Harness the power of nature to achieve your body goals 🙌🌴
When you’re researching fat burners you’ll notice that some products claim to be “all natural.”
Maybe you’ve asked yourself, “what is a natural fat burner?”
Or more importantly, “what’s so special about them?”
In this blog post we’ll break things down for you. We’ll tell you the best natural ingredients to look out for, how they work, and what stands them above synthetic alternatives.
We’ll cover the following –
- Natural fat burners
- Natural thermogenics
- Natural fat blockers
- And more
After reading you’ll have a firmer understanding of the natural weight loss ingredients available and how you can incorporate them into your diet – either directly or via a supplement – to take another step toward reaching your body goals.
Natural fat burners 101: What are they?
Natural fat burners are, perhaps unsurprisingly, fat burning ingredients taken directly from natural sources.
Things like –
- Vitamins
- Minerals
- Plant extracts
- Amino acids
- Fibers
- Other macronutrients
The list also includes things like caffeine, which is technically an alkaloid – a word that may not sound too natural, despite the chemical being found in over 60 plant species<1>.
Natural fat burning ingredients are thought to help you reach your goals in many different ways.
Caffeine, for example, provides energy that can help to extend workouts and burn more calories. It’s also thought to be thermogenic, meaning it raises your body temperature to help burn even more calories.
Then you have vitamins B6 and B2, both of which contribute to a healthy metabolism<2> – the process by which your body transports, stores, and breaks down fats and other macronutrients.
Some ingredients stimulate the production of neurotransmitters involved in appetite regulation. An amino acid called 5-HTP is a good example of this: it encourages your body to produce more serotonin, helping you to feel a reduced appetite.
Let’s take a look at a few of the mechanisms in closer detail.
Natural appetite suppressants
We’ve introduced 5-HTP, the amino acid that can suppress your appetite by stimulating the production of neurotransmitter serotonin.
There are other natural fat burning ingredients that work in a similar way.
There’s a hunger hormone called ghrelin, which your stomach releases when you’re hungry. It’s a signal telling your brain to eat.
Eating plenty of protein is thought to block the production of ghrelin, potentially contributing to lower feelings of hunger<3>.
Then, there are ingredients that physically take up space in your digestive system, helping you to feel more full naturally.
Glucomannan is a great example of this category of natural ingredients with potential weight loss effects. This fibre expands on contact with fluid, meaning it takes up more space in your stomach. The physical expansion helps you to feel more full, and to eat less during each meal.
Natural metabolism boosters
The B vitamins contribute to metabolism, as we’ve mentioned previously.
Other natural ingredients can help to boost your metabolism, too.
Green tea, for example. This humble beverage is thought to make metabolism up to 5% more efficient<4>.
Whether you decide to drink a couple of cups of green tea a day, or look for a fat burner containing green tea extract, there are plenty of easy ways to incorporate this ingredient into your diet.
Caffeine is also thought to improve metabolism, meaning that a cup of coffee could contribute to your body goals. And this ingredient also leads us neatly onto our next category…
Natural thermogenics
Thermogenics are ingredients that raise your body temperature slightly (the word literally means “heat” + “production”).
The temperature boost associated with these ingredients is thought to encourage your body to burn more calories during activity and at rest.
That last part usually catches peoples attention quite nicely: you can burn more calories while resting..! What better addition to a diet plan.
Some thermogenics are ingredients you’d associate with heat. Capsaicin, for example – the ingredient that gives chillies their spicy kick.
Others aren’t so obvious, like caffeine.
But there are plenty of naturally occurring thermogenics. We’ve written about the best thermogenics for women right here – check it out to learn more!
Natural fat blockers
On top of the ingredients we’ve covered already are things like white kidney bean extract, which is thought to block production of the enzymes involved in digestion of certain carbohydrates.
The thinking here is that by blocking some carbs from being digested properly, the fat they contain won’t be released or stored around your body.
The jury is out on how effective this mechanism is (or whether it works at all), but some prescription weight loss medications use similar methods: they prevent your body from digesting fat, meaning that you can reduce your fat intake whilst not actually removing it from your diet.
Most often in supplements you’ll find appetite suppressants, metabolism boosters, and thermogenics.
Recap
There are many naturally occurring ingredients with weight loss properties.
They work through a variety of mechanisms, making this supplement category very versatile.
Why natural fat burners are best for your diet plan
When it comes to losing weight, the best results are often found by prioritising healthy, natural foods, building more activity and exercise into your routine, and potentially choosing a supplement to help support your results.
There are products out there that promise quick wins, with hard to believe claims attached to synthetic ingredients.
There are also medicines that use powerful synthetic drugs to facilitate weight loss, but usually in a way that’s fairly intensive on your body.
Choosing ingredients with weight loss properties as part of a healthy diet, then, quickly becomes the most inviting choice.
Each dose of Leanbean contains –
- Caffeine: Naturally extracted from green coffee beans
- Glucomannan to reduce your appetite
- Numerous other powerful ingredients
Careful though: natural doesn’t automatically mean good
While a lot of natural ingredients claim to have weight loss properties, there are plenty that are harmful.
Some chemicals like ephedra, for example, are so dangerous that they’ve been banned in some places to protect consumers.
Ephedra is a plant extract that contains a powerful stimulant called ephedrine. This chemical stimulates your heart and nervous system, and was linked to a string of deaths caused by supplements that contained it.
Other ingredients are safe at the right dose but can cause harm if taken in excess. Caffeine is a fine example: exceed the safe limit and you can quickly encounter all sorts of negative side effects like racing heart, trembling, and even extreme anxiety.
This is why it always pays to look at the ingredients of any supplement you’re planning to take, paying special attention to the dosages of each ingredient.
Each dose of Leanbean contains about the same amount of caffeine as a regular cup of coffee: i.e., an amount comfortably within most people’s tolerance levels.
But some supplements contain way more caffeine.
It’s not unusual to see supplements at the macho, bodybuilding end of the market contain as much caffeine as five or more cups of coffee: likely way above what most people are comfortable with.
Natural fat burner FAQs
In this section we answer a few common questions about natural fat burners.
What is a natural fat burner?
Put simply, a natural fat burner refers to a naturally occurring ingredient that has weight loss properties.
This can be through suppressing appetite, boosting metabolism, blocking fat uptake, or thermogenesis.
Do natural fat burners work?
As with all fat burning ingredients, the answer is “it depends.”
Different ingredients are linked with different mechanisms and have different strengths. The science around some ingredients is much stronger than that around others.
Also, natural weight loss ingredients require lifestyle changes to be effective. You can’t take a fat burner, natural or otherwise, and expect to lose weight without also adjusting your diet and activity levels to set you up for reaching your body goals.
Are natural fat burners safe?
Again, there’s not a one size fits all answer here. The answer depends on the dose.
Ingredients like caffeine are safe when taken within the recommended dose. If you have too much, you’ll likely experience negative side effects.
Other ingredients like vitamin B6 and B12 are safe even above the recommended dose, as your body expels everything it doesn’t use.
Some ingredients like ephedra are linked with harmful effects even at low doses, meaning they’re best avoided.
How do I find the best natural fat burner for me?
If you’re looking to tap into the power of fat burner supplements with natural ingredients, we recommend researching a few to see which ingredients they have, in which doses, and with which claimed effects.
Finding the best product for you requires an understanding of what you’re looking to achieve. If you want more energy at the gym, for example, go for something with stimulants. If you’re looking to snack less between meals, an appetite suppressant supplement containing glucomannan might be a good fit.
Disclaimer: The information on the Leanbean blog does not constitute medical advice and should not be used as such. If you would like to learn more about your dietary requirements and related aspects of your health, speak with a registered medical professional.
