Lipofuze Review: Analysis of Ingredients Profile

This is Part II of the Lipofuze review—click here if you missed Part I and want to review it before continuing!

The Lipofuze formula contains an indeterminate amount of the following...

1) ThermoDiamine™: This impressive sounding ingredient is actually the patented form of evodiamine, a Chinese fruit that some claim burns fat by increasing the body's production of heat, as well as reducing the body's ability to store fat.

The Lipofuze web site makes much of a clinical study validating its effectiveness, but neglects to mention this is an animal-based study, and not necessarily relevant to humans. To date, there's no evidence showing evodiamine works in people.

2) Razberi-K™: Short for Raspberry Ketone, and similar in structure to capsaicin and synephrine—two compounds thought to enhance weight loss via the stimulation of norepinephrine (although real evidence to validate this theory is in short supply). One study performed on rodents (you can view the specifics of the study here) showed that raspberry ketones prevented fat synthesis as well as the rise of blood triglycerides and overall, helped prevent obesity.

Of course, the problem is that this is an animal study. There is one pilot human study—performed with an indefinite dosage—and it described the results thus...

"During the Razberi-K trial, subjects showed a trend toward greater fat oxidation in the late stage." 

That sounds a lot like saying the results weren't statistically significant to me.

Regardless, it may be that raspberry ketones do show some promise, but a dramatic effect has yet to be demonstrated in any credible, independent human studies. Additionally, it's unknown whether this product contains anywhere near an effective dose.

3) FucoPure™: The patented form of fucoxanthin, a seaweed extract making its way into more and more fat burners these days. I've reviewed several fat burners based almost entirely on this ingredient (see FucoTHIN™), and almost all claim Fucoxanthin can boost the metabolism and burn fat without causing the jitters.

The good news is there is a small amount of promising evidence that indicates Fucoxanthin is useful for weight loss (see Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2005 Jul 1;332(2):392-7, Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2008;17 Suppl 1:196-9). The bad news is that to date, any published material has been based on animal studies.

Additionally, there's the problem of low bioavailability of these compounds in humans. This study (see Br J Nutr. 2008 Aug;100(2):273-7) concluded...

"... results indicated that the plasma response to dietary epoxyxanthophylls was very low in humans even after 1-week intake of epoxyxanthophyll-rich diets."

My question would then be... even if fucoxanthin was a great fat burner, how well could it possibly work if it's not absorbed by the human body?

4) Forslean: The patented version of coleus foskohlii extract, and a pretty common ingredient in weight loss products. How effective is it for weight loss?

This study, "Effects of Coleus Forskohlii Supplementation on Body Composition and Hematological Profiles in Mildly Overweight Women (which was funded by the Sabinsa Corporation who holds the patent) did not find any significant changes in lean mass or fat, although the researchers did conclude that ForsLean "...may help mitigate weight gain."

Another study, (Journal of Obesity Research August 2005, "Body Composition and Hormonal Adaptations Associated With Forskolin Consumption In Overweight and Obese Men") found that forskolin was helpful, but did not yield earth-shattering results.

Helpful, maybe. Exciting and unprecedented fat burning results? Hardly.

5) GuggulEZ100™: A patented form of guggulsterones, a small body of evidence indicates these may also have value as a fat burner (see J Postgrad Med. 1995 Jan-Mar;41(1):5-7) specifically by increasing thyroid T3 hormone levels. Even so, it hardly qualified as a "miracle" ingredient.

Additionally, if you review the study referenced above, you'll see the positive results were attained with 1.5-3 grams of guggul daily. If this is standardized to a mere 6% active guggulsterones, that's between 90 and 180 mg of active ingredients. How much GuggulEZ100™ does Lipofuze contain? Does it contain enough to replicate the sort of results seen in the above referenced study?

Who knows?

Other studies indicate that guggul has LDL-cholesterol lowering and anti-inflammatory properties. For a complete review of guggul, please read the Guggulbolic Extreme review!

6) Bioperine®: A standardized black pepper extract, Bioperine's value is that it has been established to enhance the bioavailibility of certain supplements through increased absorption.

7) Green tea: There's no doubt, green tea is a great supplement, showing some real benefits for weight loss. The problem is it needs to be present in a significant amount, and standardized for ample amounts of critical catechins. Unfortunately, in Lipofuze, there's just no way to know if it is. If the ingredients are presented in the same order as the label (where ingredients are listed in order of prominence in the formula), it's highly unlikely.

8) Capsaicin: This is the chemical that gives chile peppers their "heat." The theory is that capsaicin "revs" up your metabolism by creating heat, thus burning off extra calories. However, this study (Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2007 Jan;292(1):R77-85. Epub 2006 Jul 13) says it best...

"Capsaicin has been shown to be effective, yet when it is used clinically it requires a strong compliance to a certain dosage, that has not been shown to be feasible yet."

In other words, in order for capsaicin to have an effect on your metabolism, it has to be taken in doses much too high to make it practical. So its value in this formula is mostly to "spice up" the label.

9) Synephrine HCL: Long thought to be a credible alternative to ephedra, clinical evidence validating synephrine's fat burning powers is under-whelming, to say the least. To put things into perspective, consider this study ("Increase in the thermic effect of food in women by adrenergic amines extracted from citrus aurantium") performed at the University of McGill in Montreal and published in Obesity Research (Obes Res. 2005 Jul;13(7):1187-94.) It concluded...

"CA (citrus aurantrium) alone increased thermogenesis, on average, by 4% (52), a response that is statistically significant but not necessarily clinically significant, representing an average 1 kg over 6 months."

1 kg (2.2 lbs) over 6 months? That's a far cry from the sort of fat burning power you need to burn 7 pounds of fat in 10 days.

10) 7-OXO DHEA: A metabolite of DHEA, a steroid hormone produced naturally by the bodies of both men and women. The good thing about 7-Keto® is that it displays no apparent side effects (i.e. no conversion to testosterone or estrogen, and no effect on the sex hormones).

What's promising about this ingredient is its positive effect on thyroid hormone levels in obese people -- again, without any adverse effects of any kind (see Journal of Exercise Physiology, Volume 2, Number 4, October 1999, J Nutr Biochem. 2007 Sep;18(9):629-34. Epub 2007 Apr 5, Current Therapeutics, (7):435-442 2000).

The dosage for these studies was 100 mg, given twice a day. Is there 200 mg in Lipofuze? Who knows?

The web site also lists further ingredients as cinnamon, phenylethylamine, ginger, and 20-hydroxyecdysone (a plant (and insect) steroid reputed to have anabolic activity in mammals). None are likely to have much effect at the dosages they are included at in Lipofuze.

Now, that we know what's in Lipofuze, what's the final verdict?

Click here to review Part III of the Lipofuze review, and the final verdict on the product!

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