Muscle Diet

I heard usnic acid is a great fat-loss supplement and is used quite often overseas. What’s your take?

Usnic acid is not used in the bodybuilding scene over here in England or in any other part of Europe. In fact, in Italy, usnic acid has been used in vaginal creams, foot creams, powders, and hair shampoo. In North America, you’ll find it in creams, toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorants, and sunscreen products, either as an active principle or a preservative. In the bodybuilding world, it came to fame in America when a product containing it called LipoKinetix made by Syntrax Innovations was implicated in 21 cases of serious liver disease!

The infamous Dan Duchaine was credited with bringing usnic acid to the bodybuilding world, along with a chap named Derek Cornelius. This stuff still pops up on the market from time to time as usnic acid or its salt form “sodium usniate” and is supposed to be a substitute for a metabolic uncoupling agent “DNP” which some people have actually died from taking! With usnic acid, there’s some anecdotal feedback from bodybuilders that say it seems to heat them up, but that does not prove that it’s doing so by thermogenesis (i.e. fat burning).

The most important thing to note is that this substance has been implicated in causing serious liver damage. Therefore, my advice is to be cautious when using the product that contains usnic acid.