Bear in mind no stand-alone supplement can replace a healthy lifestyle. “There are so many gimmicky, magic-bullet fixes out there that say, ‘Take this, you’ll lose weight,’” Bill Willis, a biomedical scientist at Ohio State University, tells AARP. “Your diet and lifestyle need to be squared away first. Before you consider supplements, do two things. First, get moving. Number two, change your diet.”
Some supplements do show promising benefits as part of an overall healthy diet and fitness program—here are four that may aid weight loss, according to experts.
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1. Probiotics
ShutterstockResearch shows taking probiotics could help with weight loss. “It won’t be magical – the pounds won’t melt away – but if you have a healthy microbiome, you may be more likely to be able to lose weight or at least not gain further weight,” Dariush Mozaffarian, cardiologist, public health scientist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University tells AARP.
2. Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)
ShutterstockConjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) may help with weight loss. “Conjugated Linoleic Acid might help reduce body fat deposits,” says Stacey Pence, MPH, RD, LD, via The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “Researchers believe that CLA increases the breakdown of fat and cell death. Some believe that it also inhibits the creation of fat in loose connective tissue. CLA can be found naturally in some dairy and beef products.”
3. Caffeine
ShutterstockCaffeine can be very useful as part of a weight-loss diet—but be careful not to overdo it. “It is an excellent lipolytic agent,” Willis says. “By that I mean it helps liberate fatty acids from our fatty tissues, especially for cardiovascular exercise. It helps to increase fat burning. If your diet and lifestyle isn’t going to be conducive to losing fat, fix that first. It won’t help you if you’ve just eaten three double cheeseburgers with an order of fries and a milkshake.”
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4. Glucomannan
ShutterstockGlucomannan could also help with weight loss. “Glucomannan is a dietary fiber made from the root of the konjac plant, which may promote satiety,” Pence says. “Compared to other dietary fibers, it has greater proportions of soluble fiber and may increase the amount of calories lost through the soluble fiber binding to the cholesterol in your diet and excreting those fat calories through your stool.”
