Anti Aging You

There are numerous weight loss products that are promoted as being natural, but just because a weight loss product is natural, it may not be safe, and it may not even be effective in the long-run. The fact of the matter is, certain types of natural weight loss aids not only have some serious potential risks associated with them, but they often cause hormonal reactions in the body that can result in weight gain in the long run, even if they stimulate weight loss at first.

The main products that can create problems are those that act as stimulants. Natural stimulants act much the same way that stimulant drugs work, and carry the same potential risks.

Caffeine, ma huang (also known as ephedra), guarana, kola nut, and yerba mate’ are the most popular of the natural products that act as stimulants. All of these have very strong stimulant effect when taken in the doses typically recommended for weight loss. The effects of these products are very much like the effects of amphetamine drugs. Although most people know that amphetamine use can be risky, some will assume incorrectly that a natural product will be safe.

There are two reasons that I recommend against using any kind of stimulant to promote weight loss. First, such products have potential health risks such as high blood pressure, tachycardia (elevated heart rate), insomnia, and stroke. Second, although these products do usually stimulate weight loss initially, in the long run they actually hinder weight loss and discontinuation of these products is typically followed by rapid weight gain.

When you first begin taking stimulants, the body releases more of the hormone adrenaline from the adrenal glands. Adrenaline causes increased heart rate and respiration and increases blood pressure. It also causes an increase in metabolic rate which results in fat burning and weight loss. Unfortunately, the adrenals are not designed to produce high amounts of adrenaline continuously for long periods of time, and after a few weeks, adrenaline levels will begin to fall, whether or not you continue taking the stimulants. This means that over time, the metabolism will slow down and there will not be as much tendency to burn fat.

At the same time that the fat-burning effects of adrenaline are dying off, another problem is occurring. Stimulants, in addition to promoting high adrenaline production in the short term, also cause the adrenals to produce high levels of the hormone cortisol. The adrenals can produce high levels of cortisol for much longer than they can produce high amounts of adrenaline. Cortisol promotes the deposition of fat around the abdomen and stimulates weight gain. In the early stages of using stimulants, the effects of the high adrenaline production will win out over the elevated cortisol levels and rapid weight loss will typically occur. But as the adrenaline levels fall, and the cortisol levels stay high, weight gain is the result.

If you were to discontinue using stimulants while high adrenaline levels were still being produced, the effects of cortisol would quickly take over and so fast weight gain is common after suddenly discontinuing stimulants. In any case, when using stimulants to facillitate weight loss, eventually the cortisol effects will predominate and weight gain will occur.

It might be tempting to purchase a natural weight loss aid that contains stimulants due to the promises of quick weight loss, but in the long run all of these products are counterproductive and may endanger your health. Regardless of whether a product is natural or not, the use of stimulants for weight loss is best to be avoided.