Supplement Godfather

Q. Dr. Oz seems to pimp out a new supplement every episode! The latest is raspberry ketone, where he’s gone on to say it’s some kind of miracle fat burner. What’s your take?

A. Dr. Oz is an incredible TV personality, very well spoken with a lot of charisma. He also has a very good general knowledge of many different herbs, plants, foods, and supplements. But is he what I would call a supplement or nutritional guru? Definitely not.

On his show, he talks about a lot of great foods and ingredients, but most of it is old news, or at least it is to us in the sports supplement industry. Raspberry ketone is a prime example of this. He’s been talking about this ingredient like it’s something newly discovered, but in reality it’s been on the market for at least six or seven years now.

Back in 2005 when I was working in the R&D department at NxLabs, I formulated a product called Methyl Ripped, and we included raspberry ketone. It was a solid ingredient back then and still is today, which is why I included it in my Ripped Freak formula. But I think it’s best to use raspberry ketone in conjunction with other fat-loss ingredients to see optimal results.

So, how does raspberry ketone actually work to increase fat loss? Well, research shows that it can enhance fat loss through multiple mechanisms. First off, it can inhibit pancreatic lipase enzyme activity, and reduce fat absorption and accumulation in the body. Secondly, it can increase oxygen consumption and thermogenesis, which results in increased calorie expenditure.

Finally, and most importantly, raspberry ketone can increase the rate-limiting step in fat breakdown. As most of you probably know, fats are mostly stored as triglycerides in the body. But in order for triglycerides to be broken down and burned off, an enzyme called hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) is needed. HSL is the body’s most powerful fat-burning enzyme and must be activated in order for triglyceride breakdown to occur. HSL needs to move from one part of the fat cell (the cytosol) to another part called the lipid droplet so that it can do its job and break down the triglycerides. Raspberry ketone increases the breakdown of fat (triglycerides) by increasing the movement of HSL to the lipid droplets in fat cells. This is the primary and most powerful effect that raspberry ketone has on enhancing fat loss.

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