements, should only work for preventing overeating, only after you first have become full.

But is this really true? Everyone who has tried stimulants such as ephedrine have noticed a appetite suppressing effect. Some possible theories of mine on why this may be the case is that perhaps this study is faulty, or it only works in rats, or Ephedrine works in some other part of the brain or body to suppress appetite.

Taurine is a amino acid and may have implications for bodybuilders. A group of researchers in Japan did a double blind study on 30 college aged people. TC, HDL-C and plasma glucose were measured before the study and everyone had similiar results. They then had one group take 3 grams of Taurine per day for 7 weeks. Not only did they have health benefits such as total cholesterol and triglycerides, but they also lost significant fat.

Now this may appear like a pretty clear cut case for Taurine to be used while cutting. However this study is obviously done on people not following a high protein diet already or even working out. There is studies that suggest taurine supplementation may actually be a bad thing for fat loss.

CLA is a very popular supplement for a variety of health and bodybuilding reasons. There is yet another reason to take CLA now, for its anti-estrogen properties. A group of researchers in Georgia grew breast cancer cells in a lab. When CLA was introduced it interfered with the estrogen signaling in the cells due to it’s direct anti-estrogen activity. This is good for not only all females, but any male who uses steroids. CLA is touted for it’s body recomposition benefits mainly as a result of insuline sensitivity. It makes me wonder how much of it is actually instead, due to the anti-estrogen effect in CLA?

Bodybuilders should know that high protein diets cause bone loss. It is important to get adequate calcium in the diet. Luckily, dairy and protein powders often come with significant forms of calcium already. One may wonder though if taking calcium is really effective against stopping the bone loss as a result of a high protein diet.

A study a few years ago was done on high protein diets and bone loss for 60 overweight people trying to lose weight. Macronutrient profiles and excercise were identical among all participants. What differed was the ptrotein sources and various levels of calcium consumption. Subjects underwent urine tests on week 0, 12, and 16 and also to blood tests for those weeks. The results of the study showed bone loss was evident in the urine, but that high calcium seems to have helped offset against the bone loss.

Over the years colostrum has been touted by some bodybuilding gurus as an important supplement. Colostrum has many health benefits such as: destroying infectious bacteria, protecting immune system from viruses, and killing cancer. Is Colostrum really that effective for bodybuilders? According to recent research at the University of South Australia, colostrum increased strength, but did not effect IGF-1 (an anabolic hormone) in the body.