Hydroxycut Results

Hydroxycut Results

What Results You Can Expect When Taking Hydroxycut

Like many other ECA-based products on the market, Hydroxycut will induce thermogenesis (raise your body's temperature) and cause you to burn more calories. Other Hydroxycut results include: suppressing your appetite, preserving lean muscle mass, and increasing your energy levels.

Be aware that there are some widely documented side effects associated with ECA-based products. For more information, see Hydroxycut Side Effects.

What the Individual Ingredients Do

Hydroxycut contains a combination of ingredients that helps you to lose weight through a number of different mechanisms. But the main ingredients that produce its fat-burning effects are Ephedrine and Caffeine. Studies have shown that when these ingredients are combined in fairly specific ratios – 200 mg caffeine to 20 mg ephedrine (two or three times daily) – the results are synergistic. In other words, the effects of each are greater than the sum of their individual effects. When aspirin is thrown into the equation, these results are further enhanced. (For more studies on Hydroxycut and its ingredients, see Hydroxycut Review.)

Here is a breakdown of the individual ingredients in Hydroxycut and what they do:

Hydroxycut Results From Ephedra

Ephedrine is the primary fat-burning chemical in the Ephedra sinica plant, from which it gets its name. Also known as ma huang, this plant has a long history of usage in Asian countries for the treatment of asthma and other bronchial conditions. A related chemical, pseudoephedrine, is also found in the plant and is an ingredient in many cold and flu remedies.

Ephedrine is a stimulant that works on the adrenergic receptors of the central nervous system. It has been shown to increase the level of dopamine, which is a precursor to both epinephrine and norepinephrine, which are vital neurotransmitters. Dopamine is also an important neurotransmitter around the hypothalamus, an area of the brain that is important for body arousal. Unlike caffeine, which exerts many of its benefits in muscle tissue, ephedrine appears to work primarily on the central nervous system.

Ephedrine is an effective fat burner on its own, and when it is combined with caffeine, the effects are even greater. While the reasons for this are still not known, it is thought that caffeine has a "permissive" action on ephedrine, lowering the amounts needed to achieve its physiological effects. In other words, caffeine potentiates ephedrine's effect. The E/C studies that showed the greatest benefits used a 10:1 ratio of caffeine to ephedrine – the same ratio used in Hydroxycut.

Hydroxycut Results From Caffeine

There are two caffeine sources in Hydroxycut: green tea extract and guarana seed extract. There is no difference in the caffeine of these two herbs – caffeine is caffeine. They do have some other differences, however.

Green tea contains potent antioxidant compounds called polyphenols. There are four primary polyphenols in green tea. While all four appear to have protective value, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) occurs in the greatest amounts and has the strongest benefits. EGCG is an antioxidant that is several times more potent than vitamin E. It also prolongs the life of norepinephrine, which triggers thermogenesis. As a result, EGCG keeps the thermogenic process going for a longer period of time, boosting your metabolic rate and facilitating fat loss. Hydroxycut contains 90 mg of epigallocatechin gallate.

Guarana is a bushy tree that grows in the Amazon rainforest. Known botanically as Paullina cupana, it is almost as popular as coffee in Brazil. Guarana does not have as much acid as coffee, so it can be less irritating to the stomach than coffee can. Guarana also has epicathechin (in the same chemical family as EGCG) and proanthocyanidins, both of which are powerful antioxidants that help reduce free-radical damage in cells.

As far as fat burning is concerned, the primary active ingredient in green tea and guarana is caffeine. This plant chemical is rapidly absorbed by the body and remains in circulation for more than seven hours. Plasma concentrations reach a peak one hour after it is consumed. It is then slowly metabolized, with a half-life of four to six hours.

Caffeine has been shown to dramatically increase free fatty-acid levels, providing the body with a fuel source that it can use instead of the glycogen stored in your liver and muscles. In fact, one study found a 100% increase in plasma free fatty acids after the subjects took 330 mg of caffeine. (Three capsules of Hydroxycut contain 300 mg of caffeine.)

At the same time, caffeine has been shown to increase adrenaline levels. This "fight-or-flight" hormone increases alertness and boosts energy levels, helping you to go through your daily tasks with less food intake. Most people experience a reduced appetite when their adrenaline levels are high, usually because they are focused on more essential tasks. With these two mechanisms, it's easy to understand why caffeine is important for jump-starting your weight-loss efforts.

Hydroxycut Results From Willow bark extract

Willow bark is a natural source of salicin, which is similar to the acetylsalicylic acid in aspirin. A traditional pain remedy of the American Indians, this ingredient can further increase the effects of the E/C stack by helping to raise the body's set point for temperature regulation and keeping the body from re-regulating itself. This boosts the basal metabolic rate and helps to burn more body fat. There does not appear to be any difference between white and purple willow bark.

Hydroxycut Results From Hydroxycitric acid (HCA)

The largest ingredient in Hydroxycut by weight is Garcinia cambogia, which is a grapefruit-sized, pumpkin-shaped fruit also known as the Malabar tamarind. This fruit has been used for thousands of years as a condiment and preservative in Thai and Indian cuisine. The dried fruit contains up to 30% hydroxycitric acid, or HCA, and extracts with higher concentrations of HCA are now available.

In order to understand how HCA works, you need a bit of background in how fats are burned for fuel (technically called oxidation). The enzyme that regulates fatty-acid oxidation is carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1, or CPT-1. This enzyme catalyzes (speeds up) the reaction that allows fatty acids to get into the mitochondria, which are the cell's energy factories. Greater amounts of CPT-1 lead to higher rates of fat oxidation. However, a substance known as malonyl CoA, which is involved in fat synthesis, inhibits CPT-1 in many instances. Fortunately, another enzyme, citrate lyase, is involved in the production of malonyl CoA. A reduced level of citrate lyase lowers the availability of malonyl CoA, allowing greater fatty acid oxidation to occur.

HCA inhibits the action of citrate lyase, which increases the body's propensity to burn fats while simultaneously decreasing the utilization of carbohydrates for fuel. HCA also promotes the production of additional glycogen, which is the storage form of glucose. Glycogen is stored in the muscles and more importantly in the liver, where the body's hunger receptors are located. These receptors measure the amount of glycogen and another energy molecule called ATP (adenosine triphosphate) in the liver. Higher liver-glycogen levels reduce the intensity of the signal sent by these receptors to the brain. This, in turn, lowers the hunger sensations produced by the brain, so you don't get as hungry as you otherwise would. This appetite suppression makes it easier to stay on your diet.

Hydroxycut Results From L-carnitine tartrate

L-carnitine tartrate is a molecule of carnitine (a nonessential amino acid) linked to a tartrate molecule (a salt of tartaric acid). While L-carnitine can be synthesized in the body from the amino acids lysine and methionine, supplementation appears to offer additional benefits. L-carnitine is a vitamin like compound that facilitates the movement of free-fatty acids to the mitochondria for oxidation through the actions of the enzyme carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1, or CPT-1. This helps to stimulate fat burning.

By consuming carnitine in food (red meat contains relatively large amounts of it) or in supplement form, you increase the supply of a raw material needed to activate CPT-1, potentially increasing the amount of fat transported into the mitochondria for oxidation. This would also help to maintain liver glycogen concentrations at higher levels, reducing your appetite.

Hydroxycut Results From Chromium picolinate

Chromium is a mineral that helps insulin bind to its receptor sites. It is also involved in the metabolism of glucose for energy. A deficiency of chromium can lead to increased fat storage, fatigue, sugar cravings and mood swings, all of which are counterproductive to your weight-loss goals. The average American does not get close to enough chromium, so supplementation is often required. Getting your chromium in a fat burner is as good as buying and consuming it separately.

The picolinate part of the molecule increases the bioavailability of the chromium compared to the pure metal. While there is a lot of brouhaha about the supposed advantages of specific carrier molecules, no comparative research has ever been done. All of the commonly available forms of chromium supplements are sufficiently bioavailable to eliminate any deficiency of this mineral that you may have – particularly since the recommended 6 capsules of Hydroxycut (Week 3 and beyond) give you 600 mcg per day.

While this article sheds light on the results you can expect from the individual ingredients in Hydroxycut, the only true way to experience Hydroxycut results is to actually try the product out yourself.

To compare Hydroxycut prices among dozens of top on-line sources, see Cheapest Hydroxycut Online.

For more information on how Hydroxycut works, see Does Hydroxycut Work.