Muscle Talk

Remember Hoodia? Neither Do We

Hoodia, the famous appetite suppressant of the early 2000s, has gone the way of the dodo, but it has left a gap in the market for new supplements with similar or better benefits. The newest ones being researched are Citrus aurantium and Rhodiola rosea. If you’ve been taking fat burners for a while, you should be familiar with synephrine (also known as bitter orange), the active ingredient in Citrus aurantium. It helps reduce appetite, increase energy, and promote fat loss. The chemical makeup and properties of synephrine are similar to the hormone adrenalin and the supplements raspberry ketone and ephedrine, all three of which can contribute to fat breakdown. When you combine the potency of synephrine with Rhodiola rosea, which has been shown to break down abdominal fat and helps lower cortisol (which makes losing fat easier), you have an incredible one-two punch for fat burning. Researchers couldn’t pinpoint exactly what the mechanism was that made these two work so well together, but they surmise that they have an effect on controlling eating/appetite-suppressing behaviors in the brain.

The Special K Formula for Living Longer

While it’s a rock-star vitamin on its own, Vitamin K also plays an important role in helping other enzymes with important functions such as building bones and keeping the walls of blood vessels strong and flexible. On its own, it helps blood coagulate, inhibits cancer cells and protects against cardiovascular disease. According to recent research, the higher a person’s levels of Vitamin K, the lower his or her risk of dying from cancer, and the lower the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease. Supplementing subjects’ diet with the two active forms of Vitamin K (1 and 2) almost halved all-cause mortality (meaning that it reduced their chances of dying from all diseases or illnesses, not just the ones previously mentioned).