Morning everyone! Today I’m answering a question I commonly receive from clients who are looking to speed up weight-loss – “I’m considering taking fat loss injections such as Wegovy or Ozempic but I’m concerned about the long-term effectiveness and what happens when I try to come off them. Are there any natural supplements that have been shown to help with weight-loss which don’t have the same concerns as fat loss injections?”
A very good question, and to answer this, let’s do a deeper dive into some of the most popular over the counter (OTC) alternatives to to fat loss injections, and examine which of these have been backed up by good quality research. (But just in case you’re interested – in this video I consider the pros and cons of Semaglutide fat loss injections such as Wegovy or Ozempic).
Alternatives to Fat Loss Injections:
So, in terms of ‘over the counter’ alternatives to fat loss injections, currently the 12 most popular supplements are as follows:
- Caffeine
- Green tea extract
- Green coffee bean extract
- Glucomannan
- Garcinia Cambogia
- Hydroxycut
- Alli
- Raspberry Ketones
- Meratrim
- CLA
- Forskolin
- Synephrine
Let’s cut to the chase here – I’d only consider recommending the first four on the list to clients looking for alternatives to fat loss injections– and even then only under certain specific circumstances. The others have largely unproven weight-loss benefits and come with too many downsides including raised blood pressure, increased cardiovascular risk, severe digestive issues and even liver damage in some cases.
And as ever, the reason I favour the first four on the list is because they’re more natural forms of supplementation (especially when compared to fat loss injections such as Wegovy and Ozempic). That’s because they contain natural plant chemicals that the body recognises and can easily metabolise. Let’s consider the benefits of each of these four in turn:
- Caffeine
Caffeine has indeed been shown to be effective to some extent in supporting weight loss. For example, one study reported that caffeine helps to increase energy expenditure, ie increasing the number of calories you burn at rest. It does this via increasing the body’s utilisation of bodyfat as a fuel source, creating more body-heat via a process known as ‘thermogenesis’. The effect is only modest though, and caffeine can bring with it unwelcome side-effects such as anxiety, insomnia and diarrhoea.
My advice to clients is to err on the side of caution, and avoid synthetic caffeine pills, and just stick with coffee or tea. Caffeine has been shown to have an even more pronounced ‘fat-burning’ effect on an empty stomach, so if you enjoy it, I recommend clients to have tea or coffee without milk or sweeteners before breakfast. Even better if you pair that with some brisk ‘fasted’ exercise!
Note that I do recommend to all clients to cut-off your caffeine consumption before lunch-time – otherwise it can affect your overall sleep quality (even if it does not stop you falling asleep!)
2. Green Tea Extract
I actually don’t recommend taking green tea extract capsules – since there have been some cases of people taking them on an empty stomach over many months and suffering from liver problems. However, I highly recommend drinking green tea (and yes, you can buy decaff versions from most supermarkets for drinking after lunch!) Green tea contains the antioxidant EGCG, which has been shown to be effective for aiding weight-loss. Researchers believe it works by impairing the activity of enzymes such as ‘pancreatic lipase’ which extract the calories from fat – so in effect green tea makes the body a little less efficient at extracting calories from the fat you consume. And for caffeinated versions, you also get the benefits of caffeine mentioned previously.
3. Green Coffee Bean Extract
These are coffee beans which have not been roasted. They contain two substances which have been shown to help with weight-loss – firstly caffeine, but also chlorogenic acid. As noted above, caffeine has been shown to boost the rate of fat oxidisation (‘fat-burning’) whilst chlorogenic acid has been shown to slow down the digestion of carbohydrates, this time by acting on enzymes that specifically break-down carbohydrates. Not only that, green coffee bean extract has been shown to help lower blood glucose levels and blood pressure.
However, coffee itself contains both of these compounds and has been shown to have similar benefits – as well as containing additional substances such as soluble fibre which also helps stabilise blood sugar. So my advice to clients is just to save your money and enjoy a nice cup or two of freshly ground coffee in the morning. And those sensitive to caffeine will still receive benefits from the many antioxidants contained in decaffeinated coffee.
4. Glucomannan
Glucomannan is a form of soluble fibre which comes from konjac, a type of yam plant. Soluble fibres absorb water to form a gel in the stomach, which helps promote feelings of fullness. Not only that, soluble fibre helps feed the ‘friendly’ bacteria in your gut which also aids weight-loss and helps boost your immunity. In fact, glucomannan fibre has been shown to help lower blood glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride (blood-fat) levels!
I’m always telling clients to increase the amount of natural soluble fibre in their diets via eating more whole fruits, vegetable, legumes and wholegrains such as oats – but glucomannan fibre is a very easy way to add some more soluble fibre to any meal – just put one small scoop in a glass of water before each meal. The key is to drink it with plenty of water, since the soluble fibre will form a gel (as mentioned above) which may cause choking if not taken with sufficient water! Just be aware that it may cause some digestive issues in some people (particularly if you’re not used to eating much dietary fibre) so my advice would be to start with a small amount to see how you react to it!
So, there we go – 4 types of supplement that have some scientific evidence for supporting greater weight-loss when looking for an alternative to prescribed fat loss injections. As ever though, my first port of call is the more natural, wholefood forms of these supplements – ie green tea, coffee and soluble-fibre containing foods – but these 4 supplements can be a useful and convenient way of adding to an already healthy diet.
As ever though, I should re-emphasise the point that the clue is in the word ‘supplements’ – in other words they should only be used as the icing on the cake to help further boost a solid wholefood, natural diet and a balanced exercise programme, consisting of both high-intensity and low-intensity activity. To find out more, why not sign up to the 2-week free-trial of my Enhanced Energy online membership programme where you’ll learn all the aspects of diet, exercise and lifestyle that will lead to sustained fat-loss – without requiring any fat loss injections!
Are there any weight-loss supplements which have worked (or not!) for you? Have you tried fat loss injections such as Wegovy or Ozempic? Let me know in the comments below! For an independent examination of the pros and cons of fat loss injections such as Wegovy, please have a look at this video I made recently.