Doctor Reviews: Burn XT

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Burn XT Thermogenic Fat Burner is a supplement heavily marketed on Amazon. The brand name, Jacked Factory, is owned by the parent company Nutra Holdings.

In September 2020, a small non-profit organization sued the makers of Burn XT, alleging that a number of their supplements, including Burn XT, contained high levels of lead, a heavy metal that can cause a number of health problems.

But let’s talk about those allegations later in the video. Maybe you don’t care that much about getting lead poisoning, and want to know how effective it is.

I mean the weight loss medication Ozempic may potentially increase your risk of thyroid cancer and people are still fiending for it, because it is quite effective for some patients.

So let’s see if Burn XT is effective, and see if we can replicate it with a cheaper, and hopefully safer alternative.

Ingredients of Burn XT

Let’s take a look at the ingredients. Here are the doses per capsule. The recommended dosing is 2 capsules per day, although they suggest you can go as high as 3 per day.

We’re going to analyze each ingredient to see whether they contain a sufficient dose, whether it contains the active compounds to work, and how effective they might be for weight loss.

Acetyl-L-Carnitine

Acetyl-L-Carnitine is a modified form of the popular L-carnitine. It is believed to have a special affinity for our nervous system, and research suggests that it may be better absorbed and utilized by our brains.

It has been researched for conditions related to the brain, such as neuropathies or cognition. However, it has not been studied as extensively as L-carnitine.

L-carnitine, on the other hand, has been researched for its uses in weight management and improving exercise capacity or intensity.

Despite the lack of research specifically on acetyl-L-carnitine for these uses, many sources mistakenly lump L-carnitine and acetyl-L-carnitine together and assume that any benefits found in L-carnitine must also apply to acetyl-L-carnitine. This assumption is not necessarily true.

Studies have shown that L-carnitine can cause some small weight reductions when acetyl-L-carnitine does not.

Therefore, it’s important to distinguish between the two when considering their potential benefits.

The overall research would suggest that acetyl-L-carnitine appears to be more useful in helping to improve focus when exercising, rather than improving exercise capacity like L-carnitine does.

Also studies are using 1.5 to 3 grams a day. Burn XT’s 700 mg is too little to have much effect.

Green tea

Green tea contains EGCG, a compound that has weak effects on fat metabolism. These effects likely do not cause much actual weight loss themselves, if any.

However, green tea also contains small amounts of caffeine itself, and studies that look at green tea suggest that it’s likely the caffeine content that provides more of the weight loss benefits than EGCG does.

Nonetheless, the amounts of weight typically lost from green tea’s combined effects were quite modest, with an additional around 2-3 pounds over a few months.

Caffeine

Caffeine is one of the most common ingredients used by supplements that work as exercise aids. This is the main ingredient in Burn XT and is what drives most of how Burn XT works for weight loss.

It’s a supplement that’s supposed to help you increase your capacity and intensity for exercise, meaning that if it doesn’t help you exercise more, it likely won’t do anything for weight loss by itself.

The amount of caffeine that Burn XT provides is around 3 cups of coffee, but can rise as high as almost 5 cups of coffee when taken at the max dose of 3 capsules per day.

That’s a caffeine dose of just over 400 mg. The FDA recommends that healthy adults shouldn’t be consuming more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day.

Some people think that having more caffeine in a supplement is always a good thing for weight loss, but that’s not necessarily the case. In fact, it can even be harmful for some people. You see, caffeine affects people differently, and the ideal dose of caffeine depends on the individual.

Just don’t be fooled into thinking that more caffeine equals more energy or better exercise performance. For some individuals, too much caffeine can actually be counterproductive to their weight loss and exercise efforts.

Taking too much caffeine can lead to negative side effects like anxiety or heart palpitations, which could negatively affect your ability to exercise properly, and that’s the last thing you want for a supplement trying to have you exercise more.

Cayenne extract

Most studies don’t find any measurable weight loss from supplementing with cayenne extracts. Even the few studies that do show some effect are using massive doses that aren’t realistic for daily consumption.

High doses of cayenne extracts can cause some unpleasant side effects, such as nausea and bloating, and although some people may actually feel a reduced appetite due to these symptoms, the weight loss is typically insignificant, amounting to only around 1% over a few months.

So, what’s really going on? Well, while a few studies suggest that capsaicin might increase metabolism or help with fat burning, realistically, these effects are not enough to cause noticeable weight loss. Instead, it’s more likely the gastrointestinal discomfort that’s causing any reduction in appetite and resulting weight loss.

BioPerine

Bioperine is a standardized pepper extract and in this case it’s used to help improve the absorption of some of the other ingredients like caffeine, but otherwise it has no therapeutic effects.

Burn XT Side effects and warnings

Burn XT contains a pretty high dose of caffeine, slightly above the FDA recommended limit at its highest recommended dose.

So it may cause you to feel real jittery or restless, and if you’re sensitive to caffeine, have cardiovascular issues, suffer from anxiety disorders or insomnia, or are taking other stimulant drugs like phentermine, you need to ask your doctor to see if it’s safe to take.

It’s also not safe to use in pregnancy.

The high dose of cayenne might also cause some people gastrointestinal upset, such as heartburn, gas or bloating.

Lead contamination

Now you might be wondering about the high lead content in Burn XT, and if the lawsuit’s allegations were true.

Well Nutra Holdings was found to be in violation of the California Health and Safety Code and was fined $100,000, some of which was paid out as a civil penalty to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, but most of which went straight to the lawyers.

So it appears the allegations were true, and Burn XT, as well as a number of other supplements from Jacked Factory did contain higher levels of lead.

Did they fix the problem afterward? Well it’s hard to say, since to this day they have a disclaimer on their website that says: “WARNING: Some products can expose you to chemicals including lead, which is known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.” Well you can’t say they didn’t warn you beforehand…

Is Burn XT effective?

Burn XT, much like any caffeine supplement, is only really going to support weight loss if it helps you increase your exercise. So you’ll still need to put in the work to exercise more before it can be helpful.

Also Burn XT may cause some people to have a small reduction in appetite. But again, you’ll still need to put in the work to actively reduce your portion sizes, since the research tells us that this effect itself is unlikely to cause much additional weight loss.

Overall review: Burn XT

Reviewing Burn XT by effectiveness for weight loss, I’m giving it a C. It’s a caffeine supplement first and foremost, and whether you lose weight depends on whether it can help you exercise more or not.

Reviewing Burn XT by cost, I’m giving it a B. Burn XT seems to be somewhat fairly priced, although you could still get the individual ingredients for cheaper.

Reviewing Burn XT for safety, I’m giving it a D. The suggested dose of 3 caps surpasses the FDA limits for healthy adults. I wouldn’t recommend taking more than 2 a day unless you’re used to chugging a lot of coffee. Also, the higher levels of heavy metals like lead found in this supplement are a significant concern, especially if you plan to take it long-term.

Overall review, I’m giving Burn XT a D. I would not recommend it at all.

Top alternatives to Burn XT

If you’re looking to achieve similar effects, but better than those of Burn XT, I would combine a quality acetyl-L-carnitine + green tea extract + cayenne extract + caffeine.

• Acetyl-L-Carnitine – 2 to 4 caps / day
• Caffeine anhydrous – 1 cap / day
• Capsaicin (cayenne) – 2 to 5 caps / day
• Green tea (caps) – 2 to 4 caps / day
• Green tea (teabags, decaf) – 1 to 4 cups / day
• Green tea (teabags) – 1 to 4 cups / day

Learn more about

• Is Coffee Good For Weight Loss?
• Capsaicin For Weight Loss
• L-Carnitine For Fat Loss
• Green Tea For Weight Loss
• 6 Things To Look For On Supplements
• 5 Things to Know Before Buying Weight Loss Supplements
• Other weight loss supplements

See also

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  Doctor Reviews: Youthful Brain
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  Doctor Reviews: Lemme Curb
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• 
  Doctor Reviews: Nello Supercalm
  Nello Supercalm is a drink mix with ingredients that may help manage stress and anxiety, though it might not work for everyone.
• 
  A Doctor Reviews: Bio Complete 3
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